WARNING for parents, dangerous mistake new People speak 5

Much is to be admired about the people and kids speak series. Sadly the last story (Title of story: the grand scheme), in the new People speak, #5 sends a terrible and dangerous message,applauding someones recklessness.

In the story a Rebbe is trying very hard to coax a child to take his adhd medication.The Rebbe comes up with a scheme to make the child realize there is nothing wrong with the medication and nothing to be ashamed of.

Very nice except part of accomplishing this is that the Rebbe WITHOUT doctor approval,TAKES one of the Prescribed Medications, a known controlled substance!

The story then goes on to laud the Rebbe for his caring and ingenuity. The Father of the Rebbe is so proud of his son for thinking of this ploy to help a talmid, that he actually RECOMMENDS that rebbeim/teachers with similar issues can try the same thing for their students as it worked so well and advises

“Don’t worry there is nothing wrong with taking one pill.”

Most add/adhd drugs are fairly safe. However,virtually all even in a minute amount have some immediate effect on the mood and the wrong “one”pill can actually have an undesired effect on a person similar to steroid rage. Additionally, there can be unknown drug interactions or health complications.(There is a real reason why there are different brands of stimulant and some with short and some with long acting release)

To unnecessarily take any prescription medication,without doctor oversight especially one that effects mood and then in a book to say that there is nothing wrong with it is horrible. This is doubly wrong as so many readers of people speak are preteen-teenagers who know people on adhd drugs, and might think there is nothing wrong if they have just one, or even a rebbe after reading this story might actually listen to this advice as it comes from such a respected source.

This is the type of story that induces people (especially impressionable young people)to think there is nothing wrong with prescription painkiller and adhd drugs even if they don’t have a severe enough need or do not realize due to lack of medical or mental oversight the need to treat their problem in a different fashion.

There is a reason why these are controlled substances. This story can easily be a prototypical one pill scenario that leads to a second then third pill…

Additionally, after the Rebbe demonstrates taking the pill in front of the class, some other boys in the class divulge that they are on various medications and name them as well in front of the whole class. If I were a parent of a child that needed medication regardless of issue I would not want my child to broadcast it to the entire grade.Additionally for teenagers reading this story they might get misguided. Even a teenager must first consult with parents before telling friends about health or mental issues they might have,as there reason to divulge might be shortsighted.

I do not know how they allowed this story, as it is wrong on so many fronts and can send a terrible message to the intended audience especially based on its best seller reliability.

The seforim store told me that these books are selling like hotcakes please be aware before giving the book to your kid or as a gift.

Parents please be on guard and there is no such thing as just “one pill” when it comes to illegally taking a controlled substance.