Erie School District Screens Every Kid... (Run 'em through like cattle.... )

[Guest guest]

Friends,

If any of you would like me to send you the PPRA document referred to in

this email, let me know and send me the email address you'd like me to send

it to

===================

===================

I'm sure Ms. Christiansen thinks she's doing something really great.

Somebody over there in Pennsylvania ought to take her out to lunch and help

her open her eyes.... I bet she'll be horrified when she realizes she just

let in the big bad wolf to eat all those kids for lunch...

Tsk... tsk... tsk... What a great big shame....

- Good luck with your program. I'll try to pick it up from the

archives at a later time. I hope you're aware of the Pupil Protection and

Rights Act of 1998. All we need to do is help parents understand that they

don't need to agree to let their kid be screened at school. If they have a

real concern, they should take time to find a good counselor they feel

comfortable with that will take time with their child - not herd them though

a mass psycho screen as if they were dumb cattle...

Anyway, the PPRA gives parent all the protection they need, if they KNOW

about it and will use it I've attached it.

Best Regards,

Cassandra Dawn

From: " Vince Boehm " <vince_19805@...>

Reply- " Vince Boehm " <vince_19805@...>

<ASPIRE-US-owner >

Subject: Re: [ASPIRE-US] Radio show in a.m. as new freedom begins in erie,

PA

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 21:21:33 -0400

Hi ,

I've been keeping up with the situation in Erie. It's my home town.

When they screened the ninth graders they found an additiomal (ballpark) 10%

" mentally ill " !

BTW, Columbia University's Carmel Hill Center for Early Diagnosis and

Treatment

is directed by Laurie Flynn.

Yep! That Laurie Flynn. The same Laurie Flynn that was NAMIs national

director for

too many years.

Vince

[ASPIRE-US] Radio show in a.m. as new freedom begins in erie, PA

See the story below from the Erie, PA paper; we are doing a radio show in

that region in the morning at 8:05 Eastern time. we invited the director

of

this new freedom program...we will see if she accepts...

The host is a great ally named Louie Free, it is on WWOW, 1360am; may

also

be heard on his website by all of you: www.LouieFreeShow.com

Please listen in as we continue to engage this struggle for our children

and

families!

thanks,

john

Schools' testing breaks new ground

Erie first in nation to screen teens' mental health throughout district

Tina Christiansen, supervisor of the student and community programs

for the Erie School District, helped make Erie the site for the first

districtwide assessment of the TeenScreen program. (Rob Engelhardt / Erie

Times-News)

Zoom

Buy this Photo

Read More Local News

By KENDRA SNYDER

kendra.snyder@...

The Erie School District recently became the first in the nation to give

students districtwide a mental-health screening aimed at identifying

those

who need treatment.

In the spring, Erie ninth-graders took the TeenScreen survey, a program

developed by researchers at Columbia University in the New York City to

check students for mental-health illnesses.

The 10-minute computer-assisted survey is meant to detect eight types of

mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, social phobias and

substance-abuse problems, based on " yes " and " no " responses.

And the results were surprising, said Tina Christiansen, the district's

supervisor of student and community programs.

A little more than 10 percent of the 831 ninth-graders who voluntarily

took

the survey were identified as needing further evaluation.

Health clinicians in the state's Student Assistance Program already were

meeting with Erie students they felt needed mental-health assistance, but

61

percent of the students identified with possible mental-health problems

weren't receiving any kind of help.

" It was amazing, " Christiansen said. " Not one of my staff predicted that

we

would identify many kids that we didn't already know of. And we did. "

The survey produced such results because it " finds the internalizing

disorders, " said Caruano, deputy director of Columbia University's

Carmel Hill Center for Early Diagnosis and Treatment, which administers

the

program.

" They're the types of illnesses that you can't look at somebody and see, "

Caruano said. " Teenagers are skilled at masking all types of things. "

According to the National Mental Health Association, one in five children

17

and younger nationally have a diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral

disorder, and up to one in 10 might have a serious emotional disturbance.

