COLORADO QUASHES TEACHERS' INPUT ON DRUGS FOR UNRULY KIDS

DENVER -- As a debate over the growing use of behavioral drugs for
children intensifies across the country, the Colorado Board of
Education has passed a resolution meant to discourage teachers from
recommending prescription drugs such as Ritalin and Luvox for students.

The resolution carries no legal weight. But as the first of its kind
in the nation, it urges teachers and other school personnel to use
discipline and instruction to overcome problem behavior in the
classroom, rather than to encourage parents to put their children on
drugs that are commonly prescribed for attention-deficit and
hyperactive disorders.

Proponents of the resolution, which passed by a 6-1 vote Nov. 11, said
they were motivated, in part, by evidence that they said suggests
dozens of violent crimes in recent years, including the massacre last
spring at Columbine High School, were committed by young people taking
psychotropic drugs.

One of the teen-age shooters at Columbine, Eric Harris, had been
taking Luvox, an anti-depressant, although there is no evidence that
the drug had anything to do with the shootings.

No other states are considering a measure similar to the one in
Colorado, where an unusual set of circumstances played a role in the
resolution's passage: an elected and fairly conservative school board
responding, in part, to the outcry from one of the nation's worst
school shootings. The resolution also reflects broader issues, as
parents, mental health professionals and school officials debate the
rising use of behavioral drugs for children.

Experts in children's mental health issues contend that the Colorado
resolution is irresponsible and perhaps even dangerous in that it
could lead school personnel to ignore signs of serious mental
disorders in children and that it would discourage communication
between teachers and parents.

"I hope what happened in Colorado is the exception and not the rule,"
said Michael Faenza, president of the National Mental Health
Association, conceding that he fears other states and school districts
might replicate Colorado's efforts.

"Holding up psychotropic medicines as the possible cause of violent
behavior is absurd. There's a wealth of information to show that they
have helped dramatically."

The use of Ritalin and other psychotropic drugs has steadily increased
over the years among school-age children to a current level of about
2.5 million, according to Children and Adults with Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, a national nonprofit organization
known as CHADD, based in Landover, Md.

In Colorado, increased usage has pitted experts who say use is growing
because the drugs are beneficial against those who contend that
parents and teachers are too quick to seek out prescription medicine
as the simplest way to treat children with behavioral problems.

Patti Johnson, the Colorado school board member who organized a
hearing on the issue and proposed the resolution, said that in the
five years she has served on the board, she has received "numerous
complaints" from parents who claimed a teacher had insisted that their
child go on Ritalin or another drug before returning to class.

Recounting the case of one girl, who was showing signs of attention
deficit disorder through mood sweeps and napping in class, Johnson
said the girl was later diagnosed to be suffering from hypoglycemia
and just needed to change her diet. According to the girl's parents,
Johnson said, the teacher told them, "You need to get her a
prescription for Ritalin."

As a result, she said, a resolution was designed to remove school
personnel from any medical decisions.

"The resolution does not stop teachers from communicating with
parents," Johnson said. "What it does do is stop teachers from giving
parents an ultimatum: `Put your kid on a drug or we're not going to
teach them.' That can't happen anymore. It's wrong."