Attorney: School Mental Health Screenings Violate Students' Privacy, Parents' Rights
by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
September 23, 2005
(AgapePress) - An Indiana high school is being sued for subjecting a 15-year-old student to mental health testing without her parents' consent. Michael and Teresa Rhoades allege that their constitutional rights were violated when their daughter Chelsea was given a "TeenScreen" mental health exam at Penn High School in Mishawaka, without their knowledge or consent.The family's complaint states that on December 7, 2004, personnel of the Madison Center for Children subjected Chelsea Rhoades and other students to the exam, which consisted of "yes" or "no" questions without any opportunity to explain answers or offer alternative responses. Only students with an "opt-out slip" were excused from taking the computer-based tests.
After Chelsea completed the examination, a Madison Center employee escorted her into a private hallway, and she was told, largely based on her responses, that she liked to clean and didn't like to party very much, that she suffered from at least two mental health problems -- obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder.
The teenager was also advised that, if her condition grew worse, her mother should bring her to the Madison Center for treatment. According to Chelsea, most of the students subjected to the exam were also told that they were suffering from some kind of mental or social "disorder." Chelsea's parents were not informed about the screening exam until after it had already taken place, when Chelsea discussed her "diagnosis" with them.
The so-called "TeenScreen" exam is increasingly being adopted by schools in 43 states and is part of President George W. Bush's plan to have all public school teachers and students screened for mental health problems or at-risk tendencies for suicide that are not outwardly visible. However, John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute, the family's legal representative, says federal and state law requires that parents grant written consent for such exams.
An increasing number of schools have been relying on "passive consent" forms in order to administer TeenScreen exams. Passive consent requires parents to return an "opt-out" form only if they do not want their child to participate in the screening.
Apart from the legal issues raised by the TeenScreen program, Whitehead has doubts about the value and validity of the screening results. "It's very, very questionable that you can get any kind of information in 10 to 15 minutes, in terms of a comprehensive psychological exam," he observes. "So the question that we've raised with a lot of people is why is this being done. Why is our government moving ahead to do these psychological tests, even on teachers?"
Putting that question aside, the Rutherford Institute spokesman feels school mental health examinations are an infringement on the students' rights. "Obviously, when someone like Chelsea Rhodes walks into a room and she doesn't know she's going to be tested, and then they ask her all these kind of strange questions and then tell her she's got mental problems, clearly it's an invasion of privacy," he asserts.
Rutherford Institute attorneys are charging Penn High School officials not only with invading Chelsea's privacy, but also with violating the constitutional rights of Michael and Teresa Rhodes to control the care, custody, and upbringing of their daughter. Whitehead says parents have some immediate steps they can take to combat "the increasing problem of government encroaching into the privacy of the family."
First of all, the attorney says, it is critical for parents to know their rights. And secondly, they should contact their local school officials and demand to "be notified immediately if they are planning to conduct mental health screening on your children." Finally, he adds, parents should follow the Rhoades' example and fight back against this kind of "encroachment on parental rights."
The Rutherford Institute has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana on behalf of the Rhoades family. Whitehead hopes the suit will help bring about a change in policy, such that schools will be required to gain affirmative written consent from parents, rather than mere "passive consent," before students can be required to part in the TeenScreen program.
