FL: Mom Faces Charges For Not Giving Kids Medication

[rucky]

August 24, 2005

Mom faces charges for not giving kids medication

Two siblings suffer from ADD

BY J.D. GALLOP
FLORIDA TODAY

The two brothers screamed, punched at their fellow classmates and would not listen to teachers.

Now Ebony Dukes, a single, 29-year-old Cocoa mother has been charged with child neglect because police said she failed to give the disruptive pair their medicine and refused to answer the door when an officer tried to bring the children home.

Dukes was held without bond early Tuesday and appeared before a judge at the Brevard County Jail. The two boys -- ages 8 and 10 -- suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder and were turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Dukes was arrested Monday, hours after a child-care center alerted police about the 10-year-old's behavior and his refusal to get on a school bus, officials said.
<MORE>

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS01/508240383/1006

[Not_Giving_Up]

1. OK...First of all

They shouldn't be able to go after her for not giving meds for ADD. My ADHD kid is on meds, I'm not against medicating if necessary. However, there are a lot of parents against it. I can respect that.

Second...These behaviors are more than just ADD. ADD doesn't make you violent, it makes you unable to pay attention and organize. My son also has Asperger's Syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum (just as ADD and ADHD are). He doesn't relate properly to other people, and has no impulse control sometimes. Hoever, he sees a therapist weekly for behavioral modification.

[Rainscents]

3. Maybe she can't aford medication and don't have insurance.

[Not_Giving_Up]

4. This is true

My son was without meds for a couple of years for that reason. I made too much to get medicaid for him, but not enough to be able to afford a month's supply of meds at $120. Now, depending on what I'm making, my kids are either on medicaid or Chip. With that, we're able to do the therapist bit as well as the meds. Last year was the first school year since kindergarten that he wasn't sent to the office for anything bad except once.

[Lenore]

7. Most people don't realize...

That the schools have an affirmative action to provide appropriate intervention for children that need it. And I don't mean by calling the cops to put everything off on Momma!

What I mean is that if a child has an impairment interferes with their ability to participate with and benefit from the educational environment, the schools must address it with appropriate services.

Usually this happens through the IEP plan, for children who meet the specific qualification to be eligible for "special education services". Most people incorrectly think of special education services as something that *only* totally crippled and/or mentally impaired children receive, such as those with cerebral palsy, down syndrome, autism. The truth is that the spectrum of eligibility is well beyond that and indeed includes children with emotional disorders also, such as ADD or Aspergers Syndrome.

Indeed Federal Legislation specifically listed ADD as under the realm of special education protection IF the impact of it was severe enough to meet the qualifications for special education services. Before this, and sadly.. even now, Districts continue to tell parents that ADD isn't covered under special education services, leaving the children and families to flounder with un-addressed impairments often exacerbated by a class environment that ignores the often simple adaptations needed to address a child's specific disability.

Whenever I hear a parent say their kid has ADD and has spent substantial time in the office, I think to myself "this kid needs and most likely qualifies for S.E services". Why? Because, often these children suffer other continual nitpicking issues, due to their inattention, lack of control (or whatever it is) such as continual denial of recess...inability to participate in extra curricular activities such field-trips and dances, etc. If a child is having so many behavior issues as to continually suffer the heartaches listed above, they probably qualify for S.E.

In the cases of children with ADD/behavioral issues, most services take the form of counseling, specific structure for specific activities (notebook documentation help to keep track of homework,etc), group therapy, etc.

A short story (it's late, not much else to do LOL)... Last state I lived in, one of my new neighbors had a daughter with ADD. At least the mom thought the girl had ADD. The school suggested that she did too and in fact did testing that identified the girl as ADD.

This whole time she was getting in trouble in class. Mostly for lying and stealing. A 9 year old who compulsively lied and stole and was so clearly ADD.. well.. everyone knew but everyone kept putting it off on the mother. And the girl of course, she was *always* in trouble, *always* getting suspended for a day here, two days there, and often unable to participate in her classes activities such as the field-trips and end of the year parties.

