Teen Screen
"Just Say NO" to TeenScreen
TeenScreen, a quick computer survey given to students in 9th and 10th grade to supposedly identify potential suicide victims, is being used in schools across Pennsylvania. A national firestorm of objections has come from a cross-section of parents as well as political, educational, and health professional organizations. To learn more about TeenScreen and how it puts students at risk, click here for a CEO editorial.
A Petition to Stop TeenScreen's Unscientific and Experimental "Mental Health Screening" of American School Children is now the #1 most active of the Top 10 Petitions at PetitionOnline.com. It can be found at www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html.
Does your school use TeenScreen?
TeenScreen is a 14-item, self-completion questionnaire that takes 10 minutes for students aged 11 to 18 to complete. It was developed in the psychiatric department of Columbia University. It is sold to school districts as a tool for identifying pre-suicidal children. It can label students as “mentally ill.” The label can be wrong.
“In October 2004, after taking TeenScreen…16-year-old Chelsea Rhodes of Indiana was told she has two mental health problems, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and social anxiety disorder. The diagnoses were based upon Chelsea’s responses that she liked to help clean the house and didn’t "party’ much." 1 Chelsea’s parents filed a lawsuit against the school and TeenScreen.
As the federal government discusses mental health screening for all American children, more and more schools are submitting their students to the TeenScreen survey.
Criticism of TeenScreen is growing. Sandra Lucas, Executive Director of a mental health watchdog group called the Utah Chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, provides crucial information in her article, “TeenScreen – The Making of Mental Patients.”
• There is no suicide epidemic among America’s youth. Of the 19.8 million youth between 14 and 19, the suicide rate is 0.0008%. And suicide among American youth fell 25% in the last decade.
• Psychiatric diagnoses are subjective, with few, if any, scientific tests to identify a chemical imbalance.
• 71% of Colorado teens who participated in TeenScreen were labeled with a mental disorder.
• If that percentage were extended to include all 19.8 million American youths, 14.1 million would be labeled mentally ill. Since 9 out of 10 children who receive “treatment” are given psychiatric drugs, then 12.7 million would take drugs. That could cost $1.2 Billion!
• TeenScreen’s founder, David Shaffer, and current Director, Laurie Flynn, have connections to pharmaceutical companies – the big winners in diagnosing mental illness.
• TeenScreen will not release copies of the questionnaire.
Before allowing students to take the TeenScreen survey, parents, school board directors, and administrators must thoroughly investigate all claims made by TeenScreen personnel and all critical questions that are being raised. The Internet aids in locating information, pro and con, on the TeenScreen program.
To read Ms. Lucas’ article, click here.
To reach Psych Search, a web site containing TeenScreen information, click here.
To reach TeenScreen Truth,click here
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To reach the official TeenScreen web site, click here.
1 Lucas, Sandra. “TeenScreen – The Making of Mental Patients.” 2 Jan 2006.http://ceopa.org/documents/TeenScreenWeb.pdf