Ritalin, Concerta, Adderall.

These are some of the brand-name central nervous system stimulants that Yuppie parents seek for their underacheiving kids. That’s according to a Sept. 7 article by Victoria Clayton at MSNBC. She refers to it as "academic doping," following in the tradition of doping athletes, race horses, etc.

The real dopes are the parents who want Concerta for kids falling behind in school and who may not get into the college of their (or their parents’) choice. These drugs, prescribed for kids who actually have ADHD, are supposed to enhance concentration and performance. They also can cause a slew of side-effects, writes Clayton. They include "difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, irritability, stomachaches, headaches, blurry vision, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and tics and tremors. There have been concerns that ADHD medication temporarily delays growth, and one study found that up to 5 percent of children experience tactile hallucinations, often involving a sensation that bugs or snakes are crawling on their bodies. The FDA recently announced that certain ADHD drugs should caution users about the risks of serious heart problems and psychotic behavior."

These are a small price to pay as long as Johnny gets into Stanford.

As a parent who agonized over giving Ritalin to my ADHD son as he began kindergarten 16 years ago, I find this both horrifying and ludicrous. My son Kevin was diagnosed by a leading Colorado pediatrician. He had been recommended by a school district evaluation team which visited pre-schools each spring to see what kids might need help in kindergarten. Kevin ranked first on their list of these kids (number one with a bullet). So we saw the doc. He was reluctant about prescribing Ritalin but thought it was justified, considering the wildness and violence shown by Kevin. We were at wit’s end. My wife Chris thought it was a great idea. I did not. I organized a school meeting among us, the pediatrician, the school principal and counselor, and teachers. I believed that if we all worked together Kevin would not need Ritalin. At the meeting, we all agreed to give kindergarten a try without our son on Ritalin. That was my P.O.V. and I had my way. My wife wanted to kill me, though, because she had spent the previous five years with Kevin and knew he had a big problem that wouldn’t go away just because I wanted it to.

A week into school, Kevin’s teacher called us. I won’t bore you with the entire conversation, but it can be summed up this way: "HELP!" We met. She had documented all of K’s transgressions. In the course of five days, he had injured a classmate by pushing him off the playground slide, spent hours clambering around under the tables, yelled at other kids, threw Play-Doh balls at the walls, etc. The teacher, as nice and calm a person as I’d ever met, had that frazzled look that my wife and I had developed over the past five years.

I gave in. Kevin took his Ritalin and his behavior improved remarkably. But our adventure didn’t end there. Kevin cut a swath through schools in three states. He was kicked out of his high school (after a year in the I.B. program), and then dropped out of the alternative school to dive into drugs and alcohol. He got clean after a year in rehab and is clean still, at 21, and earned his G.E.D. and is attending an Arizona community college.

Do I wish things had been different with our son? Do I wish that my biggest worry had been whether he would go to Boston College or Yale? Yes and yes again. Would I find ways to get Concerta for my "A" student who suddenly was earning A-minuses? Hell no!

"Academic doping" maybe the just another media trend. Like the one of a few years ago that sounded the alarm about the epidemic of ADHD kids selling their Ritalin to classmates. But, in her article, Ms. Clayton does provide examples of parents intent on doping their kids. And the blog MotherTalkers has a lively ongoing conversation on the topic. I bet a Google search will turn up other sites mulling over the topic. Seems like something the Scientologists would jump right on.

I’ve been working on a book about our family’s experience, which now continues with our junior high daughter. I also have some articles on this web site.