In this situation the school had an affirmative obligation to identify and address this child's obvious issues that were interfering with her ability to benefit from her education. They avoided this by telling Mom that they didn't have to address it until the girl had an official diagnosis from a "medical" doctor. This despite the fact their own testing showed her highly ADD and unable to function in the normal school environment without better structure. Finally, due to my own experience with s.e issues and implementation, I was able to help mom walk through the hoops to then force the school to do the right thing. And it wasn't really that difficult. Once the school realized that *if* they mandated a doctors diagnosis *before* giving services, this made them obligated to facilitate the child seeing the necessary doctor, they coughed up the needed changes for the little girl and she started doing amazingly in school!

They had used the families ignorance of the system and their lack of resources (both mental and financial) to label the girl as simply a troublemaker when the truth was that she *needs* someone to check her backpack before she leaves class and she *needs* to have access to the school counselor to go to when something is building up inside.

My daughter, she has disabilities related to prematurity which for many years had been addressed without the need for S.E services. But then, as situations changed.. school dynamics changed (mostly going into the dynamic type higher grade atmosphere, quickly moving from class to class) her needs changed and she was suddenly unable to go to school without very specific accommodations. She has needs concerning her vision and also sensory integration issues that impact her ability to vibrantly function within a large and vibrant group. She can't just be thrown into normal type situations, such as a 300 kid graduation.. where kids are noisy, bustling around, semi unstructured.. without getting worried, anxious, confused and upset. REALLY upset like physically noticeably upset (without going into more details).

She obviously needs mental health intervention, no? And the District is obligated to provide it through her existing IEP, in the form of counseling and group therapy or whatever it is that the IEP team decides a specific child needs. In our case, we started out privately providing nearly all the services our girl needed (school in TOTAL denial she had *any* issues) including a full time aid to accompany her to school! Eventually, we were able to get the District to accept their obligation under state and federal law and they started offering services and accommodations that we had been providing privately. We went for some and rejected others, in which case we continued to provide the service privately.. such as with our daughters weekly counselor, she was already established with a great lady and we didn't like the school system offered chat doc so we just stuck with our own.

How privileged we are that our insurance has such good counseling coverage that we are able to get this for a cost of $12 per week. And how privileged we are that we have that $12 per week, there used to be a time in my past that $12 a week would be the difference between electricity or no electricty.

I used to have so much sympathy for school districts and their awful funding issues, and then I REALLY started getting into the nitty gritty and realizing that often Districts purposefully deny the very weakest of our children the most basic support, support needed before then can benefit from what is already being put into them. Support they do get federal funding to provide.

After realizing this propensity in addition to acknowledging all of the S.E dollars that the states regularly do not spend, having to return it to Federal Coffers, well... I am District sympathetic no longer and now consider myself an advocate for S.E children and families.

If your child or that of any other reader has an IEP or a 504 plan, or doesn't, and is struggling with real issues such as ADD, Aspergers (or hundred others) without proper assistance from your local school... feel free to drop me a pm. I love discussing s.e law :)

[JNelson6563]

9. Wonderfully informative post.

You are a knowledgable and compassionate soul. A belated welcome to DU. You are a nice addition here.

Julie

[Lenore]

28. awww thanks for the sweet welcome n/t

[pop goes the weasel]

15. you should consider creating an organization

There are so many parents who need help navigating the school IEP and 504 bureaucracy, but no organization set up specifically to help them. I remember when I met with the school officials over my daughter's needs, they told me I had to be her advocate. Well, right there, I knew we were in deep shit, because I was suffering through the third year of a major depressive episode and needed someone to be *my* advocate! I would have been so happy to have found someone like you, even in another state, to give me guidance.

[Lenore]

30. There are many organizations that can help parents..

I depend on them to navigate the system for my daughter.