The association also estimates that 70 percent of children do not receive

mental-health services.

Lack of diagnosis could be why suicide is the third-highest cause of

teenage

death in the nation, said Bill Grove, director of the Mental Health

Association of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

" Teens are often overlooked, " he said. " Sometimes clinical depression in

mental health is looked at as just teenage ups and downs. "

That's why Christiansen said she would like to see the screening become

as

accepted in schools as hearing and vision tests. School administrators

have

yet to determine how TeenScreen will fit into Erie schools.

" When we look at the federal government giving schools specific charge

around the health and wellness of children, we would be remiss to

overlook

behavioral health issues, " she said. " Just like we screen kids for

hearing

at certain intervals, we check their vision at certain intervals, we give

them general health checkups and make sure their immunizations are

up-to-date because we know all those things are important. "

Some say the screening could be viewed as a privacy violation.

" Anything you develop and apply to a large group of people has to be done

thoughtfully, " said Dr. ce Greenhill of the New York State

Psychiatric

Institute. " If they feel uncomfortable about taking it, make it

voluntary.

Some people don't want a health examination, but at least they have the

opportunity to turn it down. "

Erie schools were chosen for the districtwide screening because of their

relationship with TeenScreen researchers and their in-house health

clinicians. Columbia performed similar screenings in the district with

smaller groups of students in past school years.

Christiansen said although she believed the screening was too intrusive

when

she first heard of the program, she's changed her mind after seeing the

process firsthand.

" It's important for people to know and understand that this is not a

psychological evaluation, this is not a formal assessment. It's a

screening, " she said. " It's not about being intrusive to family issues.

It's

about just giving a quick screen and letting children and families

knowing

that this is something to take a look at. "

For the Erie screening, every ninth-grader in the district's four high

schools - 1,141 students - was offered a free and confidential computer

interview. The district obtained parental consent for each student, who

in

turn was given the choice to decline the screening.

The students who gave " positive " answers to the survey were interviewed

by

one of the school's health clinicians on the same day of their screening.

Students whose interview results indicated a serious problem were given

referrals to local clinicians and had their parents notified of the

results.

The Psychiatric Institute's Greenhill said the program may pick up

students

" who had a bad day " and don't have a problem. " But they are unlikely to

miss

anyone who should be tested, " he said.

Christiansen said she doesn't see how the school district could ever stop

using the screening, which is now operating in 36 states.

" We identified students that were just below the radar, that nobody would

have known about, who would have continued for who knows how long,

struggling with significant issues and being alone, " she said.

Caruano, of the Carmel Hill Center, said that's why TeenScreen is

beneficial.

" It's not the kid that's crying in the corner of the room, " he said.

" It's

the quarterback, it's the prom queen, it's the 'A' student that might

have a

problem. "

KENDRA SNYDER, recently completed an internship at the Erie Times-News.

<< PPRAAllowsParentstoOptStudentsOutofSurveys.doc >>

[Guest guest]

Friends,

If any of you would like me to send you the PPRA document referred to in

this email, let me know and send me the email address you'd like me to send

it to

===================

===================

I'm sure Ms. Christiansen thinks she's doing something really great.

Somebody over there in Pennsylvania ought to take her out to lunch and help

her open her eyes.... I bet she'll be horrified when she realizes she just

let in the big bad wolf to eat all those kids for lunch...

Tsk... tsk... tsk... What a great big shame....

- Good luck with your program. I'll try to pick it up from the

archives at a later time. I hope you're aware of the Pupil Protection and

Rights Act of 1998. All we need to do is help parents understand that they

don't need to agree to let their kid be screened at school. If they have a

real concern, they should take time to find a good counselor they feel

comfortable with that will take time with their child - not herd them though

a mass psycho screen as if they were dumb cattle...

Anyway, the PPRA gives parent all the protection they need, if they KNOW

about it and will use it I've attached it.

