School computers 'cause of hyperactive kids' then they are given drugs

April 23, 2006

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=599872006

School computers 'cause of hyperactive kids'

GERRI PEEV POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

CHILDREN are being doped up with drugs to counter their "hyperactivity" because they are overexposed to flashing computer screens in classrooms, a top neuroscientist has claimed.

There was an "appalling overuse" of the drug Ritalin thanks to the increasing use of fast-moving technology in schools, Baroness Susan Greenfield, the director of the Royal Institution and Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University warned. During a debate in the Lords yesterday, she called for a study into the effects of schools' "screen culture" and the drug used to treat hyperactivity.

About 30,000 British children are prescribed Ritalin, to counter Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but critics have warned that teachers and parents are rushing for modern medication to combat an age-old problem: bad behaviour.

There was a "growing scandal developing under our very noses" as drugs and new technologies were being applied to children without enough thought or safeguards, Baroness Greenfield said.

Children were more exposed to "multimedia, bombarding them at the touch of a button".

This could be inducing a reduction in attention spans compared with children in past generations who spent more time reading books.

A Department of Health spokesman said there were strict guidelines for the use of Ritalin.