Anyone with a child on an IEP (or even teachers who are interested in S.E issues) can join a wonderful Yahoo group called IEP Guide. They have a wonderful support network and are very good about offering guidance and answering questions in addition to helping people identify resources in their area. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IEP_guide/

http://www.reedmartin.com/ is an invaluable resource!

In addition, most areas have a local Parents Helping Parents, another great resource, especially for finding the specialists for specific disabilities in addition to special ed. support. http://www.php.com/

I sympathize with what you shared re needing your own advocate! Even if you weren't depressed then you certainly would have been at the end of the process ::wry lol:: I fought the good fight for a full year before it got to be to much. I turned to an anti depressant to help me through, that and counseling, which btw the District is OBLIGATED to provide. Yes, if a parent them self need counseling to be able to effectively function within the system and appropriately advocate for their child, this is also something they may be eligible for through the IEP. Basically once a child has an IEP it *must* address *all* areas of need that impact the child's ability to gain FAPE (free appropriate public education), even if that means parental training and counseling.

Just like our kid is eligible for one on one counseling, which the District finally coughed up (despite the fact we eventually rejected the service), we are also eligible for family counseling... 2 sessions per month to be used as needed (for myself or the full family or whatever). We haven't utilized this either (service provider issues) but I wanted to mention it 'cause it is a perfect example of services a child with emotional type issues often need yet do not receive.

Now, I know that there are many (mostly of the christian conservative stripe) who are appalled that any family would depend on the poor money strapped school districts to provide support, I even had one "friend" tell me that I was wrong to make the school provide my child's aid rather than continuing to pay for it ourselves. The truth is that the Districts get thousands upon thousands of extra dollars for *each* child identified as S.E, dollars often misused and under utilized... As I told my "friend" when he was scoffing at the "handout", this is what we pay taxes for! Then again, when I questioned him, he didn't think schools should be obligated to provide any extra services for any disabled children.. not even wheelchair ramps. I was appalled and challenged him on how Christ would feel about his attitude/position. We never talked again which is why I put friend in quotes LOL

In closing, another great resource is http://www.wrightslaw.com/news.htm

[demigoddess]

45. any parent can take a friend or adviser to the IEP meetings. The school

usually has a witness there that they introduce as "mrs. so and so who is interested in your child" but they are really witnesses for the school. The parents can take anyone they want to a meeting to be their witness, but the school will never tell you and argue if you do. And there are some magic words that work with schools if your child is in need of help. You say " I want a meeting." and they have to bring all the specialists to evaluate, and advise. Been there, done that and it worked.

[pop goes the weasel]

46. this was nearly 10 years ago

that school district had a habit of flagrantly disobeying the law. You could never get hold of anyone, no one took responsibility or gave information. It was a mess, unless you were well-off, in which case, the system would suddenly work.

[iverglas]

20. thanks! too

One question, to ask your perspective on.

Even if all of the resources that you refer to are made available, there is still a necessarily rather heavy onus on parents to make use of them, and to cooperate and assist in efforts to assist the child.

From the very little information available about the case the thread relates to, it seems that the parent might not be meeting that responsibility. In any event, there are surely other parents who don't.

I'd agree that charging a parent for failing to administer somewhat controversial medication to a child seems rather draconian -- but I'd think it might just be the only means available to "the system" to try to get the parent to recognize his/her responsibilities and take the situation seriously, and assume his/her share of the burden of meeting the child's needs.

It's possible that this school was trying to help this child and was being thwarted by the parent's non-cooperation, and needed something to hit her over the head with to get her attention (oops) and get her to direct her mind to the seriousness of the problem and her own contribution to it, by threatening her with some (even if not necessarily appropriate) consequence for failing to do that.

Just a baseless hypothesis -- it may indeed be more likely that the mother was in some way unable, rather than unwilling, to do her part -- but meant to point out that sometimes parents actually are the bad guys.

