Girl, 15, sues school nurse over prenancy test

KXAS TV ^ | June 17, 2005

[DoughtyOne]

That's a very good question. Beyond that, as a school employee or medical professional, wouldn't she be required to by law, or face loss of licensure? That's a very good possibility.

[ElkGroveDan]

The nurse is the problem, not the school district or its policies,

Wrong. This would never happen in a Christian or private school. There is a mentality in public schools either encouraged or merely winked at by districts that children are the property of the state. The nurse felt absolutely free to order this child around on very sensitive private matters, and I doubt it was the first time.

The system is and must be, accountable for the misbehavior of it's employees.

[DoughtyOne]

That's about it, isn't it. And I might add, destroying parental authority.

[tuffydoodle]

"Just another day in public school. The tuition at Christian school is why why we are always financially on the edge, but stories like this remind me how every penny of it is well spent."

All 5 of my kids were in a private Christian school the last 4 years. Last year, my 15 year old daughter got to learn about photos of men urinating into the mouths of other men and annie sprinkles performance art of masturbating on stage and inviting the patrons to come up and view her genitalia with a flashlight. A required reading book in her history class.

I think Christian schools are worse than public school, they give you a false sense of security. At least with public school, you know what you are up against.

[Bear_Slayer]

if she requested the test, as a father I know that thought would certainly cross my mind.

In the Navy, I knew of Lab Techs that would search for the early morning HCG (pregnancy test) on the single women in the barracks. They figure, if they were testing they must be sexually active.

*Note - I was never a lab tech, nor did I have access to this info.

[ElkGroveDan]

Something is missing here..... Why did the "boy" initiate this fiasco? What might he expect to gain? What does anyone think he could expect to gain?

I guess you haven't been around many teenage boys have you? Obviously the kid was blowing smoke to impress his friends and the grown up busybodies caught wind of it.

[Allosaurs_r_us]

My guess is that what we have here is a nurse who either a)is a self-important crusader who finally went too far, b)a substitute nurse [substitue nurses are needed several times in a school year just like substitute teachers], c)an over-eager newbie, or d)you get the idea from a, b, and c.

 

You left out one option........

 

d.) the girl asked for the test in order to prove the boy was full of guano and now does not want to admit it.

 

After all, if the girl were a virgin there would be no need for the test.

[tuffydoodle]

"This would never happen in a Christian or private school"

Never say never.

[Clara Lou]

Who hired her? or did she just walk of the street and set up practice in the school office.
So now you're going to suggest that it's possible to be absolutely certain that who you hire won't later turn out to be a bad hire? Get real. Bad hires happen in every field of business, public and private. You just have to hope that you can get rid of the hire before a lawsuit, or worse, happens.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

"Is it a crime if the "perp" is also under 15 in your opinion"

Under the law.

Yes.

[alancarp]

I'm not quite sure what you mean about the principal. I can tell you this, though: Principles will avoid like the plague situations like this.

Read the next-to-last paragraph, as I asked in post 19...

When the girl's father asked Principal Chad Kelly about the pregnancy test, the father was handed a piece of paper citing a section of the Texas Family Code stating that a child may consent to medical treatment by a licensed physician if the child "is unmarried and pregnant and consents to hospital, medical or surgical treatment, other than abortion, related to the pregnancy."

So from this, I can deduce the following:

(1) The Principal DEFENDED THE NURSE, with a policy statement he happened to have readily at his disposal.
(2) The Principal used this to, in effect, defend a policy of involving the school with matters of teen pregnancy.
(3) The Principal NEVER contacted the parent directly - only using this tactic to respond when confronted.

So I'm sorry, but I agree with everyone else here who thinks this is systemic - not the act of an individual nurse-crusader-type.

[Clara Lou]

d.) the girl asked for the test in order to prove the boy was full of guano and now does not want to admit it.
That's a possibility, but not likely in this case, IMO. Of course, we really don't have that many details.

[ElkGroveDan]

Never say never.

Well let's not split hairs. But it sure as hell wouldn't or COULDN'T happen at my kids' school. Parents are involved at EVERY level. The board the policies and rules are all drafted and overseen by parents and a no-nonsense board. If anyone even brought a pregnancy test onto the campus they'd be out on their ear in a second. That's what we pay the big bucks for and everyone knows it.

[Sofa King]

It wouldn't be the first time a 15-year old (assuming he is her age) did something stupid with little or no reason behind it.

[politicket]

What is it with all of these "graduations" that children have in the public schools these days? Is little Johnnies self-esteem really that poor? They should have one for high school and that is it!

A lot of public school kids these days are a sad lot. We just got back from a trip to Washington, D.C. and were able to visit the new World War II memorial (it holds special significance to me since my Uncle was killed in Germany during WWII).

We were walking around the memorial when a bunch of school buses pulled up. These children hopped off the bus and literally began running ALL OVER the memorial. They were using offensive language, taking pictures in suggestive poses, and showing ABSOLUTELY no respect for the memorial.

I was going to "discuss" things with a few of them, but then it dawned on me that they had NO CLUE what the memorial even represented since it had nothing to do with putting condoms on cucumbers. They were just walking idiots (not their fault - they were trained that way).

I asked a park ranger if all of the public school children acted the same way around the memorial and he sadly said "Yes". It really bothered him.

[alancarp]

It's a made-for-TV event. No shock that TV-drunk idiots are voting that way as a direct result. Getting Oprah, Elvis and Muhammed Ali (doesn't becoming a Black Muslim convert immediately disqualify him on principle?) even in the top 25 confirms that.

< /rant off - back to topic >

[Smokin' Joe]

Maybe the nurse was looking for a reason to call the police about the boy, and figured she had one. This might be more about the nurse and the boy than the girl.

[Bear_Slayer]

So now you're going to suggest that it's possible to be absolutely certain that who you hire won't later turn out to be a bad hire?

A CEO has fiduciary responsibility to the stock-holders. He/she is directly responsible for what happens on his/her watch.

A CO is responsible for the behavior of the personnel in his/her command.

Would we require less accountability of those that teach our children? I didn't think so. The district is accountable.

furthermore - yes, shit rolls down hill, but stink rises.

[infidel29]

A few years ago, my fiancee's daughter was crying at school over something to do with her father. She was sent to the school nurse who after talking with her and finding a bruise on her shin, had Alleghenny County (PA) CYS investigate her (and I) for child abuse. A case worker came to her house and questioned her children individually about abuse, punishments, home life etc. I found the whole thing to be a little traumatic and nerve wracking.

Of course they found no abuse and her record has been expunged, but talk about an overreaction. Another case of the government, through the schools in these cases, trying to raise America's children independent of their parents.