ball bashing

I’m new to this board. What’s up with all the Ball stuff?

Suzi

Suzi,

E-mail me if you have questions.

Barb Bloom

You are right that he represents a legitimate point of view—or used to anyway. The problem is that he has become obscene in his comments. He also has been taking different peoples names and posting obscene comments using their names.

Some people have become very frustrated, especially on the ADHD boards where most of the abuse has occurred.

It really is a shame. I used to like to read his posts.

Beth

An explanation. The so called abusive posts were done by other’s using Ball’s name. Ball’s IP has been banned because he was posting anti Ritalin information but the “official” reason is because he was rude.

The way he explained it to me was that some unstable moms took offense and started posting stuff using Ball’s name while others personally attacked him. They tried exchanging quips with Ball and as most of you know that’s suicide. Ball soundly spanked them and their feelings got hurt and since then they were out to get him.

I don’t mind them deleting opinions from time to time but they have been deleting documented research and expert opinion becaus some moms find it uncomfortable to read.

If they don’t like what he posts then they should ignore it but they can’t seem to do that so they are asking the moderators to baby sit them. In the meantime valuable information is being lost in all this silliness.

Ball has been accused of using my name. If he has, I haven’t seen it. I have said “complimentary” things about Ball because I feel he has been a valuable member of this community. I don’t always agree with what he has to say but wouldn’t the world be a boring place if we all agreed all the time? Perhaps he went too far. If he did, I didn’t see it happen. No one should be abusive or be abused but I hope we can all agree to disagree. Ball recently posted something asking people being a little more understanding given his disabilities and I think that should be taken into consideration. Ball has been around for a long time and said enough provocative things for us to know it’s just part of who he is. Ball also says plenty of intelligent and amusing things as well.

Let’s go over this logically.

You write:

>Author: sue
Date: 05-14-03 21:54

>An explanation. The so called abusive posts were done by other’s using Ball’s name.

Oh? How do you know this? Are you a moderator of the board? Have you seen the computer records? Who else on this board has a record of being obscenely abusive?
Or, perhaps, are you just taking Ball’s word for this?

>Ball’s IP has been banned because he was posting anti Ritalin information but the “official” reason is because he was rude.

Oh? And how do you know this, either? Again, are you a board moderator, and do you have access to the records? Do you know who made the complaint, or what the complaint was? If not, how can you justify these statements?
Or again, are you listening to his self-justification and circular arguments?

>The way he explained it to me was that some unstable moms took offense and started posting stuff using Ball’s name while others personally attacked him.

“Unstable moms” — yes, he is very good at insults, isn’t he? And he is very good at throwing mud at anyone who disagrees with him. Who are the people he is so judging? And how is he able to make psychological diagnoses over the internet? And what are his qualifications for making psychological diagnoses?

“started posting stuff using Ball’s name” — what proof do you have of this? You are making some pretty serious allegations here — do you have any real info, or again just Ball’s self-justifying complaints?

“others personally attacked him”. Indeed. Who attacked whom again? Just for myself, Ball called me a liar several times, made personal and obscene comments about my physical appearance although he has never seen me, misquoted science (which I know a heck of a lot better than he does, thank you, as I actually have a real degree in it) to itry to insult my knowledge, and was otherwise grossly personally offensive for no reason. Who is attacking whom?

>They tried exchanging quips with Ball and as most of you know that’s suicide.

No, it’s not suicide, it’s a waste of time and energy. His so-called quips degenerate into obscene insults. He can’t even follow an attempt at wit.

>Ball soundly spanked them

You mean swearing at someone and calling them a liar is a “sound spanking”? He can’t even get the vocabulary right when he tries to play superior; can’t even get it right after it is corrected. That’s making himself look a fool.

>and their feelings got hurt and since then they were out to get him.

My, he gets his posts deleted because of some arcane political manoeuvering, he gets in trouble because people are “out to get him” — hmmm, this sounds a lot more like paranoia than reasoned argument about education

>I don’t mind them deleting opinions from time to time but they have been deleting documented research and expert opinion becaus some moms find it uncomfortable to read.

“documented research” and “expert opinion” — well there is one small problem about this; you have to check up on the documentation and the qualifications (and existence) of the experts invoked. I do not claim to be an expert on these matters (medication for ADD), so I refer to people who know more about them than I do. I have heard from reputable people that the so-called research and expert reports that he has been promulgating are, alas, fabrications. I do not know who made them up, whether it is some other and Ball has just fallen for a hoax, or whether he has joined in the faking, but false reports should be deleted.
Now of course he is going to complain that this is more of the plot against him, that these are true but are being suppressed; well, fine, just post the names and academic ties and qualifications of the authors and experts quoted, and the publication data, and we can look them up and check that this is what they wrote and then I’ll apologize for doubting him.