[Lenore]

27. Parent's can be the badguy too n/t

[ninkasi]

31. Wonderful post

Thank you so much. It's a shame that the politicians in this country can think of millions of ways to funnel money into their favorite pork-filled projects, but when it comes to the most vulnerable of us, there is never enough money to do what needs to be done.

I'm sure that many people here at DU are going to be using the information you provided, since lots of us, even if we no longer have kids in school, know somebody who does, and who needs help.

Welcome to DU...I look forward to reading your future posts.

[Lenore]

42. aww thank you!

Please feel free to refer my DU name to anyone you know that wants to discuss S.E issues, I love to advocate in this area.

For anyone stuck in the S.E system or with friends and family in the system, I would advise that the most mentally able person in the family simply begin to study both Federal and State S.E laws. And don't forget that while state laws may say one thing, they must be in compliance with Federal law to be legal. What I mean is that our children are afforded specific protections under Federal law that State laws can't take away. On the other hand, often states may have more stringent S.E. requirements than Federal law requires in which case the child is afforded the additional protection of state law in addition to federal law. IF the states requirements are *less* than Federal law, Federal law trumps state law. Just like it is in other areas of state and federal law and how they interact together.

In closing, an example of this dynamic is that due to the changes recently enacted through IDEA 2004 (the name of the federal legislation) it is now allowable to hold IEP meetings without going through all of the trouble of including a thousand people and their dog, before you have a legal IEP team. Federal law has loosened this requirement to the point where I could have an IEP meeting with just one or two other district people, to implement needed changes to the IEP.

Most states still have restrictive legislation that mandate what makes a legal IEP team but now that the federal requirements have changed the state legislatures can also loosen the requirements. Until this happens, the more restrictive State law will apply as to offer that additional protection to the children...

[bleedingheart]

11. I agree

these boys are learning the violence/punching part from elsewhere...and that is what I would possibly investigate ...not whether or not she is medicating them.

[DemInDistress]

2. Ritalin, a powerful "upper" is being forced upon our

children.Now a mother is arrested for not giving her kids their daily drug Ritalin.This pill is habit forming as well as all stimulants.It cracks me up our permits the wide spread use of these stimulants and also maintain a roll call of 100,000 or more methadone patients across the nation..yet,sick people who get relief from smoking a joint of HEMP cant.
Now a mom is held,without bail no less for not giving her kids DRUGS that are habit forming.Hell i'd be grouchy and cranky if I didn't get my meds.The body and mind does not work well without its fix...

[wli]

5. more involuntary commitment scams

Those fascist genocidal maniacs forcing dope on people should be executed for crimes against humanity.

Psychiatric medication (like narcotics and all other drugs) should be completely voluntary, and no court order should ever be made to order them upon anyone.

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. Murikkkan phenomenom - "pharmaceutical terrorism"

.
.
.

Google it . . Pharmaceutical Terrorism - ah there- I did it for ya . . .

it's amazing what is behind all these drug-pushing doctors

just TRY to talk to most doctors about herbs, vitamins, etc. . .

nah nah - here, take this NEW AND IMPROVED drug from my favorite supplier

even in Canada most of our drug pushers are our Doctors

and unlike our "street" drug pushers

most doctors have NO idea what they are pushing . . .

dat's why dey call it a PRACTICE -

doncha see?????

(sigh)

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

8. "and refused to answer the door"

and refused to answer the door when an officer tried to bring the children home.

WTF is that all about?

Edit: more:

"It's not just the issue of not giving the children their pills, but the fact that she knew we had her kids, and for four hours we were trying to find her," said Barbara Matthews, a spokeswoman for the Cocoa Police Department.

[LisaL]

10. Yes, I would think that's neglect.

She apparently wouldn't even let those kids into her home when policeman brought them.
That's hardly your mother of the year.

[mackdaddy]

12. These problems often in Parents too.

Mental health issues are often inherited, so the mother may have some problems too.

