Kid goes into see the Dr with cough and no medicine.......see's the Dr. and comes out with hacking cough and no medicine.................bad move.
Buenchico is correct, but it is poor "human relations"
jno is correct......many cough medicines sedate and that may be a good thing.
Cough is a symptom, not a disease, so one must ask what is the cause of the symptom.
Like most things in life, give them what they want and not necessarily what they need.
Prescribe a cough medicine.