Aversion to Ritalin, vaccinations often factor in home-school choice
AS thousands of children started the school year yesterday, some stayed home to escape Ritalin and vaccinations.
According to a home-schooling organisation‚ more parents are choosing this form of education for their children‚ largely for health reasons.
“For learners to achieve at school‚ they are increasingly encouraged to make use of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drugs.
“Learners at schools are also expected to have been vaccinated‚” Pestalozzi Trust chairman Bouwe van der Eems said.
“Many parents are concerned about the adverse effect of these drugs and vaccines and choose to remove their children from school to avoid these adverse effects.”
The Pestalozzi Trust is a private organisation that aids home-schooling facilities.
Ritalin is a medication used for children with learning difficul- ties.
Van der Eems said the trust did not have an official position on ADHD medication and vaccinations‚ but its statement was based on anecdotal evidence.
His claim comes two weeks before the deadline for comment on the strongly opposed Draft Policy on Home Schooling‚ contained in the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill‚ which proposes stricter regulations for home schooling.
When Shirley Erwee‚ a home- school curriculum author and act- ivist‚ asked parents on social media to respond to Van der Eems’s claim‚ they hesitated as there was a “valid concern” that they would be portrayed as health nuts.
Erwee admitted that health issues were seldom the only reasons parents removed their children from mainstream schools‚ but said they were a strong contributing factor.
“Research shows that children need to move to learn‚ especially young children.
“Teachers tell children to sit still and if they can’t‚ they get scolded and labelled, or teachers suggest the parents tranquillise them with drugs‚” she said.
A Cape Town mother chose to home-school her eight-year-old son – who had been put on Ritalin‚ Concerta and a child dosage of Prozac – when he questioned if he was “too stupid to be in a normal school”.
The mother‚ who did not want to be named‚ said at 16 her son was now off medication and a popular‚ social teenager.
The Department of Basic Education insists the public system does not force parents to put their children on ADHD drugs.
But up-to-date vaccination cards are a requirement for admission to all public schools. – TimesLIVE