Of course since Regan, Our main way to handle mental health issues is to make everyone a criminal.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

39. No, she's a freedom fighter against Doctor Tyrrany!!!

:argh:

[William Bloode]

13. She coulda been asleep.

It is not neglect for sure if you don't know her circumstance. Also this woman is obviously poor and black. Do you think they would have called it neglect if the woman had been rich and white, but out shopping for four hours were the police could not get a hold of her?

2nd We really don't need the government telling us we HAVE to give anyone medication. Forcing people to administer or take medication they do not believe in, or afford should never, ever be a crime. But then again we have to keep those poor, and brown people in line ya know.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

21. Forced medication.

I'm sorry, but you're wrong.

If a child is ill and requires antibiotics to recover, and the parent refuses to administer the antibiotics, then that parent is guilty of child abuse and someone needs to step in and bring sanity to an insane situation.

If you let your child DIE because you refuse to accept proper medical advice, you are guilty of manslaughter at best and murder at worst.

The only reason there's even a discussion with this view when it comes to mental health problems is because:

1) Mental health problems have historically been stigmatized.
2) The pharmaceutical companies have taken advantage of this to fuck up the system with respect to proper treatment.

However, I don't buy the line that says parents can *never* be forced to provide medical care for their children. Your right to freedom of expression, religion, and belief ends when it begins hurting others, including your children. The parent who says "I won't let Johnny have his appendix out because Jesus said blahblahblah" is just as bad.

As for the woman being asleep, poor, and black - please. I'm not even going to pretend to know the facts of this situation, or whether or not what happened to her is justified.

None of this has anything to do with keeping poor or brown people in line.

[William Bloode]

23. It's not moral to force medication on anyone..

period. I don't care what the consequence. People should have the right to refuse drugs of any type. There are many reasons for this, one may be religious convictions, also lack of funds is another one, or how about the dangerous precident it sets? If they can force you to meds for any so called moral reason it's not a far stretch to make you take medication for an immoral reason.

And the point about her being black and poor does have a lot to do with this. Do you honestly think they would have tried it with a more wealthy person? Yes, the facts are we don't know the situation, she could have been in and out doing errands, any number of things.

Her being poor has much to do with this. A more wealthy person would be known to have the money and the postion to defend themselves from such a police action, and hence such charges most likely would not even be considered.

[iverglas]

29. it's not moral to force food on anyone either ...

and yet somehow, I don't think too many of us would object to a parent compelling a child to eat if the child went on a hunger strike to demand a higher allowance ...

Children have rights. Parents have the responsibility of exercising children's rights on the children's behalf, in the children's best interests. That's kind of what the job description is all about.

[Rich Hunt]

47. yes, children have rights

Did it ever occur to you that maybe the parent was protecting her childrens' rights?

Do you think the children would take Ritalin voluntarily? I don't.

The larger issue here is the state attempting to force medication on children. It's not that the mother is "refusing necessary medical care". Children don't enjoy being physically ill.

It's that the state is using the mother to force her children to take Ritalin.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

36. Who is this "they" you keep speaking of?

Is it the government? Medical professionals?

People have the right to refuse medication, yes. Children, on the other hand, are cared for by their parents. The state has the right to take custody of children in the event that the parents are abusing the child by, for instance, depriving them of life-saving medication. This is well-established. From what you're saying, we might as well just disband child protective services, as parents have dictatorial control over their children. They don't. Children aren't property.

And the point about her being black and poor does have a lot to do with this. Do you honestly think they would have tried it with a more wealthy person?

No it doesn't. You're just making shit up. There are plenty of similar situations coming from white, middle-class (usually whack-o christian fundie) families.

Yes, the facts are we don't know the situation, she could have been in and out doing errands, any number of things.

Except that she wasn't. She was in the house. On that point, at least, the information is clear.


Her being poor has much to do with this. A more wealthy person would be known to have the money and the postion to defend themselves from such a police action, and hence such charges most likely would not even be considered.