>If they don’t like what he posts then they should ignore it but they can’t seem to do that so they are asking the moderators to baby sit them.

Well, personally I can trade insult for insult and real scientific knowledge for pseudo-science and gobbledygook, but the board was getting filled up with nonsense and people with real things to say were not able to be heard.
Just in case you hadn’t ever noticed, this is what a moderator is for. The moderator keeps the discussion on the topic defined for the board. Don’t like it? Go trade flames on an unmoderated board to your heart’s desire, then.

> In the meantime valuable information is being lost in all this silliness.

Again, if it’s real, verifiable information, give me the backup information to check on it, and I’ll apologize for doubting. If it’s fake and Ball got caught by a good fake, well, that’s the point of checking with the real experts.

Victoria,

You are the one making unsubstantiated charges while all these offensive posts credited to Ball have all suddenly evaporated.

This is a discussion forum and if you had a problem with the acuracy of what he posted why not prove him wrong and enlighten the rest of us.

I am a bit suspicious of this board because of the censorship of legitimate topic. Ball’s teacher “bashing was allowed as were the sources he quoted but it seems that when Ball took aim at the drug companies he was banned and the board was sanatized.

I think the action of this board and some of it’s posters is more than a bit questionable. I would also like to know if LDonline has an official stance on stimulant therapy.

Oh, come off it.

WHAT so-called “unsubstantiated charges” am I supposed to be making?

I repeat my previous request:

Again, if it’s real, verifiable information, give me the backup information to check on it, and I’ll apologize for doubting. If it’s fake and Ball got caught by a good fake, well, that’s the point of checking with the real experts.

______________________________________

“Why not prove him wrong”:
Hint — if you want to argue science and facts, start by learning the very first and most basic principles of the subject —
It is NOT required to prove a negative. I do NOT have to prove that I was not the murderer. Rather, if YOU claim that I was the murderer, YOU have to prove that I was on the spot, owner of the knife, my clothes stained with victim’s blood, not stained in effort to help, etc.
If you think about this seriously for a few minutes, you will realize that this standard is absolutely essential to a fair argument; if anybody could claim anything and it was held true until proven wrong, there would be no end to it, nad no scientific discoveries, because it’s a heck of a lot easier to invent an idea at random than to prove something.

If you want to prove that drugs are bad (and the funny thing about this is that really, I don’t like drugs much either, but my likes and dislikes are bside the point here) then YOU have to come up with the evidence, and the backup info to show that the evidence is credible. So, where is it? Show me.

_________________________________________

There is NO official position on stimulants.
If you go back and read old posts for a while and get the facts before making decisions, you will find that the board is split fairly evenly between medication and not. I happen to feel more on the not side personally; however not being the parent of a child diagnosed as ADD, I don’t think that it’s my business to tell others who are in the situation what decisions to make with their lives.

____________________________

Again, if you are suspicious of the board and you think it is censored, then why are you here?

Yes, I’ve had the same feeling. When certain of us start to attack the premise of ADHD and the (obvious) overuse of Ritalin, etc., we are made out to be renegades. I happen to agree with Ball’s stance on this issue (minus any rude comments!), so I guess I should be banned from this board as well.

I lost all patience with ball when he posted on another board something about flying planes into buildings of counsellors who work with developmentally disabled.

I lost several friends on 911. Cruelty and LD do not go hand in hand.

That is not LD.

Barb,

I agree that meds are overprescribed and have done quite a bit to avoid meds for my own child. My son is not medicated and doing quite well.

Still I beleive it is a difficult choice that many have to face.

That is not what this is about.

Read my post above.

Linda

I have read the posts. I have a child who has been diagnosed ADD-inattentive. We do not use medication. I obviously think it is legitimate to consider other treatments. BUT Ball did much more than just post anit-Ritalin posts (the scientific value of which I never checked into so can’t comment on). He was insulting and obscene. I saw him go on the parenting board and insult Victoria, for example, who never posts on the ADHD boards and so had no preconceived notions about him.

That is the problem—his language and attacks. Not the opinion–these boards have many opinions on them.

Beth

Hi everyone,

I haven’t been reading on this board consistently for about a month, so I have missed much of what has been going on with Ball.

