1) According to a study, 1 in 10 children in the US have been diagnosed with ADHD, and between 2002-2008 the number of ADHD medication prescriptions rose 46%. 2) Studies show ADHD medication can help children focus more in school and improve their self-image, but they also carry physical risks like weight loss and temper issues. 3) While medication helps manage ADHD symptoms and allows children to succeed academically, there are also concerns about long-term prescription drug use and potential for addiction. Parents and doctors must weigh whether the benefits of medication outweigh the health costs and risks.

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Katherine King
Randall
March 1, 2015
English 1301-31004
Is the Medication Worth the Risk?
According to Marcia Clemmitt’s article “Treating ADHD,” 1 in 10 children in the United
States are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Clemmitt 672).
Between the years 2002 and 2008 the number of prescriptions rose 46% (Clemmitt 686). With
the increase in medications there is an increase in their effects, both good and bad, as well. While
studies have found that children taking ADHD medication have a positive effect in school and
self-image, there is also a cost that comes with it physically as well.
The use of medication in schools has been found help treat the symptoms of ADHD. It
does not cure them but it does make the children’s day to day lives more manageable. Allowing
for the increase in focus in the classroom. Most students are able to sit still for longer periods of
time and are able to complete the tasks assigned to them. According to Clemmitt, “Mark
Wolraich, lead author of the guidelines and a researcher on neural development at the University
of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, in Oklahoma City said, ‘Treating children at a young age’
may ‘increase their chances of succeeding in school.’” (Clemmitt 686)
With the increase of success at school, an additional effect of taking the medication is an
increase in the personal self-image of a child. Most ADHD students end up with the label of the
“problem child,” or the “trouble-maker.” The medication reduces the likelihood that their

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impulse control will get them into trouble. Instead of being the child singled out for disrupting
the class, they begin to thrive.
There are always downfalls to the use of medications. The different ADHD drugs out
there are no different. The most common ones range from weight loss/decrease in appetite to
violent temper rages. Beyond even those the scariest one by far would have to the rate of
addiction to prescription pills. Since many of these children have been taking medication from
the age of 5, the increase in likelihood they will develop an addiction becomes much higher.
Because of this Clemmitt points out,
Many parents are hesitant to expose young children to long-term prescription drug
use but change their minds when they discover that other approaches they try don't quell
symptoms, says Quinn, the Washington pediatrician. “It's the most difficult thing in the
world to put a kid on medications,” she says. But “often the families try other things” —
such as eliminating sugar from a child's diet — “and then they come back.” Even non-
drug therapies that do work, such as behavior-modifying techniques, work better when
used alongside medications, she says. (Clemmitt 648)
The US government recognizes the fact that the medications used to treat ADHD are addictive
and has made them into a controlled substance to help combat the abuse of the drugs.
There is an improvement in the children who take the medication but there is a cost that
comes with it. The question remains if that cost is too high or if it is worth the risks and side
effects. It is a hard choice to make one way or another for any parent or doctor. Is it worth
looking at alternatives first? Is it worth risking the possibility of addiction? The question also
raises the idea of what it is worth to see an isolated child who feels defeated and alone, turn into
a bright, happy student that is no longer labeled a “trouble-maker,” for something they cannot

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control? It is a hard choice that no parent would ever want to face but has since become a reality
for so many of them. Do the benefits outweigh the cost?