Simon Spero comments on Tim May's Ritalin rant:

On Sat, 6 Jul 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:

...

When the mother (a single mother, as this is California) drops her son off with my friend (also single, of course), she includes several "Ritalin" capsules with instructions on how to dose her son with this depressant/behavior modification drug.

Er... Tim... Ritalin is an amphetamine.

Yup, and it was the illegal drug of choice in Sweden in the 1960's, making its use as a convenient way to quiet down rambuncious kids a bit strange -- but the "medical professionals" have an explanation. Interestingly, it is illegal to hit kids in Sweden -- the courts call it assault, just as if you hit an adult. When I lived there (in the '60 and '70s), I took an informal survey and found only one person who had ever been spanked as a child -- and only once, for breaking her brother's violin. A good friend would infrequently give her infant a pat on the bottom (when he tried climbing on the stove), but was always careful to aim for the well-padded diaper. You may wish to consider whether Sweden's low murder rate is related to the lack of parent-child violence. Martin Minow minow@apple.com