What Are We Doing To Our Kids: A Nation of Medicine Dependent Kids

2008-06-16T19:31:00.001-07:00

What are we doing to our kids? Tonight as I was watching television with my three year old, I counted four ads for prescription drugs. Yes, that is right; four ads promoting drugs during a children's show. What is wrong with our nation?

This is not the first time I've made the same observation. Our kids have medication use shoved down their throats from the moment they start getting immunizations. Do you remember getting any of your shots when you were a child? I do, what I don't remember is my mother giving me Tylenol before or after. It was unheard of in my time. Today, my pediatrician instructs me to give my infant and toddler Tylenol or Ibuprofen before their appoint to get immunized. Is that crazy? What if they develop no adverse effects? What if they are totally fine after the shots? The answer is that then we have over medicated our children.

Is this scary to anyone but me? We are being told by licensed physicians to medicate our children before there is even a problem! Why are we giving our kids medicine when we are not even sure if it is necessary? Some doctor's offices will give Tylenol after the shots are administered. The problem is that we are not sure if our children will need it. Yes, it is nice to keep your child from any additional discomfort after shots, but by doing so what are we teaching our kids about medication?

Think back to when you were a child. Did your parents give you medicine any time you got hurt? Did they recommend anti-depressants when you were an emotional teenager? Did they put you on stimulants if you couldn't focus in class. No, no, no. The simple truth is that today's parents are over medicated their children. When I was a child if I fell down my Mom told me to brush it off and keep going. I did and I am fine. Today's kids expect much more for the same injury's our parents would have dismissed as minor.

The point I am getting at is are we helping our children by medicating them, or our we teaching them that everything in life can be treated with medicine. How many times have you seen a news story about a child taking medication and hurting themselves, abusing the drug, or even worse, killing themselves? This was simply unheard of when I was a child. The use of medicine in children has skyrocketed in the past ten years.

The other day my three year old sneezed. He began crying and told me he was sick and needed medicine, my three year old!!! I'm not sure what I have done or said to make him have this belief, but he is not the only child I have seen who is sick and expects medication. Perhaps it was the Tylenol we give to his brother before he has shots, or the inhaler his dad uses, or grandma's blood pressure medicine, or my birth control! Who knows? But it has to stop.

I'm not advocating that we eliminate prescription drugs all together. However, I do think that we can be more responsible in the way that we use them. All of life's problems cannot be cured with medication. Life is a journey, full of ups and downs. If we are full of anti-depressants we will never feel pain, therefore we cannot feel truly happy. You have to know what it feels to be sad in order to truly appreciate happiness.

We have to find a way to teach our children balance. We have to let them feel sad. As hard as it is as a parent to see our children suffer, we have to at some point let them experience pain. If not, we shield them from reality and hinder them from becoming full functioning adults.

Yes, if our children get fevers we should give them Tylenol. But we have to draw the line somewhere. If not, how many more children will we see on television experiencing horrible outcomes from the use of prescription drugs. In some cases children do need to be on medication. But we have to start holding doctor's responsible and make them be accountable. And as parents we have to stop and ask ourselves, "do the benefits of this drug outweigh the disadvantages?"

It is a delicate line, but one that needs much attention. If we can honestly say the benefits of a medication out weigh the risks, then perhaps the medication is worthwhile.

Just remember that our parents didn't shove medicine down our throats, and we turned out okay!

What do you think about prescription drugs and children? I want to know. Add a response to this post and share your thoughts.

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What Are We Doing To Our Kids: A Nation of Medicine Dependent Kids