The noon bell rings at an elementary school in the United States. Children walk in a supervised line from their classes to the cafeteria. Their smiles and voices reflect anticipation and excitement after a long morning of learning. Once they enter the cafeteria, they find their friends, sit down and examine their lunch. I hear the laughter and the typical lunch exchange from those who didn't find what they expected in their brown bags. In the school office, a short distance from the canteen, a large group of children glumly wait in line to receive their medicines. The school secretary is handing out Ritalin. I was told that this medication will help them manage their attention behavior until they get home. But who really needs Ritalin is the question I feel the need to examine. In my search for the truth on the Web I found 13,200 sites on the drug Ritalin. What I find most interesting is the site breggin.com. There are more than a dozen with the Breggin address. When I start viewing the sites, I see that Breggin is actually Breggin, MD Peter Breggin, MD has a good opinion about the overuse of psychiatric drugs, especially Ritalin, dispensed to American children. I decided to test its credibility, as all good critical thinkers would. Peter Breggin is the founding director of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. He graduated from Harvard and considers himself a critic of biological psychiatry. His credentials are revered among his peers, as his website states. Ginger Breggin who, I assume, is a relative of the good doctor, created that website. Breggin has written more than a dozen books attempting to educate the reader against the use of psychiatric drugs, including several titles examining Ritalin. I... in the center of the card... the disease so active children can take a pill. Ritalin is given to children so that parents can manage their overly busy lives. Ritalin is given to children so that teachers can better manage their overcrowded classrooms. Ritalin is given to children by doctors to calm screaming parents who think something is wrong with their energetic children. Ritalin is for adults who self-medicate through their children. Ritalin is given to the wrong patient. WORK CITED Reggin, Peter MD "Eric Harris was taking Luvox (a drug similar to Prozac) at the time of the Littleton murders" April 30, 1999. February 10, 2000. http://www.breggin. com/luvox.htmlBreggin, Peter MD Editorial/Letters, The New York Times May 20, 1996. February 16, 2000. http://www.breggin.com/Wiener, Jerry MD "Is Ritalin Overprescription?" February 17, 2000. http://www.familyeducation.com/