Teen Screen Up-Date - Calls and Letter Needed

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Let's Get Ready to Rumble! California - Commence firing troops!Do this even if you don't live in California.Maybe you are an experienced veteran from ejecting TeenScreen in Pinellas County, Florida. Maybe you are a newcomer to the action.In either case, groups from two parts of the country have requested our backup.The first request for action is from Fresno California. (more later on the request from Indiana)Sharon Kientz is a retired teacher and is taking the lead in opposing TeenScreen in Fresno. Sharon is the 1995 Teacher of the Year - National Right to Read Foundation, a Trustee Sierra Unified School District, a Board Member California Eagle Forum http://www.eagleforum.org and also a Board Member Ablechild http://www.ablechild.org (a video of her presentation before the Fresno school board against TeenScreen should be available this week.)She is asking that e-mails be sent to the school board there to reject TeenScreen. (The school board e-mail addresses are listed at the end.)Commence firing troops! (and pass the word!)+++Sharon Kientz steelekientz (AT) psnw (DOT) comPlease take a few minutes and contact Fresno Unified School District. It doesn't matter whether you live in Fresno, California or elsewhere. Every letter or e-mail will help to stop TeenScreen.Please read, contact FUSD and object to TeenScreen, then forward this letter. TeenScreen has been stopped in other US communities by flooding school district offices with calls, letters and e-mails!STOP! TEENSCREEN IN FRESNO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTDear Parents, Grandparents, and Citizens,Two years ago Fresno Unified School District implemented a controversial federal mental health screening program at Hoover High School called TeenScreen. FUSD school board is now considering implementing TeenScreen district wide and will be voting on the proposal within the next few weeks. TeenScreen must be stopped and you can help by writing to district superintendent Michael Hanson and members of the board. TeenScreen is the screening tool for teenagers (ages 10-19) under the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, a federally funded program, whose aim is to psychiatrically screen all children from infancy on.According to Ron Paul, Texas Congressman who is also a physician, the goal of TeenScreen is to promote the patently false idea that we have a nation of children with undiagnosed mental disorders crying out for treatment. TeenScreen is touted as a suicide prevention tool but is really a nefarious marketing scheme to label thousands of children with dubious psychiatric disorders and drug them. It is controversial for many reasons including violation of student privacy and parental rights, vague subjective labeling, common referrals for dangerous and ineffective psychotropic drugs, and the unethical connections of TeenScreen personnel with drug manufacturers. One of the prime movers of TeenScreen both nationally and locally is the National Alliance on Mental Illness which is a front group for the pharmaceutical companies. For 16 years Laurie Flynn, the director of TeenScreen, was head of NAMI which receives millions of Pharma dollars every year. NAMI always advocates drug treatment, including coercive, for the mentally ill.TeenScreen usually employs a 10 minute computerized self-administered questionnaire (a pen and paper version is also used) which can be"administered and scored by trained non-professionals." This test purports to indicate a number of mental disorders including suicide ideation, social phobia, generalized anxiety, depression, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.The TeenScreen questionnaire is based on the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual which is totally subjective and unscientific. Modern psychiatry is based on a fraudulent theory that mental illnesses are neurological impairments or chemical imbalances. The latest of many to debunk this theory is Steven Sharfstein, president of the American Psychiatric Association, who admitted in a May 20, 2006, article on TeenScreen in the National Journal that "medical science has no biological or chemical tests that can determine whether a person is depressed, suicidal, schizophrenic, or afflicted with another mental problem. There is no laboratory test that establishes a specific diagnosis."The questionnaire is loaded for positive responses which means kids are labeled with mental disorders for answering "yes" to questions that reflect normal teenage feelings, thoughts and behaviors. David Shaffer, the psychiatrist (with financial ties to Pharma) who developed TeenScreen admits that TeenScreen "does identify a whole bunch of kids who aren't suicidal, so you get a lot of false-positives." TeenScreen officials admit that 84% of those tested positive are found not to be really at risk.Once a student is flagged, the next step is referral to a mental health professional. In a survey of recently trained psychiatrists reported in thejournal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry 2002, nine out of ten children who visit a psychiatrist walk out with a psychiatric drug prescription. All of the antidepressants and antipsychotics carry FDA "Black Box" warnings for suicidality as well as