I initially requested that several of his posts be removed - not because of the opinions he expressed, but because of the personal attacks he was perpetrating on others. I posted that on one of the BBs somewhere. I have also requested that posts selling suspicious products or services be removed. I also asked that god’s posts be removed when he told a depressed individual to go ahead and kill themselves. I did not single out Ball.

I don’t know if anyone remembers, but I also told Ball then that I appreciate his sense of humor and the way he expresses himself - but the personal attacks on others only made him look bad and were self-defeating because no one would listen to his message with the extraneous things in his posts.

The moderator of this board did delete Ball’s offensive posts, and sometimes deleted the entire thread whether the other posts were offensive or not. I have seen this done on other BBs simply to stop the flaming. If the thread goes away, often the flame does, too.

Now, when I requested that some posts be deleted it often took 24 hours for the moderator to check the e-mail and make the posts go away. I think everyone felt time became more critical when god was telling that girl to kill herself, and the link to report inappropriate postings was then put at the top of the page. In my opinion, it was not done because of Ball, but because of whoever this god person is. I applaud LD Online for trying to protect the people who come here for information and help. I’m sure it wasn’t easy or cheap to do this, and look at the flack they are catching for it now.

Perhaps it is now too easy to report posts you don’t agree with to the moderator. I don’t know, haven’t reported any since the link appeared. Give this time to work itself out. LD Online provides an excellent service to all of us - I know that my son is receiving an appropriate education because of everything I have learned here. I honestly don’t know where we would be without this Bulletin Board.

It is not your stance on drugs that is the problem — it is the fact that you refuse to see any other point of view. If you, like others, degenerate into slinging insults and putdowns, your posts (I hope!) will also be deleted.

I am also generally ‘anti meds’, but believe that some decisions should be parental ones. If you have an ADHD or ADD child, and you choose no meds — GREAT. I’d probably agree with you.

But as soon as you begin saying that NO PARENT has the right to choose, under the supervision of medical professionals, to medicate your child, we no longer agree. Just as I would fight to the death NOT to med my child, I will fight to defend that right for others.

You may, of course, continue to post your opinion, and the research you wish to share. I notice those posts remain whenever the post does not degenerate into insult and nastiness — go back through the old posts if you need proof. If you insult others, your posts should be removed.

I am sorry that you feel the need for everyone to agree with your opinion and the research you provide to justify that opinion. I also defend your right to that opinion, and your right to keep posting it — but if you insult others, your posts should be deleted, as should any post that uses the name of another poster on this forum.

In the end, the reputation you build through your posts will go far to convince others of the validity of your opinions and information. By insulting, arguing, and advocating for your position by crying ‘discrimination’, you only serve to make yourself less credible.

Intelligent people who are sincerely interested in exchanging helpful information should not berate or attack each other, even when they hold different views. I have no problem with someone posting the detriments of medication or the benefits of a non-medication approach, or vice versa, so long as they do so in the spirit of cooperation and not because they have something to sell or because they have some need to make other people feel bad.

On another board I frequent, the moderator will delete any post that unfairly criticizes or attacks a parent’s decision to pursue (or reject) a particular treatment. Posts that mock or question the existence of a particular diagnosis are also deleted. Respectful posts that convey information about the pros and cons of particular treatments in a positive way are welcome. Individuals who post on this other board are required to register and there is no possibility of faking posts or leaving out email addresses. This helps to avoid “hidden agenda” posters and fosters an environment in which posters can learn from each other. On this other board, someone who posted an article that, for example, decried the lack of research showing the long-term safety and efficacy of stimulants and expressed his own concerns about that in a respectful way would be welcome. A poster who told the parent of a child diagnosed with ADHD that this was a “made up diagnosis” and that they are a bad parent if they consider “drugging” their child, would find his posts deleted.

I am interested to know whether others agree with me that these boards ought to require registration and that there should be clear posting guidelines that would eliminate the kind of contention we have recently witnessed.

Andrea

I agree that we should welcome all opinions and the key to all the other boards are that the posters are repectful of each other and don’t berate or criticize a parent for their choices. We should not personally attack somebody, like Ball does. His posts had degraded into using foul language to insult people.

I have decided to ignore his posts and not even comment on it anymore and I think we should register so that we don’t have our identity “stolen and abused” by somebody else.

Registering would prevent the type of problems we’ve all seen recently. It also would limit the causal traffic on this site. Some of us are unlikely to registar to check out a site. I know I have sometimes investigated sites but when registration was required gone no further with it. Frankly, until now, I never understood why registration was required and saw it as exclusionary (I know that I could have registered—it just came across that way to me.)

