Would you give coffee to an 8 year child? Why not?
Oddly, a lot of people do not want to give coffee to 8 year olds, but they will give Ritalin to 8 year olds, even though Ritalin is a stronger drug than caffeine. I think if I had a child who was having trouble concentrating, I would start off giving them coffee, and I’d only switch to harder drugs if the coffee didn’t help them. Any stimulant helps concentration to some extent, but why not start off with the milder stimulant? What is the justification for starting off with the stronger drug?
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:03 am
$$$ is the justification. Marketing a specific drug for a specific ailment, towards panicked parents- I think the pharma companies saw the light on this one.
Marketing coffee would be harder, and less profitable. So many companies produce it, who would profit directly? It has the ring of a home remedy, which doctors these days try very hard to steer us away from, towards prescription drugs. Home remedies don’t bring in profit and are hopelessly out of style besides.
February 14th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Lark, I think you are right, but why do so many parents go along with it? I know parents who are skeptical of the promises of Big Pharma. But its the parents who seem to buy into this, to a surprising degree. I think most parents would be horrified if they saw another parent giving coffee to the their 8 year old, yet they wouldn’t blink if the same 8 year old was getting Ritalin. Its the way the parents buy into this that surprises me most.
February 15th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Why not Mountain Dew or No Doze? What 8-year old would like coffee?
February 15th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
The sugar in Mountain Dew would be bad for concentration. Certainly, for me, a big sugar spike, followed by a crash, is terrible for my concentration. No Doze is a good suggestion – oddly enough, because it is a pill, some parents might be more comfortable with it than plain coffee.