Education Report Roundup

Many Parents Seen as Looking to Enhance Children’s Academic Performance With Drugs

By Michelle R. Davis — September 27, 2006 1 min read
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Detailed results of the poll are available from HCD Health.

A national survey of 640 physicians found that 67 percent of them reported that parents had requested prescriptions for behavioral drugs for their children to enhance academic performance.

The survey, conducted by HCD Research and Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, also found that doctors estimated that in roughly 60 percent of cases in which a behavioral drug such as Ritalin is prescribed, a student’s academic performance improves. Doctors also estimated that about 16 percent of parents whose requests for behavioral drugs for their children were denied were able to get the drugs anyway, without a physicians’ approval.

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