Best Regards,

Cassandra Dawn

From: " Vince Boehm " <vince_19805@...>

Reply- " Vince Boehm " <vince_19805@...>

<ASPIRE-US-owner >

Subject: Re: [ASPIRE-US] Radio show in a.m. as new freedom begins in erie,

PA

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 21:21:33 -0400

Hi ,

I've been keeping up with the situation in Erie. It's my home town.

When they screened the ninth graders they found an additiomal (ballpark) 10%

" mentally ill " !

BTW, Columbia University's Carmel Hill Center for Early Diagnosis and

Treatment

is directed by Laurie Flynn.

Yep! That Laurie Flynn. The same Laurie Flynn that was NAMIs national

director for

too many years.

Vince

[ASPIRE-US] Radio show in a.m. as new freedom begins in erie, PA

See the story below from the Erie, PA paper; we are doing a radio show in

that region in the morning at 8:05 Eastern time. we invited the director

of

this new freedom program...we will see if she accepts...

The host is a great ally named Louie Free, it is on WWOW, 1360am; may

also

be heard on his website by all of you: www.LouieFreeShow.com

Please listen in as we continue to engage this struggle for our children

and

families!

thanks,

john

Schools' testing breaks new ground

Erie first in nation to screen teens' mental health throughout district

Tina Christiansen, supervisor of the student and community programs

for the Erie School District, helped make Erie the site for the first

districtwide assessment of the TeenScreen program. (Rob Engelhardt / Erie

Times-News)

Zoom

Buy this Photo

Read More Local News

By KENDRA SNYDER

kendra.snyder@...

The Erie School District recently became the first in the nation to give

students districtwide a mental-health screening aimed at identifying

those

who need treatment.

In the spring, Erie ninth-graders took the TeenScreen survey, a program

developed by researchers at Columbia University in the New York City to

check students for mental-health illnesses.

The 10-minute computer-assisted survey is meant to detect eight types of

mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, social phobias and

substance-abuse problems, based on " yes " and " no " responses.

And the results were surprising, said Tina Christiansen, the district's

supervisor of student and community programs.

A little more than 10 percent of the 831 ninth-graders who voluntarily

took

the survey were identified as needing further evaluation.

Health clinicians in the state's Student Assistance Program already were

meeting with Erie students they felt needed mental-health assistance, but

61

percent of the students identified with possible mental-health problems

weren't receiving any kind of help.

" It was amazing, " Christiansen said. " Not one of my staff predicted that

we

would identify many kids that we didn't already know of. And we did. "

The survey produced such results because it " finds the internalizing

disorders, " said Caruano, deputy director of Columbia University's

Carmel Hill Center for Early Diagnosis and Treatment, which administers

the

program.

" They're the types of illnesses that you can't look at somebody and see, "

Caruano said. " Teenagers are skilled at masking all types of things. "

According to the National Mental Health Association, one in five children

17

and younger nationally have a diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral

disorder, and up to one in 10 might have a serious emotional disturbance.

The association also estimates that 70 percent of children do not receive

mental-health services.

Lack of diagnosis could be why suicide is the third-highest cause of

teenage

death in the nation, said Bill Grove, director of the Mental Health

Association of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

" Teens are often overlooked, " he said. " Sometimes clinical depression in

mental health is looked at as just teenage ups and downs. "

That's why Christiansen said she would like to see the screening become

as

accepted in schools as hearing and vision tests. School administrators

have

yet to determine how TeenScreen will fit into Erie schools.

" When we look at the federal government giving schools specific charge

around the health and wellness of children, we would be remiss to

overlook

behavioral health issues, " she said. " Just like we screen kids for

hearing

at certain intervals, we check their vision at certain intervals, we give

them general health checkups and make sure their immunizations are

up-to-date because we know all those things are important. "

Some say the screening could be viewed as a privacy violation.

" Anything you develop and apply to a large group of people has to be done

thoughtfully, " said Dr. ce Greenhill of the New York State

Psychiatric

Institute. " If they feel uncomfortable about taking it, make it

voluntary.

Some people don't want a health examination, but at least they have the

opportunity to turn it down. "

Erie schools were chosen for the districtwide screening because of their

relationship with TeenScreen researchers and their in-house health

clinicians. Columbia performed similar screenings in the district with

smaller groups of students in past school years.

Christiansen said although she believed the screening was too intrusive

when

she first heard of the program, she's changed her mind after seeing the

process firsthand.

" It's important for people to know and understand that this is not a

psychological evaluation, this is not a formal assessment. It's a

screening, " she said. " It's not about being intrusive to family issues.

It's

about just giving a quick screen and letting children and families

knowing

that this is something to take a look at. "

For the Erie screening, every ninth-grader in the district's four high

schools - 1,141 students - was offered a free and confidential computer

interview. The district obtained parental consent for each student, who

in

turn was given the choice to decline the screening.

The students who gave " positive " answers to the survey were interviewed

by

one of the school's health clinicians on the same day of their screening.

Students whose interview results indicated a serious problem were given

referrals to local clinicians and had their parents notified of the

results.

The Psychiatric Institute's Greenhill said the program may pick up

students

" who had a bad day " and don't have a problem. " But they are unlikely to

miss

anyone who should be tested, " he said.

Christiansen said she doesn't see how the school district could ever stop

using the screening, which is now operating in 36 states.

" We identified students that were just below the radar, that nobody would

have known about, who would have continued for who knows how long,

struggling with significant issues and being alone, " she said.

Caruano, of the Carmel Hill Center, said that's why TeenScreen is

beneficial.

" It's not the kid that's crying in the corner of the room, " he said.

" It's

the quarterback, it's the prom queen, it's the 'A' student that might

have a

problem. "

KENDRA SNYDER, recently completed an internship at the Erie Times-News.

<< PPRAAllowsParentstoOptStudentsOutofSurveys.doc >>

[Guest guest]

Friends,

If any of you would like me to send you the PPRA document referred to in

this email, let me know and send me the email address you'd like me to send

it to

===================

===================

I'm sure Ms. Christiansen thinks she's doing something really great.

Somebody over there in Pennsylvania ought to take her out to lunch and help

her open her eyes.... I bet she'll be horrified when she realizes she just

let in the big bad wolf to eat all those kids for lunch...

Tsk... tsk... tsk... What a great big shame....

- Good luck with your program. I'll try to pick it up from the

archives at a later time. I hope you're aware of the Pupil Protection and

Rights Act of 1998. All we need to do is help parents understand that they

don't need to agree to let their kid be screened at school. If they have a

real concern, they should take time to find a good counselor they feel

comfortable with that will take time with their child - not herd them though

a mass psycho screen as if they were dumb cattle...

Anyway, the PPRA gives parent all the protection they need, if they KNOW

about it and will use it I've attached it.

Best Regards,

Cassandra Dawn

From: " Vince Boehm " <vince_19805@...>

Reply- " Vince Boehm " <vince_19805@...>

<ASPIRE-US-owner >

Subject: Re: [ASPIRE-US] Radio show in a.m. as new freedom begins in erie,

PA

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 21:21:33 -0400

Hi ,

I've been keeping up with the situation in Erie. It's my home town.

When they screened the ninth graders they found an additiomal (ballpark) 10%

" mentally ill " !

BTW, Columbia University's Carmel Hill Center for Early Diagnosis and

Treatment

is directed by Laurie Flynn.

Yep! That Laurie Flynn. The same Laurie Flynn that was NAMIs national

director for

too many years.

Vince

[ASPIRE-US] Radio show in a.m. as new freedom begins in erie, PA

See the story below from the Erie, PA paper; we are doing a radio show in

that region in the morning at 8:05 Eastern time. we invited the director

of

this new freedom program...we will see if she accepts...

