Illinois just passed some regulatory nonsense mandating mental health screening for all school age children. So glad I don't live there! Just hope the idea doesn't catch on at the federal level.....
Wendy
===========================================================================
Congressperson says "no" to drug company plans to screen USA.
http://mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/congressperson_says_no.shtml
BELOW are two brief articles by a US Congressperson who strongly
opposes psychiatric drug company plans -- approved by President Bush -
- to screen every single USA citizen for mental health problems.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
14 September 2004
The Psycho State
by Rep. Ron Paul, MD
US Representative in Congress
14th District of Texas
A presidential initiative called The "New Freedom Commission on
Mental Health" has issued a report recommending forced mental health
screening for every child in America, including preschool children.
The goal is to promote the patently false idea that we have a nation
of children with undiagnosed mental disorders crying out for
treatment.
One obvious beneficiary of the proposal is the pharmaceutical
industry, which is eager to sell the psychotropic drugs that
undoubtedly will be prescribed to millions of American schoolchildren
under the new screening program. Of course a tiny minority of
children suffer from legitimate mental illnesses, but the widespread
use of Ritalin and other drugs on youngsters who simply exhibit
typical rambunctious, fidgety, and impatient behavior is nothing
short of criminal. It may be easier to teach and parent drugged kids,
but convenience is no justification for endangering them. Children's
brains are still developing, and the truth is we have no idea what
the long-term side effects of psychiatric drugs may be. Medical
science has not even exhaustively identified every possible brain
chemical, even as we alter those chemicals with drugs.
Dr. Karen Effrem, a physician who strongly opposes mandatory mental
health screening, warns us that "America's children should not be
medicated by expensive, ineffective, and dangerous medications based
on vague and dubious diagnoses." She points out that psychiatric
diagnoses are inherently subjective, as authors of the diagnostic
manuals admit. She also is concerned that mental health screening
could be used to label children whose attitudes, religious beliefs,
and political views conflict with the secular orthodoxy that
dominates our schools.
The greater issue, however, is not whether youth mental health
screening is appropriate. The real issue is whether the state owns
your kids. When the government orders "universal" mental health
screening in schools, it really means "mandatory." Parents, children,
and their private doctors should decide whether a child has mental
health problems, not government bureaucrats. That this even needs to
be stated is a sign of just how obedient our society has become
toward government. What kind of free people would turn their
children's most intimate health matters over to government strangers?
How in the world have we allowed government to become so powerful and
arrogant that it assumes it can force children to accept psychiatric
treatment whether parents object or not?
Parents must do everything possible to retain responsibility and
control over their children's well-being. There is no end to the
bureaucratic appetite to rule every aspect of our lives, including
how we raise our children. Forced mental health screening is just the
latest of many state usurpations of parental authority: compulsory
education laws, politically-correct school curricula, mandatory
vaccines, and interference with discipline through phony "social
services" agencies all represent assaults on families. The political
right has now joined the political left in seeking the de facto
nationalization of children, and only informed resistance by parents
can stop it. The federal government is slowly but surely destroying
real families, but it is hardly a benevolent surrogate parent.
Mental Health Screening for Kids - Part II
20 September 2004
by Rep. Ron Paul, MD Republican member of Congress from Texas.
Last week I wrote about a presidential initiative called the "New
Freedom Commission on Mental Health," which issued a report calling
for the mandatory mental health screening of American schoolchildren.
This new proposal threatens to force millions of kids to undergo
psychiatric screening, whether their parents consent or not. At issue
is the fundamental right of parents to decide what medical treatment
is appropriate for their children.
I introduced an amendment to eliminate any funding for the proposal
in a Department of Education and Department of Health and Human
Services spending bill. Although the amendment failed, the response
to my office has been overwhelming and highly supportive. The notion
of federal bureaucrats ordering potentially millions of youngsters to
take psychotropic drugs like Ritalin strikes an emotional chord with
American parents, who are sick of relinquishing more and more
parental control to government.
Some members of Congress objected to my amendment on the grounds that
the federal screening program does not yet exist, so it's premature
to oppose it. But the whole point was to prevent the proposal from
being implemented in the first place. Once created, federal programs
are nearly impossible to eliminate. Congress had a rare opportunity
to stop a bad idea in its tracks, before it becomes entrenched. Every
member who opposes the idea of forcing kids to undergo mental health
screening should have sent a strong statement by voting for my
amendment. They will have another chance to kill the initiative when
I introduce a stand-alone bill later this year.
Furthermore, it's not true that no money has been allocated for the
proposal. The Appropriations committee, which distributes your tax
dollars to the various federal agencies, specifically allotted $20
million in the HHS/Education bill for state programs in support of
the New Freedom commission report. These federally-funded state
programs will be the precursors of the broader federal program
recommended by the commission.
Anyone who understands bureaucracies knows they assume more and more
power incrementally. A few scattered state programs over time will be
replaced by a federal program implemented in a few select cities.
Once the limited federal program is accepted, it will be expanded
nationwide. Once in place throughout the country, the screening
program will become mandatory. This is why we can never trust new
bureaucratic programs: no matter how benevolent their proponents
claim them to be, most programs morph into something much larger than
originally foreseen. Those who view my concerns as alarmism fail to
understand the inevitable nature of bureaucratic growth.
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.
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.
http://www.house.gov/paul/
==================================
"Here, take our Constitution. We're not using it anyway."--Robin Williams, to Iraq
===================================
"Fifty years ago, they taught Latin and Greek in high schools. Today, they teach remedial English in colleges."
http://www.WendyFiles.com
Kelsey's Online Baby Book:
http://www.babyzone.com/features/babybooks/Book.asp?BookID=355101