The Drugging of Children (by Adults)

It's day one at camp — a camp for children in the foster care system. I was there to learn, as the incoming CEO of For The Children, a Christian-based NGO providing trauma-based programs for foster care children.

What you experience during these five days cannot be described in words. My best attempt is to say you can see the trauma from the moment the children arrive.

Thrashing in bed at night.

Children spitting on and hitting counselors.

Runners.

One boy asked me on the third day if I could be his father.

And there was the line. By the second day, I asked a senior staff member, "What is that long line I keep seeing in the morning and evening?" About 50, which accounted for half of the children at this one-week camp.

"Oh, it’s for their medication."

"So that they 'behave,' I am informed.

"So that they can be 'regulated.'"

Let me make something clear. Without question, medications for mental illness have been a godsend for countless men, women, and children. They can be the only pathway to a normal life. This includes for children.

Recently, researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, reviewed the Medicaid prescription claims of 397,340 children ages 1 to 18. They investigated the rates of psychotropic drug prescriptions for foster children compared to youth not in foster care. (Psychotropic drugs include antidepressants, antipsychotics, stimulants [ADHD drugs], antianxiety drugs, and mood stabilizers.

They found that foster children were prescribed at least one psychotropic drug at four times the rate (35%) of non-foster children (8%).

FOUR TIMES THE RATE.

One former foster child, now an adult, explained the effect of the drugs this way: "It was subduing my emotions. And it was, in essence, controlling my mind by putting me in a sedated state where I wasn't able to fully enjoy myself. Certain emotions I couldn't feel because of these medications.”

So he would “behave.” So it would be easier for his caregivers.

The children need love, structure, support, and care. In rare cases, potent substances to numb them out.

We must do better, and the Child Rights Foundation was formed in this year to advocate of behalf of these innocent children.

Because Children's rights are human rights.

We are just getting started. Feel free to contact Paul Martin to learn more: paul@paulmartin.org.