Screening Mothers and Babes Instead of Potential Terrorists

Nancy Salvato

I was absolutely dumbfounded to read about something called The Children’s Mental Health Act of 2003. It requires a mental health screening of children ages zero through 18 and pregnant women. Pregnant women would be screened prior to delivery for depression and periodically for the first six months after giving birth.

It’s appalling that a country where people have the audacity to scream “violation of rights” to the profiling of Muslims, would allow an act of this nature, based on the premise that early intervention is the key to academic success and crime prevention, be passed into legislation! Something is askew when the Patriot Act, all about pre-emption of another terrorist attack is considered a violation of our precious rights, but those of the innocent children and mothers subjected to these screenings are fair game?

In the Illinois Leader, Mike Burke who is the director of communications for Ounce of Prevention was quoted as saying, "We know that behavior is shaped in the early years, and that emotional well being is affected by complications with birth. This act forces Illinois to recognize the importance of children's emotional well being."1 Perhaps we need to be reminded that those most likely to commit acts of terror against the United States would be male Muslims between 18 and 27, and we can’t be assured they won’t blow up themselves and the rest of us as we fly across the country unless they, too, are screened for this eventuality.

In Illinois, The Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 was signed into law by a House vote of 107-5 and a unanimous decision in the Senate. We can thank (not) the sponsors of the measure; IL Representatives Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), Patricia Bellock (R-Westmont), and State Senators Maggie Crotty (D-Oak Forest) and Susan Garrett (D-Highwood). It’s estimated that it will cost about $10 million to implement this gross violation of rights.

This measure fits extremely well with the outcome based educational methods currently utilized in our failing school systems. OBE is based on the ideas that our schools are responsible for the emotional and nurturance needs of children from families where they’re not being met.

Steven Kossor a licensed psychologist says OBE doesn’t prepare children for the real world. In this type of educational setting, high expectations and standards for learning are not seen as important to the process of learning. Character is systematically deflated through acceptable practices such as; grade inflation, watered down curriculum, an emphasis on cooperative learning over individual achievement, and the substitution of "criterion-referenced" for "norm-referenced" testing. Eventually, a weak person results from a succession of academic failures couched in the illusion of educational success.

With OBE, every classroom becomes a special education environment because all children are to receive individualized instruction. It is not of concern how student behavior of those truly needing individualized education plans affects the learning environment.

The OBE strategic planning committee is made up of outside consultants and as a result, community members are outnumbered and local control is gone. OBE plans are the same across the country, and imagine this…expensive to implement.

OBE is exactly the type of non scientifically backed method that No Child Left Behind is trying to eliminate. Forcing every child to receive mental health treatment is a waste of everybody's education time and tax dollars because there is no scientific evidence that any of this works.

They say, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” The potential consequences of the decisions made by those we elect to office or put in charge of the education of our children must be taken into consideration before the overreaching consequences of misguided legislation is allowed to adversely affect our most precious resource –the assurance of our continued quality of existence. Otherwise the safety of our country will continue to be compromised while our freedoms continue to be chipped away.

Alliance for Human Research Protection
http://www.ahrp.org/infomail/04/07/23.html

Kossor Education Newsletter
http://www.voicenet.com/~sakossor/Pe1_1.html

Copyright © Nancy Salvato 2004

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Nancy Salvato is an Independent Contractor with Prism Educational Consulting. A teacher, she has worked with students ranging from preschool through college. Her credentials are in History, Language Arts, and Early Childhood Education. Nancy serves as the 6th Congressional District Coordinator with the Center for Civic Education, the Education Liaison for Illinois Senator Ray Soden, and is a member of the DROE Strategic Planning Process to Promote a Countywide Community of Learning. Nancy is currently developing a Constitutional Literacy Program which the DROE hopes to pilot upon completion. Her columns can be found in American Daily, The Common Voice, Education News, GOP-USA, Opinion Editorials, TheRant.us and The Washington Dispatch. She has been published in The Washington Times, Townhall.com, Iconoclast, & Free Republic Network, as well as other nationally and internationally published media outlets.

civicedu.60515@comcast.net