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Home Front: Culture Wars
Bureaucrat Thugs Bully Father For Removing Son off Ritalin
2004-06-08
When Chad Taylor noticed his son was apparently experiencing serious side effects from Ritalin prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he decided to take the boy off the medication. Now, he says he may be accused of child abuse. In February, 12-year-old Daniel began displaying some symptoms that his father suspected were related to the use of Ritalin. "He was losing weight, wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t eating," Taylor told ABC News affiliate KOAT-TV in New Mexico. "[He] just wasn’t Daniel."
But it was so much more convienient for the "School administrators" "Keep the kid doped up, instead of using proper discipline. That makes our job easier, and we can collect an easy paycheck off taxpayers.
So Taylor took Daniel off Ritalin, against his doctor’s wishes. And though Taylor noticed Daniel was sleeping better and his appetite had returned, his teachers complained about the return of his disruptive behavior. Daniel seemed unable to sit still and was inattentive. His teachers ultimately learned that he was no longer taking Ritalin.
Incompetent doctor demands Ritalin continue, while ignoring the side effects, then facist bureaucrats bully the father. What a country!
School officials reported Daniel’s parents to New Mexico’s Department of Children, Youth and Families.
This kid makes us have to earn our paycheck baaaw. Let’s just threaten the father. .
Then a detective and social worker invaded made a home visit. "The detective told me if I did not medicate my son, I would be arrested for child abuse and neglect," Taylor said. A spokesman for New Mexico’s Department of Children, Youth and Families told KOAT-TV that they could not comment on the case because of state confidentiality laws.
And fear of retaliation therough massive numbers of lawsuits in similar cases.
John Francis, a detective for the Rio Rancho Department of Public Safety, lyingly said that Taylor was not threatened but told KOAT-TV that parents could be charged in situations like his.
{John Francis starts to breathe heavily and drool}
Kids are overmedicated for the convienience of school administrators. I wonder if this kid is involved in sports? Has he thuroughly been tested for food allergies? Is some bully bothering him in school that the PC facist administrators don’t want to deal with? If his apparent health improved when taken off the drugs, and the doctor made trouble for him, then papa needs to go to a new town, and get a new doctor, and a new school to perserve his family.
Posted by:BigEd

#8  Folks, thanks for all your comments. I hope I was not out of line with my editorializing.

I have a 3-year old son who is most "Rascal-daferous" and my fear is that once he starts school, he may not be well understood by the bureaucratic gestapo. My heart goes out to the father.
Posted by: BigEd   2004-06-09 11:44:18 AM  

#7  I find medicating kids for being kids extremely disturbing. I don't have the numbers to hand, but I recall being shocked by the number of children on Ritalin. The real issue is well meaning parents who listen to supposed experts and give 'mind altering' drugs to their kids. Its clear to me that the problem is not the kids its the system needs to give drugs to kids in order to function.
Posted by: Phil B   2004-06-08 8:35:23 PM  

#6  There are also new non-stimulant alternatives to Ritalin if the kid really needs it. That said, this is crap.
Posted by: remote man   2004-06-08 8:26:25 PM  

#5  Looks like more good work by the foot soldiers of the nanny state.
Send his Ritalin to Al Gore. He needs it more then the kid.

Posted by: tu3031   2004-06-08 8:20:45 PM  

#4  Hopefully, the father will go to a good lawyer. It looks like the LLL doesn’t care about the Rule of Law -- just more fascist extremism of elites trying to manage the masses.

It is not a crime for Daniel to have his needs, or for Daniel and his father to try to find the least restrictive way to deal with those needs. See 34 CFR § 300.550, et seq. As a federal issue, this matter would be governed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, 20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq., § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and associated regulations appearing at 34 CFR parts 300 - 304. This federal law trumps state law. 20 U.S.C. § 1403. While addressing somewhat different issues than education, the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq., and related regulations also would have some impact on the issue. While a bit complex, at least the following can be said:
These statutes and their enabling regulations contain sweeping prohibitions against practices by public entities that discriminate against persons with disabilities. See, e.g., Section 202 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12132 (no qualified individual . . . shall . . . be excluded from participation . . . or be subjected to discrimination). Furthermore, using EEOC regulations as an example, it is up to Daniel and his father to decide whether to take medication to minimize undesirable psychiatric symptoms, and to consider the consequences of not taking medication. However, medication compliance (in and of itself) is not a reasonable accommodation and, therefore, it cannot form the basis for denying access to school or punishing the father.

Separately, and based directly on the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the involuntary administration of medication cannot be ordered in the absence of an evidentiary hearing that provides the individual in question with ample notice and a full opportunity to be heard by the decision maker. See, e.g., Riggins v. Nevada, 504 U.S. 127 (1992). Further, the involuntary administration of medication is not permissible when less intrusive alternatives exist. Id. Additionally, Daniel has a right to be placed in the least restrictive environment suitable for his status as a hyperactive (and probably bright, bored out of his mind kid), without being segregated from society as a result of any real or perceived disability. See Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey, 524 U.S. 206 (1998); Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999)(recipients of state services cannot be required to relinquish participation in community life that they could enjoy if given reasonable accommodations).
Posted by: cingold   2004-06-08 7:33:56 PM  

#3  More than they're worth.
Posted by: Random thoughts   2004-06-08 7:18:34 PM  

#2  nice part is they get paid shit
Posted by: Frank G   2004-06-08 7:15:49 PM  

#1  If you ever wondered what happened to all the "liberal arts" majors in college, they went into social services where the could satisfy their need to feel superior to everyone and to boost their self-esteem by bullying other people. The only moral difference between most of these people and the SS is the black uniform.

These people were self-righteous, self-aggrandizing, self-inflating morons in college, they got worse when they found they could get paid for playing with other people's lives. They are lower than cockroaches because at least cockroaches have a purpose in the scheme of life.
Posted by: Random thoughts   2004-06-08 7:14:09 PM  

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