Some recent articles in the Clarion Ledger and NewsMax.com have gotten my attention.
Doctors Group Opposes Mandatory Mental Health Tests for Kids
Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.comThursday, Nov. 11, 2004 Under new law being considered, the federal government would require that every child in America undergo psychological screening and receive recommended treatment, including drug therapies. Next week the Senate re-convenes to consider an omnibus appropriations bill that includes funding for grants to implement mandatory universal mental health screening for almost 60 million children, pregnant women, and adults through schools and pre-schools.
WHAT?!?!?!? My first instinct as a mother is immediately declare that my child will never be in public schools. Other articles expand further to explain that parents can not give or withhold consent, it is mandatory and therefore the parents don't have a choice but to comply. The same goes for treatment, if a child is found to have an abnormal psych profile, the parents are not given a choice, the child is then treated. How will they enforce it? Social Services!!
But officials of the respected Association of American Physicians & Surgeons (AAPS) decry what they see as “a dangerous scheme that will heap even more coercive pressure on parents to medicate children with potentially dangerous side effects.”
One of the most “dangerous side effects” from anti-depressants commonly prescribed to children is suicide, regarding which AAPS added, “Further, even the government’s own task force has concluded that mental health screening does little to prevent suicide.”
It is frightening to think that our government is actually considering testing our children and eventually adults on a mandatory basis-totally ignoring the wishes of the parent. They might as well tell all American parents that we don't know what is good for our children, and what we want for them does not matter. I will be damned if anyone ever tried to force me to make my child be tested, much less undergoe drug therapy!
I will be graduating with a psych degree in May, my mother in law is a psychometrist, and I have a minor in elementary education... even with this limited amount of knowledge that I have gained, I am able to see some major problems with testing children.
First, they are tested against predetermined social norms. In other countries where this was done in the past, the norms were chosen by the gov and if a child had different cultural beliefs, they were considered abnormal. This may seem far fetched but this problem is cropping up in the tests that we use today to test our children. Our nation has become so diverse that it can be difficult to accurately test many minority groups. Soviet communists attempted to paint all opposition to the state as mental illness. It now seems our own federal government wants to create a therapeutic nanny state, beginning with schoolchildren. It’s not hard to imagine a time 20 or 30 years from now when government psychiatrists stigmatize children whose religious, social, or political values do not comport with those of the politically correct, secular state.
Second, many of the tests used with children today are to determine levels of intelligence. None of them are perfect, and should be used with a battery of tests that test the same thing-as well as teacher interviews, parent interviews and so on. To suddenly decide that children will be tested using one or two tests is very scary indeed because there is little room for mistakes.
Third, I think the entire No Child Left Behind idea has gotten way out of hand. I am a Bush supporter, and I am very proud of him and the Republican party. However, I think that they have made a huge mistake in this act. Today's emphasis on achievement tests and psychological tests is bound to backfire. After observing several Mississippi school systems, and the children in those classrooms, I am seriously disturbed. Any teacher will tell you, it is hurting more than it is helping. They are now forced to teach how to pass this test because the children's future and their job depends on each one. And the children as young as 8 were in tears before one of the tests because they were scared! What are we doing to our children?
American parents must do everything they can to remain responsible for their children’s well-being. If we allow government to become intimately involved with our children’s minds and bodies, we will have lost the final vestiges of parental authority. Strong families are the last line of defense against an overreaching bureaucratic state.”
