Mental-health screening of kids

The Liberty Committee ^ | 110804 | Kent Snyder

[the invisib1e hand]

High-priced lobbyists in Washington are tough to beat; especially the ones who represent the pharmaceutical industry. But we can't let them win this time.

On September 7th, we told you about the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health's plan (a presidential commission) to subject every child in America to mandatory mental-health screening; a plan that will result in the forced drugging of children. Two days later, Congressman Ron Paul tried to stop this insidious plan 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.

However, Congressman Paul and several of his colleagues are not giving up. Neither are we. They have drafted a letter to Congressman Ralph Regula, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations, asking for his help. The letter will be sent to Mr. Regula this Friday. As of today, 11 House members have signed the letter which is a very good start. But the high-priced lobbyists representing the drug companies are already working to oppose our effort, so we need to get additional support for our side.

Read the letter and then urge your U.S. representative to sign it. If you think mandatory mental-health screening can’t happen in the good ol' USofA, think again. In 1995, while George W. Bush was governor, the state of Texas launched the Texas Medication Algorithm Project. The state of Illinois launched a similar program in 2003. Backers of those two state programs now want to go nationwide! We must stop them!!

To read the letter and send your message, go to
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org/regula.htm

Background
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org/update09.07.04.htm

Kent Snyder
The Liberty Committee
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org

[valkyrieanne]

You *should* have a cold feeling in the pit of your stomach.
Before the 2000 election, No Child Left Behind was basically an idea floating around the Bush campaign, largely between Governor Bush and the Houston district superintendent (now our Education Secretary) Ron Paige. Now NCLB is a monstrous federal octopus strangling every school district that takes federal funds (i.e. virtually all of them.) It went from a wacky idea to *reality* because a sympathetic Congress, anxious to "do something about the problem" voted it in.

The *same thing* can happen here. But this wasn't a campaign idea - this was a government commission set up *at the President's request.* It is NOT a "left wing nut job" idea. It was NOT thought up by the NYTimes. And with a Republican majority in both House and Senate, it has some serious potential to become law, just as NCLB became law.

I would look for the #1 point of implementation to come from the public schools that take federal funds. Those schools IMO would be required to offer the screening, just as they are required now to comply with NCLB directives. Since drugs are the remedy of choice, no doubt many children would be required to take drugs.

Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending it's a 'liberal plot' won't make it go away.

[valkyrieanne]

I thought a Bush reelection and Republican sweep of Congress would put an end to this foolishness. Get the grubby govt claws off our children!

That's what I would have thought, too, but having seen No Child Left Behind go into action, I think otherwise.

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending it's a 'liberal plot' won't make it go away.

Did I give the impression that I thought it was a liberal plot? That certainly wasn't my intention. I've been to the Whitehouse website and looked at the order. This is coming from the President himself. Granted, the order doesn't say anything about mandatory testing and that is why I've been hesitant in getting upset about it.

I talked to my sister last night about it. She's a public school teacher and she said that there would be no way that parents could be forced to allow their child to be tested, based on her experience with special education testing. If a parent declines testing for "learning disabilities" there is nothing that the school can do to compel them.

She also said that as far as she's concerned, schools should be reluctant to participate because of liability issues. If the schools do the testing and recommend treatment for "mental/emotional impairment", then they could be held responsible if something goes wrong.

[vpintheak]

Yes I did, and I apologize. Please don't put me on prozac!

[Tax-chick]

Just checking :-).

[EagleMamaMT]

Pretty sickening that this came out of a supposedly "conservative administration", isn't it? From what I've read on this issue, I'm seeing the words "mandatory mental health screening" thrown around. That looks to me like they mean EVERY child, regardless of parental objection. We'd better join Rep. Paul and try to get this monster killed off.

[vpintheak]

No problem, we gotta keep our eyes on eachother. Gotta make sure nobody gets any funny idea's ;)

[the invisib1e hand]

I thought a Bush reelection and Republican sweep of Congress would put an end to this foolishness.

I don't think our choice of president EVER relieves us of the responsibility to vigilant, vital participants in our government. In fact, I think the framers pretty well came to the opposite conclusion.

As Rush would say, "never sit on the lead!"

[the invisib1e hand]

here's an update, and I'll post it on the other thread as well.

November 9, 2004

Your efforts are paying off! Nine more members of the U.S. House signed Congressman Paul's letter today. The letter now has 20 signers. In addition, several producers of radio talk shows and press reporters contacted Dr. Paul's office.

Adding nine more signers in one day is great; especially when you consider that House members are not in their Capitol Hill offices this week, and many members of their staffs are away too. Your efforts have pushed staff members to call their bosses at home to get their approval.

We have one more day. Thursday is Veterans Day, so Capitol Hill offices will be closed. Dr. Paul will send his letter to Chairman Regula first thing Friday morning, leaving tomorrow as our last day to get more signers.

Here's the checklist:

1. Read the letter and see who signed today.
2. Send a message to your representative.
3. Spread the word.

Thank you for your help! We can't allow mandatory mental-health screening (and forced drugging) of kids to take place in America.

We have one more day. Let's make the most of it. Go to http://www.thelibertycommittee.org/regula.htm

Kent Snyder
The Liberty Committee
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org

[Coleus]

Shouldn't we contact President Bush who started this Nonsense?  Our mental health system is fine and it should be left up to the states as to what to do with their citizens.