Look, you can try as hard as you want to make this about "the man" keeping them down, but you're arguing completely beside the point - the point being whether or not it is ever OK for the state to take actions like this, regardless of race, wealth, gender, religion, whatever.

[northzax]

24. can a child refuse medical treatment?

how about a 17 year old? religious reasons are perfectly acceptable, although in my opinion stupid, reasons to refuse medical care. And a parent can refuse medical care for their child, it's painful, it sucks, but it's the way it is.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

33. Yes, they can.

And if the child dies because of it, then the parent goes (or should go) to jail, quite frankly.

[Wizard777]

35. Patients bill of rights includes the right to refuse medication.

If there is no court order overriding the right to refuse medication. Then the woman has been arrested for exercizing her rights. This is a crime that I would liken to Rape. You cannot put your penis in someone without their consent. But you can pump them full of pills against their will until the cows come home.

This is little more than Jeb Bush's Attempt to boost the Pharm Portion of the Bush family portfolio. Talk about a captive customer. You will buy and use our product or go to jail. Street Pushers aren't even that bad.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

38. Did you read the article?

She is being charged with child neglect for the entire circumstances dealing with:

1) Her inability to control the children
2) Her apparent lack of interest in doing above
3) Hiding from the police when she knew they had her children in custody.

She's not being charged with refusing to administer medication.

And, hell, according to her, she FORGOT to give them the pills. Doesn't sound like she has some ethical or moral dispute with it then, does it?

[Wizard777]

41. Wicked Game of Hot Potato

She is being arrested for the Child Care Centers inabillity to control her children. She also has the right to refuse ro cusrodt of her children from the police. You think that the police were hard pressed to give them back because they too were unable to control the children? Do we start arresting parents that don't post bail for there children. It's not about forced medication in any way shape or form. Right?

[HuckleB]

44. Cool.

So, if my kid punches the lights out of another kid at school, I can just blame it on the school for its inability to control my children?

Rock on!

:eyes:

[HuckleB]

26. Good post.

[Freddie Stubbs]

32. Why do you assume that she is poor?

Not all African-Americans are poor.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

34. Hell, why even assume she's black?

For all we know she could be white as a lily and married to a black man.

[Freddie Stubbs]

40. There is a photo of her in the article

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

43. ...

Uh...

Oops?

:)

[HuckleB]

14. We don't know the whole story.

That's really all anyone should say about this at this time.

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. Perhaps it's not medication these children need, but

some parenting.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

22. Why, when medication is so much easier?

:)

[loveandlight]

17. medication may not be the answer

I read an interesting article recently in ODE magazine about a school that changed the eating habits of its students and the children are much more calm. A small quote:
"At first glance there seems nothing special about the students at this high school in Appleton, Wisconsin. They appear calm, interact comfortably with one another, and are focused on their schoolwork. No apparent problems. And yet a couple of years ago, there was a police officer patrolling the halls at this school for developmentally challenged students. Many of the students were troublemakers, there was a lot of fighting with teachers and some of the kids carried weapons. School counsellor Greg Bretthauer remembers that when he first came to Appleton Central Alternative High School back in 1997 for a job interview: “I found the students to be rude, obnoxious and ill-mannered.” He had no desire to work with them, and turned down the job. Several years later, Bretthauer took the job after seeing that the atmosphere at the school had changed profoundly Today he describes the students as “calm and well-behaved” in a new video documentary, Impact of Fresh, Healthy Foods on Learning and Behavior. Fights and offensive behaviour are extremely rare and the police officer is no longer needed. What happened? A glance through the halls at Appleton Central Alternative provides the answer. The vending machines have been replaced by water coolers. The lunchroom took hamburgers and French fries off the menu, making room for fresh vegetables and fruits, whole-grain bread and a salad bar. Is that all? Yes, that’s all. Principal LuAnn Coenen is still surprised when she speaks of the “astonishing” changes at the school since she decided to drastically alter the offering of food and drinks eight years ago. “I don’t have the vandalism. I don’t have the litter. I don’t have the need for high security.”