agitation, hostility, mania and violence. The psychostimulants, Ritalin et al, also have heightened FDA warning, including Black Box, for suicidality, violence, hallucinations and cardio-vascular events (strokes and heart attacks).The results for the 265 Hoover High School 10th graders who were screened last year are frightening. The percentage of students with "positive diagnostic impressions" added up to 100% (81% mental disorders, 19% drug and alcohol problems)! This outrageous result should have been a red flag to school personnel and board members but their apparent decision is to move forward with screening. The public schools should not be in the business of psychiatry.Suicide is always an overwhelming tragedy for the family involved but it is a myth that there is an epidemic of childhood suicides. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control the suicide rate among children, including teens, fell about 25 percent in the last decade. TeenScreen is the selling of suicide for profit. It is disease mongering, the medicalizing of normal conditions into "diseases", at its worst.There is no evidence that screening for suicide risk reduces suicide attempts or mortality. This was the conclusion of a May 2004 U.S.Preventive Services Task Force report. The report also stated that there is limited evidence on the accuracy of screening tools to identify suicide risk.The Rhoades family in Indiana, with the help of the Rutherford Institute, has filed a federal lawsuit against their school district and its mentalhealth partner for screening their happy and healthy daughter without consent and labeling her with two psychiatric disorders. A petition iscirculating on the internet which to date has collected over 12,600 signatures. (www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html) Please signthis petition and forward to friends. If your child or someone you know was screened and falsely labeled at Hoover HS please notify the Rutherford Institute at www.rutherford.org or johnw (AT) rutherford (DOT) org (John Whitehead). The Institute's address is PO Box 7482, Charlottesville, VA 22906-7482.Fresno USD, the 4th largest in California, is one of only two school districts in California (the other is Alhambra USD) which are currentlypiloting TeenScreen so it is in a powerful position to influence the fate of TeenScreen in the state. This dangerous federal program has alreadyinfiltrated 43 states. If TeenScreen is implemented district wide in FUSD it is a certainty that it will metastasize across Fresno County andCalifornia.Prior to the September 20, 2006, board meeting of Fresno USD, TeenScreen had been flying under the radar. At that meeting, three Fresno County citizens - Dr. Larry Scortt, Sharon Kientz and Alan Schaeffer - addressed the board expressing strong objections to the implementation of TeenScreen at Hoover High and its possible extention district-wide. The local news media - the Fresno Bee and four TV stations - helped to shine the light of truth on this dangerous program.Now that TeenScreen has been exposed to the light of day, it is up to concerned citizens in both the city and county of Fresno to stop TeenScreen by voicing their objection to Superintendent Hanson and members of the board who are the final arbiters on the issue. On September 20, Pete Summers, spokesman for FUSD, tried to put a benign spin on TeenScreen, saying that school personnel only want to provide a listening ear to students. He was, at best, ignorant of the scope and ramifications of TeenScreen.Please take the time to write - both US Postal Service and e-mail - and call Mr. Hanson and members of the board and voice your objection toTeenScreen. It must be stopped.Fresno Unified School District Office (USPS letter to the superintendent and board members may be sent to2309 Tulare St.the district officeFresno, CA 93721559-457-3733Michael E. Hanson Superintendentmehanso (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.usBoard of Educationschoolboard (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.usLuisa Medina Presidentlxmedin (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.usCarol Millscxmills (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.usManuel G. Nunezmgnunez (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.usValerie F. Davisvfdavis (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.usTony Vangttvang (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.usJanet Ryanjlryan (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.usPatricia R. Barrpatrbarr (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) netHere are the e-mail addresses if you want to write them all at once:mehanso (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.us, schoolboard (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.us, lxmedin (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.us, cxmills (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.us,mgnunez (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.us, vfdavis (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.us, ttvang (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.us, jlryan (AT) fresno (DOT) k12.ca.us,patrbarr (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net+++Let the e-mails, letters and phone calls rip!++

Doc Shillington727-447-5282DocHttp://www.OrganicSolutionsStore.com