Hot off the press... Schools to administer
Mandatory mental health screening for every school aged child in the United
States. And those children found wanting, will not be readmitted to school
unless they are medicated as per the school's recommendation. This is a done
deal, done right before Thanksgiving.
Last week I mentioned that that the Republicans
snuck in the elimination of Pell Grants for 100,000 college students while
reducing them for everyone else in the omnibus spending bill that just passed. I
also mentioned that they also included in an opt out/domestic gag rule for
abortion services in the United States.
Well there's more and you're not going
believe this. As just passed in the omnibus spending bill, now every child will
be subjected to psychological testing without the consent or the permission of
parents. Furthermore if the school deems your child needs to be medicated your
child WILL be medicated or they will not be allowed to return to school. This
isn't something that may happen, it's something that has happened. So you see
Republicans do hate children, they hate families
too.
Here's
an article from the un-American piece-of-shit rag newsmax.com. However in this
case you can believe it, because they're talking about the most anti-family
traitors in their own
ranks.
Congress
Funds Psychological Tests for Kids Dave Eberhart,
NewsMax.com Tuesday,
Nov. 23, 2004 One of the nation's leading
medical groups, the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons (AAPS),
decried a move by the U.S. Senate to join with the House in funding a federal
program AAPS says will lead to mandatory psychological testing of every child in
America – without the consent of
parents.
When the Senate
considered an omnibus appropriations bill last week that included funding for
grants to implement universal mental health screening for almost 60 million
children, pregnant women and adults through schools and pre-schools, it approved
$20 million of the $44 million sought, Kathryn Serkes, public affairs counsel
for AAPS, told
NewsMax.
This $20
million matches a like amount already approved by the House, Serkes
advised.
While the funding
cut of some $24 million was a little good news, suggested Serkes, whose
organization has zealously opposed the the measure, she said the organization
was most worried about the failure of Congress to include “parental
consent” language sought by the
AAPS.
Last September, AAPS
lifetime member Rep. Ron Paul, M.D., R-Texas, tried to stop the plan in its
tracks by offering an amendment to the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations
Act for FY 2005. The amendment received 95 “yes” votes, but it
failed to pass.
According
to Serkes, Paul is now mulling offering stand-alone legislation in the next
session to once again try and get a provision for parental
consent.
The federal bill
on its face does not require
mandatory
mental health testing to be imposed upon states or local schools, explained
Serkes.
However, the HHS
appropriations bill contains block grant money that will likely be used –
as is often the case with block funding – by the various states to
implement mandatory psychological testing programs for all students in the
school system.
The spending
bill has its roots in the recommendations of the New Freedom Commission on
Mental Health, created by President Bush in 2002 to propose ways of eliminating
waste and improve efficiency and effectiveness of the mental health care
delivery system.
Although
the report does not specifically recommend screening
all
students, it does suggest that “schools are in a key position to identify
the mental health problems early and to provide a link to appropriate
services.”
The bottom
line, explained Serkes, is that a state receiving money under this appropriation
will likely make its mental testing of kids mandatory – and not be out of
synch with the federal
enactment.
The other
telling point, said Serkes, is that although the relatively minimal funding at
this point is certainly not enough to fund mandatory mental testing for kids
countrywide, it’s an ominous
start:
“Once
it’s established and has funding, a program exhibits the nettlesome
property of being self-sustaining – it gets a life of its own. More
funding follows.”
Officials of the AAPS decry in the measure 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 antidepressants 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.”
Meanwhile,
Rep. Paul says the mental testing scheme is a looming feature of "Big Brother"
that if unchecked will push parental rights out of the
picture:
“At issue is
the fundamental right of parents to decide what medical treatment is appropriate
for their children. 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.
“Once
created, federal programs are nearly impossible to eliminate. 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.
“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.”