I certainly would registar to continue to be part of this forum but wonder about the desperate parent hunting down information on the internet would.

So there are pros and cons.

Beth

My ds once got some disturbing symptoms after upping some medication. His doctor was away, so in desparation I posted on a medical forum on the internet and immediately received several responses indicating that he could have the beginning of serotonin syndrome. I immediately took him the meds and the symptoms got better within a day so when I did get him to the doctor we weren’t dealing with a big problem.

The forum I used has since installed a registration requirement—if it had had one at that time I needed it, I could have had a son with a serious medical condition. We get many parents on this forum who’ve tripped across it on the internet as they are frantically seeking information for an IEP the next day. They are so grateful at the direction they get on this excellent board—it would be a loss if this kindness to strangers could no longer to continue because they wouldn’t be able to register in time.

So if there’s a vote I’d go with just reporting abusive posts to the webmaster for her to purge. It’s messy but it keeps the door open to all.

I understand your point of view, but in my experience (and others may have a different experience) registration takes place in a matter of minutes and you can post immediately. When I have had to register, I usually fill out a form and receive an email confirmation a few minutes later. Sometimes you have to respond to the confirmation to be able to begin posting, but it has never been (at least for me) a situation where a significant delay resulted. Also, I have rarely been asked for personal information beyond a valid email address.

Andrea

I have found helpful information in some of Ball’s posts we don’t all ever agree. Posts don’t have to be read. Just my opinion.

I have been to sites where you could read the posts without registration but could not post without it. That might work here.

Andrea

Ball could register and post under my suggestion. Different views could certainly be presented, and the only thing everyone would have to agree to would be to treat each other with respect.

Andrea

Aren’t many boards set up where one can view threads and do thread searchs without regisrtation but one needs to register to post?

That’s kinda nice as it cuts down on the dirty things happening yet unsure people can read the board first to get a feel for it.

That’s what I’d vote for.

Barb

Andrea,
Maybe I’m behind the times. When I registered a couple of years ago on the site I spoke of, I had to wait at least 24 hours to receive my password from the webmaster. This kind of wait could make a big difference to people who need help immediately. If it was automated so you could post within a half hour or so, it wouldn’t be so bad. That site, by the way does let you scroll through postings without registering—I think this is pretty much the norm for .org sites, but perhaps not always done at the .coms. Also, the site I am speaking of did allow a poster to register under several different names so you could have one name for your normal posts and another one or two for times when perhaps you wanted to step out of your usual persona.

Let’s get real for a minute and ask ourselves, “why was Ball really banned”?

Let’s take it a step farther and ask why weren’t others banned?

The revisionists are already rearranging the facts. Ball made some people very uncomfortable because he made them look at themselves. Now when any of the Ball Brigade posts hard science that is anti-drug it gets erased Why?

The Ball network is posting here and there are sleepers here. The truth will come out.

What would keep Ball from registering? How would any kind of waiting period deter him? I am against banning anybody. The more Ball is attacked, the meaner his posts become. He is persistent, if nothing else, and quite often has good points to make. He will find a way to post here, no matter what steps are taken to prevent it.

Ball, you evidently like creating an uproar. A lot of people on this board may not be good enough parents to your satisfaction, but it is not your job to attack and criticize. There is a lot of pain here, both the child’s and the parent’s, and you have no business making it worse. The effect of your rantings is that you come off as a nutcase, and your posts are going to be ignored, no matter how truthful they are. Who wants to read anything so crazy and mean?

Ball could register but wouldn’t know anyone else’s password. That way, he couldn’t user other user’s name. I also believe it makes it easier for moderators to trace IPs and therefore stop future posts.

Barb

I like that idea.

I surf around and don’t register everywhere. I like to read many different boards but wouldn’t want to register on all.

I can agree with this — I have a horror of ‘stolen identity’. I also agree that the restriction on registration should be for posting only — anyone should be able to fully explore before they join the group.

I read posts on this forum for quite awhile before I posted.
Beth

I agree that registration wouldn’t be a barrier to anyone using the board. Registration is quick on other sites and it lets the moderator know who is on the board. However, there are ways to circumvent it if someone is so inclined and there’s nothing to keep people from lying, so it’s not necessarily a perfect solution.

Hi, I think we have to ignore his post and stop talking about it because he is now using new names to bring up the topic of Ball bashing and keeping this topic on the boards. He wants to be in the limelight. Say, lets just report the bad posts and not answer any of his and just Ignore it and stop talking about it. Hopefully, it will all stop.

