Medications: The Christian morality of giving them to children

We are aware of the issue of mental illness in adults, and support giving them medication. Very few adults know about the concept of childhood mental illness, except those who have such a child or were such a child, with me being the latter. The gentle parenting community is divided on the issue of prescribing children medication. I myself base my opinion on my Christian faith, and by default, the individual needs of the child. Over-medication and undermedication are both abuse, but can be simply a medical mistake if the parent is remorseful. I am personally, however, biased towards pro-medication stances, meaning children aren't getting the mental health supports they need because they are simply seen as "bad", "bratty", or "disrespectful".

Parents should have goals, meaning a paradigm, and the Bible sets one up for parents - mutual submission. It says in Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things, as is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they become discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to rest and surrender in the care, support, and protection of parents, owing nothing in return to them, with parents instead owing everything to children as their enemy, submitting to them as mankind is subject to God, paying due penance accordingly. Surrender to parents in a child is a result of parents meeting the child's every vulnerable need, including attachment needs. The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and literally translates to "stir up" and is one of the Greek words in the New Testament that refers to the offenses, which were a system of legal damages and torts stemming from the Eighth Commandment. The New Testament implicitly sums them up as the slightest of personal slights perceived by the child, stemming from entitled intent to control, manipulate, punish, sexually objectify, and/or impose want on a child. Entitlement is wanting things from a child to the point of seeking to impose said want on a child, in which case the offense counts as abuse.

Over-medication is not simply "spoiling the innocence of childhood with medication". It is a specific legal event that can be documented in such a manner. We refer to it as an "event" because it can sometimes be an apologized mistake by the doctor and the parents. Usually, the medication does not work, and usually, one can see the child in a catatonic (like a statue) or semi-catatonic state. If the parents insist on medication as a barrier, and the child clearly cannot function, that is medical abuse of a child, and is actually not a lawful offense against children in relation to the higher authorities.

Under-medication happens when parents refuse to see their child as he or she is, and groom the child to simply be a "behavior problem" that "needs correction/punishment", thus saying "A good spanking does the trick. Why have kids pop pills these days as an excuse". In this case, this is medical neglect, which is much harder to prosecute under the civil laws, but can be prosecuted under the moral legal laws that guide our nation's values, if the plaintiff collects evidence of entitlement of this regard in parents beyond a reasonable doubt. This sort of entitlement sees the child as simply a "brat" or "monster" to corral, meaning simply an animal and not a full human being with complex medical needs. An abuser statement in this regard would be "I am the parent, and I know my child - she just needs a good pop in the rear end. Pills are an excuse". Many times, a child that is extremely out of control in the supermarket, screaming, kicking, and swearing up a storm despite being perhaps age 9 or 10 has a serious mental disorder, and the one I am alluding to is childhood bipolar disorder, and they thank their parents for medicating them once on the right dosage of medication, meaning I have the disorder in remission, and I don't identify by it as who I am at all. It is a closed book, leading to a new one opening. Then I found out I was a pedophile shortly after being medicated, and developing an interest in abnormal psychology, which is a current interest of mine. I think the mental health system here in Pennsylvania has been good to me...If I wasn't medicated, I might have ended up in prison for child molestation, because I would have become a sociopath with that level of mania. 

Most people do not understand how psychotropic medications work, or else they wouldn't judge those who are driven to medicate their child. It isn't once and done. Children grow quicker than adults, and so medications, many times, need to be adjusted or shed completely. Also, some medications are more potent than others, meaning some wear off and need to be increased, risking addiction, whereas some medications have been around a long time, and thus have been modified many times to be safe. Some mental disorders don't need medication. 

Mental illness can exist in children, and knowing this fact does not spoil their "innocence". Childhood innocence is one way for adults to put children in a corner, and deify them while tearing them down. A child, in fact, is just as likely to develop a mental health disorder as an adult. Even disorders such as pedophilia can be diagnosed or tracked in children, with 16 being the youngest age that a mental health professional can diagnose a child with pedophilic disorder, while there are ways to track the trajectory if you know how (I myself was basically a children's rights self-advocate - that, however, means more self-awareness of trauma). 

The depraved and entitled parents who abuse and neglect children through modern medicine or lack thereof commit the moral crime of entitlement leading to theft by way of kidnapping. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.