President Says U.S. Must Make Commitment to Mental Health Care
      View the President's Remarks
     Listen to the President's Remarks

Mailing Address The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500
Phone Numbers Comments:   202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX:             202-456-2461	TTY/TDD Comments:      202-456-6213 Visitors Office: 202-456-2121

E-Mail

President George W. Bush: president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President Richard Cheney: vice.president@whitehouse.gov

Psychiatry and the State (Excerpt)
by Dennis Behreandt

The federal government plans a new role in delivering mental health care.  Historically, however, governments have used psychiatric techniques for harm rather than good.

On April 29, 2002, President George W. Bush issued an executive order creating a new commission charged with finding ways to “improve America’s mental health service delivery system.” One year later, the Orwellian-sounding New Freedom Commission on Mental Health released its findings.  Its final report recommended mental health screening for all Americans and, in a proposal that should alarm parents everywhere, recommended that the nation’s schools be used to assess the mental health of all schoolchildren.

President George W. Bush wants to have  American citizens, beginning with all school age children, examined by psychiatrists.

"The New Freedom Initiative is a plan to screen the entire U.S. population for mental illness and to provide a cradle-to-grave continuum of services for those identified as either mentally ill or at risk of becoming so. Under the plan, schools would become hubs of the screening process, not only for children, but for their parents and teachers. There are even components aimed at senior citizens, pregnant women, and new mothers.

"In April 2002, President Bush established the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to conduct a 'comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system.' The commission issued its recommendations in July 2003, chief among them being that schools are in a 'key position' to screen the 52 million students and 6 million adults who work at educational facilities."

This Draconian federal program began in Texas while G.W. Bush was Governor. It was called the Texas Medication Algorithm Project as an alliance between the pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas. Now that Bush is President, he has begun implementing the program at the national level.

[the invisib1e hand]

Shouldn't we contact President Bush who started this Nonsense?

By all means. But did he really "start this nonsense?"

Just doesn't seem like something he'd do or that Mrs. Bush would counsel him as a former teacher to do. When you write him, ask him.

[Coleus]

But did he really "start this nonsense?" >>

Yes, by his executive order. There are other issues with which the POTUS should be involved and this is NOT one of them.

[Myrddin]

How many girls are on drugs for ADD versus boys? Does anyone know? It should mirror the population numbers shouldn't it?

No. ADD is a result of low dopamine levels. That is a characteristically male problem. Women tend to be low on serotonin. A male with low dopamine levels seeks activities that will stimulate dopamine production. Sports, action movies, video games or disruptive behavior all work fine. Ritalin will chemically stimulate dopamine production, thus reduce the need to engage in outward activities to stimulate dopamine. The impact is a less distracted, more focused individual.

Two of my 3 sons have ADD problems. Number 1 son had heart problems that prevented use of Ritalin until after his first open heart surgery. He got kicked out of kindergarten the first week of school. His teacher couldn't handle they hyperactivity. After surgery, we tried Ritalin for a month. Didn't see much outward difference. We did opt for special ed classes. He's had 3 more open heart surgeries since that time. At 24, he's working on a degree in paleontology/geology at Idaho State University. He's still addicted to video games when not focused on school work.

Number 3 son never showed outward hyperactivity, but always suffered from poor focus due to ADD. He "tried" Ritalin borrowed from a hyperactive classmate. It allowed him to get perfect scores on his math tests when he had been failing. Unfortunately, his lack of focus turned into skipping school. He was permanently dropped by the school district. He's on his own for a GED now.

Number 2 son never had any problems. He graduated with a 4.33 GPA, scored 5 on all AP exams...and enlisted in the Marine Corps. Go figure. He's working on a business administration degree and has a California real estate license to earn sufficient income to meet living and school expenses.

Kids can be VERY different.

[the invisib1e hand]

permit me to repeat something I posted elsewhere on this topic: our choice of president does not relieve us of our obligation to be diligent in guarding our precious liberty. One might conclude that the founders had come to the opposite conclusion, that is, that a congenial president is all the more reason to remain diligent, lest we grow dull.

[185JHP]

Richard Nixon was caught planning to do some "Who Wants To Be A Criminal?" testing of children back in '69. It got the kibosh.

[the invisib1e hand]

nixon did a lot of funny things, didn't he?

is there some germ in unchecked "conservatism" that actually draws it to become a radical force itself, a police state?

[the invisib1e hand]

or is there something in radical, paranoid police-state type power junkies that allows them to masquerade as conservatives until something outs them?

[Dianna]

Yes, by his executive order. There are other issues with which the POTUS should be involved and this is NOT one of them.

Does the order say MANDATORY? As in, over the objection of parents? Or does it make funds available to help diagnose kids whose parents are concerned? Two VERY different issues.

[185JHP]

I read "The White House Transcripts" when they came out in paperback in the summer of '74. Amazing stuff went on in the Oval Office. The WH basement was restructured, so that Room 16, where the Plumbers met, doesn't exist anymore. One of the most amazing discussions in the Transcripts is the conversation about "let's get Dean to resign, then we'll blame the whole thing on him!"

[Coleus]

The POTUS has more important things to do and you know what happens with big brother watching and evaluating us. This is an issue for the states and for doctors.