Hi, I think we have to ignore his post and stop talking about it because he is now using new names to bring up the topic of Ball bashing and keeping this topic on the boards. He wants to be in the limelight. Say, lets just report the bad posts and not answer any of his and just Ignore it and stop talking about it. Hopefully, it will all stop.

Why is it that we are talking about it? Are we perhaps feeling guilty?

.

I knew, as I posted in the first post, that someone would accuse me of being Ball. I can assure you, I do not know Ball, and I am not Ball. I do, though, happen to agree with his anti-medication stance and appreciated his point of view, regardless of the way he wrote things at times.

Note the absence of an email link, which the true BGB includes.

Victoria—

I didn’t post this! This will be the 17th post I’ve reported TODAY not done by me. Boy, do I feel special to get all this attention!

LOL

Barb Bloom

If you agree with Ball then go somewhere else and spew your poison. Ball is an abusive uninformed jerk.

Ah now a little reverse reverse psychology is being applied to try to discredit Ball. How sad!

Typical

.

.

Ball is a lunatic. Right? Ball is brain damaged. Right? Ball is rude.Right? Ball is wrong. Right?

We need to make an example of Ball. So far he is winning and he is winning big.

We have not proven him wrong about drugging children. Deleting his posts will only make him more determined and he is recruiting more people to come here. He is holding this board hostage.

As I have previously stated, the commencement and increase of this kind of grotesque, maniacal violence in our schools is date coincident with the introduction and use of mind-altering drugs by our children.These graphs show the alarming increase in the production of Ritalin from 1985 to 1995 as well as the number of ADD/ADHD diagnoses from 1988 to 1997. Bearing these in mind, consider the events of the last two years alone:

1. On May 25, 1997, 18-year-old Jeremy Strohmeyer raped and murdered a 7-year-old African American girl in Las Vegas, Nevada. Strohmeyer had been diagnosed with ADD and prescribed Dexedrine, a Ritalin-like drug, immediately prior to the killing.

2. On October 1st, 1997, in Pearl Mississippi, 16-year-old Luke Woodham stabbed his mother, 50-year-old Mary Woodam, to death and then went to his high school where he shot nine people - killing two teenage girls and wounding seven others. Published reports say he was on Prozac.

3. Exactly two months later on Dec 1, 1997, Michael Carneal, a 14-year-old, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded, one of whom was paralyzed. Carneal was reportedly on Ritalin.

4. Then in February, 1998 a young man in Huntsville, Alabama, while on Ritalin went psychotic - chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.

5. On March 24, 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 14-year-old Mitchell Johnson shot 15 people killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others. According to one report, the boys were believed to be on Ritilan.

6. Two months later another grisly school massacre occurred. On May 21, 1998 15-year-old Kip Kinkel of Springfield, Oregon murdered his parents and proceeded to his high school where he went on a rampage killing two students and wounding 22 others. Kinkel had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.

7. On April 16th, 1999, 15-year-old Shawn Cooper of Notus, Idaho took a 12-guage shot gun to school and started firing, injuring one student and holding the school hostage for about 20 minutes. Terrified students ran for their lives, some barricading themselves in classrooms. Cooper had been taking Ritalin when he fired the shotgun’s rounds.

8. The incident in Idaho did not make the national press (no one, thank God, was killed). But all that changed four days later when 18-year-old Eric Harris killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School before killing himself. Harris was on one of the SSRI anti-depressants called Luvox.

9. One month later to the day, on May 20th of this year TJ Solomon, a 15-year-old high school student in Conyers, Georgia, while on Ritalin opened fire on and wounded six of his classmates. Thankfully, none were killed.

10. Then there’s 14-year-old Rod Mathews who had been prescribed Ritalin since the third grade and beat a classmate to death with a bat.

And 19-year-old James Wilson who had been on psychiatric drugs for 5 years and took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school in Greenwood, South Carolina killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers!

As I have previously stated, the commencement and increase of this kind of grotesque, maniacal violence in our schools is date coincident with the introduction and use of mind-altering drugs by our children.These graphs show the alarming increase in the production of Ritalin from 1985 to 1995 as well as the number of ADD/ADHD diagnoses from 1988 to 1997. Bearing these in mind, consider the events of the last two years alone:

1. On May 25, 1997, 18-year-old Jeremy Strohmeyer raped and murdered a 7-year-old African American girl in Las Vegas, Nevada. Strohmeyer had been diagnosed with ADD and prescribed Dexedrine, a Ritalin-like drug, immediately prior to the killing.

