Better, faster, stronger

Articles about doping have been in the news for years. Runners take drugs to become faster, cyclists to increase their endurance and bodybuilders to become even more powerful. We’ve heard it all. But the latest news about doping is different, surprising and shocking at the same time. Apparently, doping is not just used to enhance physical power and stamina anymore but also to increase cognitive capabilities. The latest followers of this trend: children. 

Pupils and students are under a lot of pressure to perform. The workload at schools and at universities is increasing, job competition is increasing; hence, grades need to be better to set oneself apart from others. What helps people to deal with these requirements is drugs. Ritalin in particular has become famous around children. It is prescribed to ten percent of American kids and others just get it off the schoolyard. The original purpose of Ritalin is to help children with ADD or ADHD to concentrate. However, the rumour is that it also helps healthy people increase their concentration. But other drugs which are supposed to be taken by people with dementia, depression or sleeping problems are also popular with students and pupils. The most pressing issue is that nobody really knows about the effects of such drugs on healthy people. They were created to help people who suffer from illnesses and not healthy ones who want to cheat their body. Only the effects of Ritalin have been tested on healthy people and surprisingly, this drug does not help people the way they think it does. Instead of increasing their concentration, Ritalin promotes a decrease in capability and activity. Not only does it not have the effects people think it does, it is possible that those who take it become dependent on it or suffer from other consequences.

Obviously, many kids see no other way out of the challenging situation at school than taking drugs. They think that if they pop a few pills, everything will be fine again. What they don’t think of is that if they do it once, they will do it over and over again. And maybe they tell their friends about it and then they start taking something and then they tell their friends and so on. Some of them might even think, “Why should I have to study twice as hard as my classmates in order to get the same grades when it could be so easy with a little pill?” Soon, taking drugs to enhance cognitive capabilities will be normal if we don’t put a stop to it. And it is clearly time to put a stop to it. The kids don’t know what they are doing to themselves. They need to be educated about the risks of doping and supported in their decision to choose the healthy and right path – without drugs.