More at http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4143

Sometimes it is not just about parenting or medical issues, but about the whole environment we create for kids these days, lack of nutrituous food, no exercise. We are producing generations of kids who are more and more prone to disease (asthma, ADD, etc.), all of which is answered by attacking the parents and putting the kids on drugs. This is not the way to go, as far as I can see.

[arikara]

37. Bingo!

I was wondering about why there are so many kids with ADD and Aspergers which were unheard of when I was going to school. Then, there were one or 2 kids that were "hyperactive" in the entire school of 350.

We had no vending machines. We took homemade lunches - sandwiches, fruit and cookies, which were usually also homemade. Town kids usually went home for lunch. ONce a month we had a hotdog day. Nobody drank sodas or ate pre-packaged junk food or the "convenience lunches" that are full of sugar and additives.

I know of one unfortunate little boy who has behavioural problems, his mother is an elementary school teacher. She feeds him a steady diet of macdonalds, candy and soda pop. He rarely ever drinks plain water or eats vegetables. His best friend is the TV and he watches cartoons for hours while bouncing around the room off the furniture because his energy isn't spent in healthy play. He speaks in a high pitched voice like the cartoons and is always hyper and disturbed. She takes him to the doctor and shrinks constantly and is always doping him up with the latest pharmaceutical. My heart bleeds for that kid. I've lost track of them but I doubt that its any better for him.

[Ilsa]

18. Alot going on in this thread, and there are many potential

reasons for the kids' problems. Poor parenting skills may be part of it. And maybe the mother works late and doesn't make her kids get enough sleep, which can cause severely disruptive behaviors and ADHD-like symptoms. I would hope that help (counselling, free meds, additional parenting help, etc) would be available before anyone gets prosecuted. Unfortunately, the mother is probably clueless aobut her children's rights if they have been diagnosed ADD or ADHD by a qualified doctor.

Thanks for posting Lenore! Welcome to DU, and great input.

[progressivebydesign]

19. Everyone is ignoring that the woman refused to answer the door..

I mean the officers had her kids and she wouldn't open the door??? I'm sorry, sounds like shades of the handcuffed little girl whose mother was called to the school and refused to come and get her.

Obviously, this woman's kids are a danger to other children. As a parent, I don't want my kids around violent children.. regardless of the cause. If the agreement to keep these kids in class is medication, then they need their meds.. otherwise they can be homeschooled by this woman or perhaps they'll be guests of the penal system eventually, when their behavior grows into teen criminality.

I can't believe someone would defend this woman. Aren't there any teachers or other parents out there that get it?

[noonwitch]

25. Read the whole article, there is more than the medication issue

1. The kids had recently returned to her care from foster care. The reasons why they were previously in care were not given in the article.
2. The school and the police tried to contact the mother for 4 hours because the kids were going nuts in school. She refused to answer the phone or the door, when the police brought the kids home. She did this for 4 hours.
3. The mom didn't have an on-going disagreement with the schools/doctors/whatever about whether her kids needed to be on medication. She had gotten the prescription and forgot to give them the pills, for several days in a row.

I don't like seeing kids medicated with Ritalin or anything else for ADHD. If a parent I work with has an issue with doctors or the school regarding this, I encourage them to research the medications and their positive and negative effects, to try a diet that limits processed foods and encourage them to make as much food from scratch as possible, enroll the kid in sports and other busy activities that help develop concentration skills while expending maximum energy (dance, music, etc.). You have to come in to meetings with doctors and teachers knowing what you are talking about and with an alternate plan for how to approach the problem or else they dismiss you and call CPS.

In this case, the issue leading to removing the kids from her care was most likely the fact that she refused to cooperate with the school and the police when her kids were acting up. That's considered neglect or abandonment.