2. On October 1st, 1997, in Pearl Mississippi, 16-year-old Luke Woodham stabbed his mother, 50-year-old Mary Woodam, to death and then went to his high school where he shot nine people - killing two teenage girls and wounding seven others. Published reports say he was on Prozac.

3. Exactly two months later on Dec 1, 1997, Michael Carneal, a 14-year-old, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded, one of whom was paralyzed. Carneal was reportedly on Ritalin.

4. Then in February, 1998 a young man in Huntsville, Alabama, while on Ritalin went psychotic - chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.

5. On March 24, 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 14-year-old Mitchell Johnson shot 15 people killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others. According to one report, the boys were believed to be on Ritilan.

6. Two months later another grisly school massacre occurred. On May 21, 1998 15-year-old Kip Kinkel of Springfield, Oregon murdered his parents and proceeded to his high school where he went on a rampage killing two students and wounding 22 others. Kinkel had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.

7. On April 16th, 1999, 15-year-old Shawn Cooper of Notus, Idaho took a 12-guage shot gun to school and started firing, injuring one student and holding the school hostage for about 20 minutes. Terrified students ran for their lives, some barricading themselves in classrooms. Cooper had been taking Ritalin when he fired the shotgun’s rounds.

8. The incident in Idaho did not make the national press (no one, thank God, was killed). But all that changed four days later when 18-year-old Eric Harris killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School before killing himself. Harris was on one of the SSRI anti-depressants called Luvox.

9. One month later to the day, on May 20th of this year TJ Solomon, a 15-year-old high school student in Conyers, Georgia, while on Ritalin opened fire on and wounded six of his classmates. Thankfully, none were killed.

10. Then there’s 14-year-old Rod Mathews who had been prescribed Ritalin since the third grade and beat a classmate to death with a bat.

And 19-year-old James Wilson who had been on psychiatric drugs for 5 years and took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school in Greenwood, South Carolina killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers!

As I have previously stated, the commencement and increase of this kind of grotesque, maniacal violence in our schools is date coincident with the introduction and use of mind-altering drugs by our children.These graphs show the alarming increase in the production of Ritalin from 1985 to 1995 as well as the number of ADD/ADHD diagnoses from 1988 to 1997. Bearing these in mind, consider the events of the last two years alone:

1. On May 25, 1997, 18-year-old Jeremy Strohmeyer raped and murdered a 7-year-old African American girl in Las Vegas, Nevada. Strohmeyer had been diagnosed with ADD and prescribed Dexedrine, a Ritalin-like drug, immediately prior to the killing.

2. On October 1st, 1997, in Pearl Mississippi, 16-year-old Luke Woodham stabbed his mother, 50-year-old Mary Woodam, to death and then went to his high school where he shot nine people - killing two teenage girls and wounding seven others. Published reports say he was on Prozac.

3. Exactly two months later on Dec 1, 1997, Michael Carneal, a 14-year-old, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded, one of whom was paralyzed. Carneal was reportedly on Ritalin.

4. Then in February, 1998 a young man in Huntsville, Alabama, while on Ritalin went psychotic - chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.

5. On March 24, 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 14-year-old Mitchell Johnson shot 15 people killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others. According to one report, the boys were believed to be on Ritilan.

6. Two months later another grisly school massacre occurred. On May 21, 1998 15-year-old Kip Kinkel of Springfield, Oregon murdered his parents and proceeded to his high school where he went on a rampage killing two students and wounding 22 others. Kinkel had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.

7. On April 16th, 1999, 15-year-old Shawn Cooper of Notus, Idaho took a 12-guage shot gun to school and started firing, injuring one student and holding the school hostage for about 20 minutes. Terrified students ran for their lives, some barricading themselves in classrooms. Cooper had been taking Ritalin when he fired the shotgun’s rounds.

8. The incident in Idaho did not make the national press (no one, thank God, was killed). But all that changed four days later when 18-year-old Eric Harris killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School before killing himself. Harris was on one of the SSRI anti-depressants called Luvox.

9. One month later to the day, on May 20th of this year TJ Solomon, a 15-year-old high school student in Conyers, Georgia, while on Ritalin opened fire on and wounded six of his classmates. Thankfully, none were killed.

10. Then there’s 14-year-old Rod Mathews who had been prescribed Ritalin since the third grade and beat a classmate to death with a bat.

And 19-year-old James Wilson who had been on psychiatric drugs for 5 years and took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school in Greenwood, South Carolina killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers!