America's Schoolchildren Are Treated Like Lab Rats Rutherford Institute

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The Rutherford Institute

America's Schoolchildren Are Treated Like Lab Rats

By W. Whitehead

1/18/2007

America's schools are beginning to resemble laboratories, and our

children are the lab rats. In almost every state across the nation,

schoolchildren are being subjected to behavioral exams and mental health

tests, often without their parents' knowledge or consent.

One such program is the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).

Currently used in at least 45 states, the YRBSS test takes approximately

35 minutes to complete, with questions on everything from how much

television the student watches to thoughts on suicide, sexual activity

and drug use. For example, the 2007 middle school questionnaire includes

such questions as: " Have you ever seriously thought about killing

yourself? " " Have you ever made a plan about killing yourself? " " Have you

ever used marijuana? " " Have you ever used any form of cocaine, including

powder, crack, or freebase? " " Have you ever had sexual intercourse? "

" The last time you had sexual intercourse, did you or your partner use a

condom? " " Have you ever sniffed glue, or breathed the contents of spray

cans, or inhaled any paints or sprays to get high? " " Have you ever taken

any diet pills, powders, or liquids without a doctor's advice to lose

weight or to keep from gaining weight? " " Have you ever vomited or taken

laxatives to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight? "

First developed in 1990 by the Center for Disease Control, the test's

stated purpose is to track health risk behaviors among America's youth.

In this way, YRBSS is similar to other mental health screening programs

that have been creeping into the classroom since President Bush's New

Freedom Commission on Mental Health recommended mental health screenings

for all school-aged children, including those in preschool. But if the

goal is to identify and prevent risky behavior among young people, why

are many parents up in arms over these tests?

There are several problems. First, there are concerns about how the

tests are being administered. Health screening tests like YRBSS are

often given to students without parental knowledge or consent. While the

CDC insists that local parental permission procedures are followed prior

to administering the test, many school systems use so-called passive

parental notification procedures, which assume that parents have given

their consent unless they notify the school of an objection. But passive

notification is just a sneaky way to avoid obtaining written parental

consent. And in the end, whether due to the child losing the

notification form or forgetting to give it to the parents, parents are

often left in the dark, unaware that their children are being subjected

to such invasive tests.

Second, critics of these risk assessment tests insist that they're aimed

at pushing antidepressant drugs on teenagers. For example, TeenScreen,

which is similar to YRBSS in its intent to identify suicidal tendencies

and social disorders, has been labeled by the Alliance for Human

Research Protection as a " duo-drug promotion scam " that declares

" otherwise normal children to be mentally ill. " Another vocal critic of

the tests, Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum, points out that drug

companies are gearing up for bigger sales of antidepressants at the same

time that the FDA is issuing warnings about antidepressants increasing

the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children who take them.

Finally, legitimate questions remain about whether such tests really

help students achieve healthier lifestyles. TeenScreen, for example, has

an 84% false-positive rate. This means that 84% of teens diagnosed as

having some sort of mental health or social disorder are, in fact,

perfectly normal teenagers. Furthermore, although the CDC insists that

there is no danger in asking students highly suggestive questions about

sex, drugs and suicide, as a parent, I'd prefer to decide the timing and

content of such a sensitive discussion.

Helping America's teens make positive, healthy and responsible lifestyle

choices is a worthy goal, but it must start with parents within the

home. If the schools are to be part of the process, they must ensure

that parents are fully informed and involved at every step of the way.

In turn, parents should demand that they be notified about mental health

evaluations and that the evaluations not be given unless they have

provided express written permission, which is required under federal

law. Parents should also be provided an advance copy of the screening

questionnaire in order to make an informed decision about whether they

want their child to be screened.

It's time for parents to stand up for their rights. After all, it is

still the job of parents-not the schools-to parent. Our children are

counting on us.

_____

VIDEO: TeenScreen Controversy:

Petition - English http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html

There has been rumblings of mental screening of school children being

introduced in other countries:

French: www.psychsearch.net/francais.html

Italian: www.psychsearch.net/italiani.html

Spanish: www.psychsearch.net/votos.html

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