Troubled Teens Resources

Teens at risk for teen age drug abuse problems, to some extent, can direct some stark criticism at adults. In a world where there is a pill touted for any ailment or disorder, imaginary or not, how are teens supposed to take seriously the constant imprecations to be drug free?

That adults tend to speak “out of both sides of their mouth” is brought home with this article out of China.

“Some stressed out parents in the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai have been searching for a prescription stimulant to give their children ahead of this week’s national college exams, the Beijing News said on Tuesday.

Their target is Ritalin, a drug used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) containing the active ingredient methylphenidate hydrochloride.”

Wow. That certainly sends a great message. The direct opposite message that a teen needs to hear. A teenager needs to realize the infinite capacity of the human mind to excel and to suggest that an exam, certainly one of the minor challenges in the whole of a person’s life - can’t be mastered without an outside stimulus is pathetic.
Even more pathetic are the unethical means parents are using to obtain the Ritalin.

“Some parents were begging people like “Sun”, whose son suffers from ADHD, to get the amphetamine-like stimulant from doctors, the newspaper said.

“I was puzzled why they needed the drug and only later understood that it was for their children preparing for the exams,” Sun was quoted as saying.

“I went to the hospital four times in the past month and every time I had to cheat the doctor by saying that I had lost the previous dose accidentally.”
(Source)

This is not the use to which these drugs were intended and parents should be faced with the consequences of getting drugs by fraudulent means, just as we demand that teenagers face the consequences of their actions. I repeat, this is pathetic.