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From Dr. Karen Effrem 3/2/05
Last night the Superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison Schools in Mishawaka, Indiana officially recommended that TeenScreen be suspended and investigated further.
He also recommended abolishing "passive consent". This is where
papers go home with students and if they are not returned signed by
parents, the school considers the parents have consented. The local
administrator there for TeenScreen at the Madison Center said: "We
would probably see the level of participation drop way off (if active
consent were required).'' Recent newspaper accounts there are now calling TeenScreen the "controversial program".
Commendations to Teresa Rhoades and Dr. Ben Choiniere, 2 Indiana locals, who stood up to TeenScreen and said "NO!"
You can see a photo of the attendees at the school board meeting last night http://www.psychsearch.net/teenscreen.html (at the end of the page)
Two TV stations covered the story there last night:
Heated discussion at PHM board meeting
http://www.wndu.com/news/022005/news_40656.php
Parents Object To Depression Testing at PHM
http://www.wsbt.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=52&ArticleID=1862
Press From a couple of days ago:
Parents seek to eliminate suicide survey
http://www.wndu.com/news/022005/news_40591.php
Further use of TeenScreen will be postponed for review.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2005/02/26/local20050226-sbt-FULL-B1-Screenings_on_board_.sto
"The ad says diagnosis of psychological problems is entirely subjective and there is no evidence that screening for suicide risk
reduces suicide attempts."
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Dear Superintendent Howard and Members of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Board,
I
am writing as a mother of three and a board certified pediatrician who
grew up in South Bend, Indiana and attended Jackson and Riley high
schools, Purdue University and Johns Hopkins medical school to
respectfully request that you to withdraw the TeenScreen depression
screening instrument from the Penn-Harris-Madison school district. There are many problems with screening and TeenScreen in particular that include:
- Passive, op-out consent
- Vague and subjective diagnostic criteria
- Subjective questions
- Potential of psychiatric harm from the screening itself
-
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"…Any personality test constitutes an invasion of privacy to some
degree, as the person tested rarely understands the implications of all
the questions…or the significance of the responses. The tests may not
only reveal the thoughts and feelings which the student desires to
withhold from others but those he is trying to keep from his own
consciousness." - (Scherrer and Roston, Federal Bar Journal, Spring,
1971, as quoted in Eakman, Cloning of the American Mind: Eradicating
Morality Through Education, Lafayette, LA, Huntington House, 1998, p.
80)
- TeenScreen was already in place in
Tulsa, Oklahoma for 6 years when the suicide rate want up, as described
by Michael Brose, head of the mental health partnership organization
there, who said, ''To the best of my knowledge, this is the highest
number of youth suicides we've ever had during the school year -- a
number we find very frightening.'' (See http://www.tulsaworld.com/archivesearch/Search/ArchiveArticleConfirm.asp?ArticleID=030302_Ne_a19_mha and http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/071703/new_suicides.shtml)
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