The host is a great ally named Louie Free, it is on WWOW, 1360am; may

also

be heard on his website by all of you: www.LouieFreeShow.com

Please listen in as we continue to engage this struggle for our children

and

families!

thanks,

john

Schools' testing breaks new ground

Erie first in nation to screen teens' mental health throughout district

Tina Christiansen, supervisor of the student and community programs

for the Erie School District, helped make Erie the site for the first

districtwide assessment of the TeenScreen program. (Rob Engelhardt / Erie

Times-News)

Zoom

Buy this Photo

Read More Local News

By KENDRA SNYDER

kendra.snyder@...

The Erie School District recently became the first in the nation to give

students districtwide a mental-health screening aimed at identifying

those

who need treatment.

In the spring, Erie ninth-graders took the TeenScreen survey, a program

developed by researchers at Columbia University in the New York City to

check students for mental-health illnesses.

The 10-minute computer-assisted survey is meant to detect eight types of

mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, social phobias and

substance-abuse problems, based on " yes " and " no " responses.

And the results were surprising, said Tina Christiansen, the district's

supervisor of student and community programs.

A little more than 10 percent of the 831 ninth-graders who voluntarily

took

the survey were identified as needing further evaluation.

Health clinicians in the state's Student Assistance Program already were

meeting with Erie students they felt needed mental-health assistance, but

61

percent of the students identified with possible mental-health problems

weren't receiving any kind of help.

" It was amazing, " Christiansen said. " Not one of my staff predicted that

we

would identify many kids that we didn't already know of. And we did. "

The survey produced such results because it " finds the internalizing

disorders, " said Caruano, deputy director of Columbia University's

Carmel Hill Center for Early Diagnosis and Treatment, which administers

the

program.

" They're the types of illnesses that you can't look at somebody and see, "

Caruano said. " Teenagers are skilled at masking all types of things. "

According to the National Mental Health Association, one in five children

17

and younger nationally have a diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral

disorder, and up to one in 10 might have a serious emotional disturbance.

The association also estimates that 70 percent of children do not receive

mental-health services.

Lack of diagnosis could be why suicide is the third-highest cause of

teenage

death in the nation, said Bill Grove, director of the Mental Health

Association of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

" Teens are often overlooked, " he said. " Sometimes clinical depression in

mental health is looked at as just teenage ups and downs. "

That's why Christiansen said she would like to see the screening become

as

accepted in schools as hearing and vision tests. School administrators

have

yet to determine how TeenScreen will fit into Erie schools.

" When we look at the federal government giving schools specific charge

around the health and wellness of children, we would be remiss to

overlook

behavioral health issues, " she said. " Just like we screen kids for

hearing

at certain intervals, we check their vision at certain intervals, we give

them general health checkups and make sure their immunizations are

up-to-date because we know all those things are important. "

Some say the screening could be viewed as a privacy violation.

" Anything you develop and apply to a large group of people has to be done

thoughtfully, " said Dr. ce Greenhill of the New York State

Psychiatric

Institute. " If they feel uncomfortable about taking it, make it

voluntary.

Some people don't want a health examination, but at least they have the

opportunity to turn it down. "

Erie schools were chosen for the districtwide screening because of their

relationship with TeenScreen researchers and their in-house health

clinicians. Columbia performed similar screenings in the district with

smaller groups of students in past school years.

Christiansen said although she believed the screening was too intrusive

when

she first heard of the program, she's changed her mind after seeing the

process firsthand.

" It's important for people to know and understand that this is not a

psychological evaluation, this is not a formal assessment. It's a

screening, " she said. " It's not about being intrusive to family issues.

It's

about just giving a quick screen and letting children and families

knowing

that this is something to take a look at. "

For the Erie screening, every ninth-grader in the district's four high

schools - 1,141 students - was offered a free and confidential computer

interview. The district obtained parental consent for each student, who

in

turn was given the choice to decline the screening.

