THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 82, April 11, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
A DEADLY COINCIDENCE:
SCHOOL SHOOTINGS & DRUGGED STUDENTS
By Alan Caruba
AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, THEIR USE OF MIND-ALTERING DRUGS TO MEDICATE STUDENTS, & THE SCHOOL SHOOTINGS
THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN THE U.S.A.: HOW THE WAVE OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS HAS COINCIDED WITH THE MASSIVE
PROGRAM OF DRUGGING "OVER-ACTIVE" STUDENTS OR THOSE DEEMED TO HAVE AN "ATTENTION-DEFICIT DISORDER"
FULL STORY:
I keep waiting for someone to notice the way the rash of school shootings the U.S.A. has experienced has coincided with the
massive program of drugging “over-active” students or those deemed to have an “attention deficit.” Medicating students has
replaced counseling.
On December 1, 1997, Michael Carneal, a troubled 14-year-old, killed three students and wounded five others at Heath High
School in West Paducah, Kentucky. In 1998, there were three events in which boys, one as young as 11, killed classmates and
teachers. Most notorious is the April 20, 1999 Columbine High School massacre by two boys, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold,
17, who killed twelve students and a teacher, and wounded 23 others before committing suicide.
There were two incidents in 2000, one involving a 6-year-old who shot and killed another 6-year-old at Buell Elementary School in
Mount Morris Township, Michigan, and on May 26, Nathaniel Brazill, 13, killed his English teacher on the last day of classes in
Lake Worth, Florida. On March 5, 2001, Charles Williams, 15, killed two students and wounded 13 others at Santana High School
in Santee, California. And, in 2003, two students were killed at Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minnesota, by a fellow student,
age 15. He is awaiting trial.
This brings us to 16-year-old Jeff Weise who, on Monday, March 21, killed his grandfather and his longtime companion, and then
went to the school on Red lake Indian Reservation, where he killed nine people and wounded seven before, like Harris and Klebold,
killing himself. Weise was on Prozac, a medication for depression. Harris and Klebold were both on various mind-altering
medications. Not only did the drugs not help them, but the question is whether they may have actually contributed to these acts of
murder? How many of the other young killers, dating back to 1997, were also being medicated? And, while we’re at it, how many
young suicide victims were likewise being medicated?
Something is terribly wrong in this nation when we can experience a succession of seemingly senseless school killings and not begin
to ask whether the national obsession with drugging an estimated six to seven million school children isn’t a contributory factor?
“Why is 80 percent of the world’s methylphenidate (Ritalin and Adderall) being fed to American children?” asked Dr. William B.
Carey, when, in 2003, he appeared before a U.S. House of Representatives panel investigating the wide use of psychotropic drugs.
“These drugs have the potential for serious harm and abuse,” noted Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-DE). “They are listed on Schedule II
of the Controlled Substances Act. “
Schools authorities, supported by members of the psychiatric community, have recommended that millions of children be put on
psychotropic drugs since the invention of two new “syndromes.” There have always been “over-active” children and many children
said to be suffering from “attention deficit” may actually be quite bright, but totally bored by what passes for a curriculum these days.
Or they may, like millions of children passing through the school system, be illiterate; thanks to the way reading is taught.
Too many of these “recommendations” have included the threat of having children removed from the parent’s care.
So why is the Bush administration, responsible for the No Child Left Behind Act that school systems are fleeing in droves, also
pushing to have universal mental health screening undertaken in schools? While the 108th Congress took steps to protect parents
from being coerced by schools to subject their children to some of the psychiatric medications, they exempted antidepressant
medications (like Prozac) or those used to treat children labeled bipolar. Known side effects of these drugs include obesity, diabetes,
and neurological problems.
Some of the neurological problems include suicidal thoughts and, one wonders, homicidal thoughts as well? That said, it is easy to
pin the blame on the use of drugs, just as it is easier for teachers and administrators to recommend drugging students who exhibit
disruptive behavior or what, to a lay person, appears to be an emotional disorder. When you have a classroom full of kids, the
troubled ones frequently stick out, but there is often scarce time and little real training to provide help.
Where should that help come from? Parents! No one has greater responsibility and authority than parents for the welfare of their
children. However, the result of compulsory education in America increasingly involves interposing the power of the school between
students and parents. In fairness, many teachers will tell you their capacity to discipline a student has significantly diminished.
Lastly, in a society suffused with constant news and imagery of homicidal behavior, why should anyone be surprised that a child or
adolescent would not see this as a viable alternative to whatever emotional torment he is experiencing? What is almost guaranteed,
however, is that we shall read about more school killings in the years ahead.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Education & America's Schools
A Practical Guide to Homeschooling
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center,
and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly
column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center
(www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past columns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition
to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States,
both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 28 West Third Street, Apartment 1321, South Orange, New Jersey, 07079.
© Alan Caruba 2005
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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