Mental Health Screening For Preschoolers?
Recently there has been a big push both nationally and at the local state levels to force mental health screening of children in schools. Often this is to be done without parental consent. This is clearly a violation of our basic rights as parents. These screenings are also used to make referrals to psychiatric care and to label children with learning or psychiatric disorders.
“Teen Screen” in Florida is a good example of this. Their stated goal is to get more children referred to psychiatric care. We all know what that means.. more psychiatric care means more harmful drugs, like Prozac, for kids. With the recent black label being placed on antidepressants warning that they cause a huge increase in suicide risks for the kids that take them - it’s now more important than ever that we stop mental health screening of children in it’s tracks.
Now the state of California has started getting into the act. There is a pending bill Assembly Bill 927 (or “AB 927″ as it’s often referred to) that will require any state supported preschool to screen their children. I think it’s disgusting that the mental health lobby is trying to get their foot in the door so they can go fishing for 3 year old psychiatric patients. Let’s stop this trend before it goes too far.
Please help me put a stop to this bill.
Your letter and those of your friends and neighbors are needed NOW asking him to VETO AB 927. This is extremely urgent and needed right away.
Please send your letters to:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
This measure requires any state-supported preschool to complete a “developmental profile” on every child enrolled. The profile is a 7-page check-off survey that includes behavior, emotions and attitudes as well as motor skills, language, etc. The profile is from the California Education Department’s website–they have one of these for every age group from birth up. The website address is http://www.cde.ca.gov. You can find them by searching the site for “developmental profile.” Note, that these are under ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES, which means that the preschools are expected to have children meet these “desired developmental profile” standards.
Some preschools in California already use this profile, but this bill, AB 927, would put it into the law, so it would be MANDATORY without parents’ information or consent to the profile being done. This is a violation of parental rights, and can easily lead to the labeling and drugging of preschool children with psychotropic drugs to make them fit the “desired” pattern.
If you or anyone you know has had a bad experience with developmental profiling of a preschool child, that would be a good start for your message.
Clearly state in your letter that you want the Governor to VETO AB 927. Keep it short, and take up only ONE of the topics below in your own words.
Please separately send me a copy of your letter to bill@psychiatry.info
Suggested topics:
(make sure you write in your own words and don’t just copy them exactly)
1) “Developmental profiling” can so easily be twisted to psychiatric “labeling and drugging.” This is already rampant in our schools. It has no place in preschools.
2) No “profiling” of any child should be done without the parents’ informed consent. This is already the standard for grade schools.
3) Today “help.” Tomorrow “mandatory standards.” Profiling has no useful place in handling 3-year olds except to enforce conformity and hoodwink parents into thinking there is something inherently “wrong” with their child.
Tags: ADD ADHD & Hyperactivity, Mental Health Screening, Psychiatry and Governments, Psychiatry, Drugs & Children