The students who gave " positive " answers to the survey were interviewed

by

one of the school's health clinicians on the same day of their screening.

Students whose interview results indicated a serious problem were given

referrals to local clinicians and had their parents notified of the

results.

The Psychiatric Institute's Greenhill said the program may pick up

students

" who had a bad day " and don't have a problem. " But they are unlikely to

miss

anyone who should be tested, " he said.

Christiansen said she doesn't see how the school district could ever stop

using the screening, which is now operating in 36 states.

" We identified students that were just below the radar, that nobody would

have known about, who would have continued for who knows how long,

struggling with significant issues and being alone, " she said.

Caruano, of the Carmel Hill Center, said that's why TeenScreen is

beneficial.

" It's not the kid that's crying in the corner of the room, " he said.

" It's

the quarterback, it's the prom queen, it's the 'A' student that might

have a

problem. "

KENDRA SNYDER, recently completed an internship at the Erie Times-News.

<< PPRAAllowsParentstoOptStudentsOutofSurveys.doc >>

[Guest guest]

Friends,

If any of you would like me to send you the PPRA document referred to in

this email, let me know and send me the email address you'd like me to send

it to

===================

===================

I'm sure Ms. Christiansen thinks she's doing something really great.

Somebody over there in Pennsylvania ought to take her out to lunch and help

her open her eyes.... I bet she'll be horrified when she realizes she just

let in the big bad wolf to eat all those kids for lunch...

Tsk... tsk... tsk... What a great big shame....

- Good luck with your program. I'll try to pick it up from the

archives at a later time. I hope you're aware of the Pupil Protection and

Rights Act of 1998. All we need to do is help parents understand that they

don't need to agree to let their kid be screened at school. If they have a

real concern, they should take time to find a good counselor they feel

comfortable with that will take time with their child - not herd them though

a mass psycho screen as if they were dumb cattle...

Anyway, the PPRA gives parent all the protection they need, if they KNOW

about it and will use it I've attached it.

Best Regards,

Cassandra Dawn

From: " Vince Boehm " <vince_19805@...>

Reply- " Vince Boehm " <vince_19805@...>

<ASPIRE-US-owner >

Subject: Re: [ASPIRE-US] Radio show in a.m. as new freedom begins in erie,

PA

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 21:21:33 -0400

Hi ,

I've been keeping up with the situation in Erie. It's my home town.

When they screened the ninth graders they found an additiomal (ballpark) 10%

" mentally ill " !

BTW, Columbia University's Carmel Hill Center for Early Diagnosis and

Treatment

is directed by Laurie Flynn.

Yep! That Laurie Flynn. The same Laurie Flynn that was NAMIs national

director for

too many years.

Vince

[ASPIRE-US] Radio show in a.m. as new freedom begins in erie, PA

See the story below from the Erie, PA paper; we are doing a radio show in

that region in the morning at 8:05 Eastern time. we invited the director

of

this new freedom program...we will see if she accepts...

The host is a great ally named Louie Free, it is on WWOW, 1360am; may

also

be heard on his website by all of you: www.LouieFreeShow.com

Please listen in as we continue to engage this struggle for our children

and

families!

thanks,

john

Schools' testing breaks new ground

Erie first in nation to screen teens' mental health throughout district

Tina Christiansen, supervisor of the student and community programs

for the Erie School District, helped make Erie the site for the first

districtwide assessment of the TeenScreen program. (Rob Engelhardt / Erie

Times-News)

Zoom

Buy this Photo

Read More Local News

By KENDRA SNYDER

kendra.snyder@...

The Erie School District recently became the first in the nation to give

students districtwide a mental-health screening aimed at identifying

those

who need treatment.

In the spring, Erie ninth-graders took the TeenScreen survey, a program

developed by researchers at Columbia University in the New York City to

check students for mental-health illnesses.

