This thread, like every other thread dealing with the education system and those who work in it, has been derailed long ago by clowns who have a hobby horse about bashing teachers.
Before I go any further, let me say I don't disagree about there being completely useless teachers that the system makes it basically impossible to get rid of. This is unfortunate, but it's a fact of the world we live in. I think you'd all agree there are doctors, optometrists, lawyers, and any number of occupations with incompetent practitioners. But ranting about it does not help someone who is experiencing a problem related to their child and their school.
My advice to Redfrog, and it's in black and white, was to continue to advocate for his G/D, not go in with guns blazing looking for a pound of flesh, and try to arrive at a reasonable solution. That makes sense.
Somewhere along the way the thread morphed into a Ritalin debate. On Friday I took the time to speak with a paediatrician about diagnosing ADHD and the use of meds to help a child in the class. His opinion is that family doctors are not qualified to do this on their own. It should be a concerted effort between parents and the school, because it is where kids spend so much of their time. If it is deemed a real problem that is interfering with the child's learning and the family dynamic in the home, then, in concert, the school can seek out a psycho-educational assessment, an in-depth battery of tests carried about by a registered psychologist that holistically looks at the child's emotional and learning wellness. Based on the results of those tests, the child would then be sent to a medical doctor, hopefully a paediatrician, and/or psychiatrist to see if their diagnosis agrees with that of the educational psychologist. In this scenario, the only role of a teacher is providing anecdotal feedback. Nothing more. Nothing less.
This is how the system is intended to work. As a parent, you need to know what the system can and cannot, as well as should and should not do. Are there instances where it doesn't work this way? For sure. But who's job is it to advocate for, and have the ultimate say, in the child's life. The parents.
Don't ever let anyone prescribe any kind of medication for a child unless you have received all the professional input that your tax dollars pay for. If you don't, it's your fault.
Having said all that, Ritalin has a place in the doctor's arsenal to treat children who genuinely have ADHD in such a way that it impedes their ability to be all they can be, both in the class, and outside the class.
I agree that prescription meds, you choose which category, are way over-used in our society. But those who need them, genuinely need them.
In my career I have suggested a psych-educational assessment once.
And I don't phone parents in the first two weeks of the school year other than to introduce myself and open the door for communication throughout the year.
Finally, if your child finds themselves in a truly crumby class, and changing schools is not an option, remember this bit of advice I was given in my first year of teaching, "No teacher, in ten months, will turn a diamond into a lump of coal. And no teacher, in ten months, will turn a lump of coal into a diamond."
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PS: I voted Wild Rose too