Drug Dependant Parenting

Whether it is over-the-counter drugs or prescription medicines used to treat conditions such as AD/HD, far too many parents are resorting to drugs as a means of moderating their children’s behavior. Any experienced teacher could fill your head with stories of children being subjected to questionable medical regimens. Prescriptions to treat children’s ailments (if they indeed exist) are often given with little investigative work, and rely on a parent’s feedback. So if a parent supports a medical regimen, the child will be subjected to it whether or not it is in the child’s best interests.

Some children have a legitimate condition and are assisted by certain drugs. Yet in far too many occasions drugs are used to compensate for a lack of parenting. Other parents voluntarily admit that they give their child various over-the-counter medications as a means of regulating their child’s behavior. From cough syrup to Melatonin (a sleep aid), evidence exists that a great deal of parents may be using drugs in ways they shouldn’t: as a crutch to childrearing. (Galewitz, 3-3-08)

The source of concern is not only with the act of giving a child unnecessary drugs which can affect their developing brain, but also what such a behavior indicates about the parents. You will virtually never encounter such actions outside of a neglectful parent. Drugging up kids so they pass out or as a means of discipline is only appealing to the type of parent who doesn’t much care for their children to begin with.