The 10-minute computer-assisted survey is meant to detect eight types of

mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, social phobias and

substance-abuse problems, based on " yes " and " no " responses.

And the results were surprising, said Tina Christiansen, the district's

supervisor of student and community programs.

A little more than 10 percent of the 831 ninth-graders who voluntarily

took

the survey were identified as needing further evaluation.

Health clinicians in the state's Student Assistance Program already were

meeting with Erie students they felt needed mental-health assistance, but

61

percent of the students identified with possible mental-health problems

weren't receiving any kind of help.

" It was amazing, " Christiansen said. " Not one of my staff predicted that

we

would identify many kids that we didn't already know of. And we did. "

The survey produced such results because it " finds the internalizing

disorders, " said Caruano, deputy director of Columbia University's

Carmel Hill Center for Early Diagnosis and Treatment, which administers

the

program.

" They're the types of illnesses that you can't look at somebody and see, "

Caruano said. " Teenagers are skilled at masking all types of things. "

According to the National Mental Health Association, one in five children

17

and younger nationally have a diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral

disorder, and up to one in 10 might have a serious emotional disturbance.

The association also estimates that 70 percent of children do not receive

mental-health services.

Lack of diagnosis could be why suicide is the third-highest cause of

teenage

death in the nation, said Bill Grove, director of the Mental Health

Association of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

" Teens are often overlooked, " he said. " Sometimes clinical depression in

mental health is looked at as just teenage ups and downs. "

That's why Christiansen said she would like to see the screening become

as

accepted in schools as hearing and vision tests. School administrators

have

yet to determine how TeenScreen will fit into Erie schools.

" When we look at the federal government giving schools specific charge

around the health and wellness of children, we would be remiss to

overlook

behavioral health issues, " she said. " Just like we screen kids for

hearing

at certain intervals, we check their vision at certain intervals, we give

them general health checkups and make sure their immunizations are

up-to-date because we know all those things are important. "

Some say the screening could be viewed as a privacy violation.

" Anything you develop and apply to a large group of people has to be done

thoughtfully, " said Dr. ce Greenhill of the New York State

Psychiatric

Institute. " If they feel uncomfortable about taking it, make it

voluntary.

Some people don't want a health examination, but at least they have the

opportunity to turn it down. "

Erie schools were chosen for the districtwide screening because of their

relationship with TeenScreen researchers and their in-house health

clinicians. Columbia performed similar screenings in the district with

smaller groups of students in past school years.

Christiansen said although she believed the screening was too intrusive

when

she first heard of the program, she's changed her mind after seeing the

process firsthand.

" It's important for people to know and understand that this is not a

psychological evaluation, this is not a formal assessment. It's a

screening, " she said. " It's not about being intrusive to family issues.

It's

about just giving a quick screen and letting children and families

knowing

that this is something to take a look at. "

For the Erie screening, every ninth-grader in the district's four high

schools - 1,141 students - was offered a free and confidential computer

interview. The district obtained parental consent for each student, who

in

turn was given the choice to decline the screening.

The students who gave " positive " answers to the survey were interviewed

by

one of the school's health clinicians on the same day of their screening.

Students whose interview results indicated a serious problem were given

referrals to local clinicians and had their parents notified of the

results.

The Psychiatric Institute's Greenhill said the program may pick up

students

" who had a bad day " and don't have a problem. " But they are unlikely to

miss

anyone who should be tested, " he said.

Christiansen said she doesn't see how the school district could ever stop

using the screening, which is now operating in 36 states.

" We identified students that were just below the radar, that nobody would

have known about, who would have continued for who knows how long,

struggling with significant issues and being alone, " she said.

Caruano, of the Carmel Hill Center, said that's why TeenScreen is

beneficial.

" It's not the kid that's crying in the corner of the room, " he said.

" It's

the quarterback, it's the prom queen, it's the 'A' student that might

have a

problem. "

KENDRA SNYDER, recently completed an internship at the Erie Times-News.

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