TeenScreen - Prescription Drug Pusher In Schools

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By Evelyn Pringle (about the author) Page 4 of 7 page(s)

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The study determined that even patients who were not depressed to begin with, and were taking SSRIs for other reasons, were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide as patients given placebos.

The SSRIs have also been identified as playing a major role in the previously unheard of acts of violence by school-age children all over the country in recent years. Medical experts in the field of SSRIs, says virtually all of the gun-related massacres that have made headlines over the past 15 years have one thing in common, they were committed by people taking SSRIs.

For more than a decade, Dr Breggin has documented in books and scientific reports how SSRIs can lead to out-of-control behavior and violence. "From agitation and hostility to impulsivity and mania," he warns, "antidepressant-induced behaviors is identical to that of PCP, methamphetamine and cocaine-drugs known to cause aggression and violence."

"One clinical trial showed a rate of 6 percent manic reactions for depressed children on Prozac," Dr Breggin reports, while "none developed mania on a sugar pill."

The TeenScreen people claim the program is not funded by any drug company money. However, they don't mention the fact that Ms Flynn's salary was paid by Big Pharma for 16 years while she was the director of the most notorious front group supported by drug company money of all time, the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI).

During Ms Flynn's reign over NAMI, an investigation by Mother Jones' Magazine found that in just one 3-year period between 1996-1999, the group received $11.72 million from 18 different drug companies.

Drug companies funnel millions of dollars every year to front groups like NAMI, and they in turn, utilize their membership to carry out the drug promotion campaigns and also provide a shield so that no Big Pharma money can be traced directly to the programs.

A clear example of how this funneling process works is the way TeenScreen uses NAMI's national convention each year to recruit members from all over the country to promote TeenScreen in their individual communities. Ms Weibert was able to obtain videos of the NAMI conventions that show the TeenScreen squad in full recruitment mode.

Under a law enacted in 1998 called the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, an evaluation of mental or psychological problems on a student cannot be administered without prior written consent from a parent.

To get around this law, when the TeenScreen team began implementing the program in schools, it promoted the use of what is known as passive consent which requires parents to return a signed form only if they do not want their child tested. Most parents say they never realized that their children could be subjected to something so serious as mental health screening without their signed consent, much less know that they must formally instruct a school in writing to not screen their children.

For instance, the consent form that was sent home to parents in Middleton, Ohio was worded as follows:

Dear Parent or Legal Guardian,

A new program developed by Columbia University called TeenScreen is being initiated at Vail Middle School for seventh grade students. The program screens students for potential mental health concerns. TeenScreen is a computerized interview and all information will be kept confidential.

Students will be able to participate in TeenScreen starting on Feb.13th. Participation in the program is strictly voluntary. A professional will be on hand to speak with the students in private if there is a positive screen. As always, if there are any concerns about your child, you will be notified.

Please complete the form below and return it to your child's Homebase teacher if you do not want your child to participate in TeenScreen.

At one NAMI convention, a member of the audience said that in the state of Oregon, consent forms were being returned to the schools with a large "NO" scribbled across the form. So noting that it was difficult to get parents to allow their children to be screened, NAMI members were asked to help convince kids to take the survey and then get them to talk their parents into signing the consent form.

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Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for OpEd News and investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government and corporate America.

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.

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