The Education Wonks
Many children who are diagnosed ADHD are also under the auspices of Special Education. Many IEP's that I have seen state that the child must be in the "Least restrictive learning environment". Pray, tell me, how is a roomful of 30-34 OTHER children a "least restrictive" environment? Many of the ADHD students I have had in my classes were medicated and still NOT capable of paying attention, avoiding the least little distracting thing done by a classmate (such as getting up to sharpen a pencil). These students could succeed academically, when it was quiet and they could not be distracted by any noise, but that is often a rare time in a junior high classroom.
As EdWonk said, it is a tricky situation.
Sure there's an easy answer. Parents cannot be required to medicate their kids. But when their kids are exceedingly disruptive, they are removed from the class temporarily through in-school our home suspension.
The children are required to obey the rules, whether they're medicated or not.
As a teacher with a student who should be, but isn't medicated. I lie with this problem everyday. We make it work in a self-contained 23 student 3rd grade classroom. Is it always optimal, no -- but when is it ever a perfect environment!
I agree with Darren. If children become too disruptive they should not be allowed into class. Often one bad apple will ruin a whole class. The teacher spends way too much time trying to control or manage the disruptive student. And when other children see what the first disruptive student gets away with often more children will become problems. The disruptive child is stealing an education from the other children.
Unfortunately the implementation of this would be very hard, and might never happen. So many parents have come to see school as a right, not a privilege. Fifty years ago the teachers had some options for disciplining children, and the parents would back them up. Now children can be very disrespectful to the other students and the teacher, and there is little the teachers can do about it.
I regularly have ADD kids in my special ed classes. None of them are medicated since that is not a habit in France. They are disruptive and hard to manage. But they do make progress. I don't think anyone should be forced to medicate their child, especially since we have no real hindsight on the long term effects of using these drugs (they haven't been around that long).
Also,it seems to me that it is better to teach a child to manage his difficulties that to let him rely on a chemical quick fix.
I think the larger underlying issue is a teacher or administrator disussing a medical issue. Adderall and other ADHD medications are powerful substances, with side-effects ranging from annoying (dry mouth) to debilitating (excruciating headaches). Without an MD present, the school should not be forcing parents to make a medical decision.
I have to say that while I agree with Darren and Henry that all students need to be focused and following the school rules, I do not agree that punishment (in-school suspension, etc) is really the best answer.
There are numerous supports that can be put in place, besides medication, to help students with AD(H)D focus in class. Students who are truly struggling with a learning disability should not be punished for having that learning disability. What sort of message punishing a student with special needs for having behaviors that represent those needs send to that student?
Medication is not always the right answer, but general education teachers need to work together with special education teachers, students, and their families to put supports in place that make learning possible for all students.
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