|
<< Back
Independent TEENSCREEN
Evaluation
Research Project
FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain
copyrighted (© ) material the use of which has
not always been specifically authorized by the
copyright owner. Such material is made available
for educational purposes, to advance
understanding of human rights, democracy,
scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice
issues, etc. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted
material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C.
section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This
material is distributed without profit.
Nancy West is a 5th generation educator. She
has helped to establish and taught in several
private schools. She currently owns Nancy West
Productions, which teaches the performing arts
to students aged 4 and up. With over 30 years
experience teaching children of all ages, as
well as adults, she has much opportunity to
observe the behavior of normal children.
Ms. West is also a volunteer researcher for the
Citizen's Commission on Human Rights.
http://www.cchr.org
(link opens in new window)
Over the last 10 years, Ms. West has read over
30,000 pages of documents, several dozen books,
and every Presidential Address of the President
of the American Psychiatric Association from
1946 to the present. Every psychiatric
treatment and drug has been carefully studied as
to its efficacy and side effects. To date,
psychiatry, after more than 150 years, has NEVER
cured any type of "mental disorder." There have,
however, been hundreds of thousands of deaths
from psychiatric "treatments" and drugs.
Comments and evaluations
After thoughtful review of the Teen Screen
questionnaire, I have come to the conclusion
that Teen Screen is a fishing expedition to
convince parents to put their children on very
dangerous, mind-altering psychiatric drugs.
Research has uncovered the fact that Teen Screen
is mainly funded by major pharmaceutical
companies.
Research has also proven that test scores and
academic achievement in U.S. public schools has
plunged to record lows since 1965, date
coincident with the involvement of psychiatrists
and psychologists in our educational system.
The push to turn our schools into experimental
psychological laboratories is something that
every parent should be opposing loudly. Teen
Screen is just another attempt to take away the
autonomy of parents and families while turning
our children into a "cash cow" for
psychiatrists, psychologists, and the
pharmaceutical industry.
Teen Screen promotes itself as a method of
reducing teen suicide. It should be noted that
a study of every school which has initiated and
used the Teen Screen survey showed NO reduction
of suicides. Another fact which should be noted
is that the teen suicide rate is very small, and
has actually been decreasing each year in areas
that are NOT using Teen Screen. What does this
tell you???
QUESTIONS
1. Are parents fully informed BEFORE their
children are given this survey?
2. Are parents allowed to see the questions
their children are being
asked?
3. Is full written consent of the parent(s)
required before the child is given the survey?
4. Who administers this survey in each school,
and who gets the completed surveys?
5. Is the child required to put his or her name
on the survey?
6. Is the child assured of complete privacy for
his or her answers, and is "immunity" promised
for answers about drug and alcohol use?
7. Since many of the questions in this survey
do not ask for enough information for even the
most qualified mental health practitioner to
make a diagnosis, what are the criteria upon
which these surveys are adjudicated?
8. Are the people who assess these surveys all
connected to the Parmaceutical Company-funded
Teen Screen organization?
9. It has been brought to our attention by
parents whose children have taken the survey
that the child is the first one who is told of
the "diagnosis." This is done at the school,
and not in the presence of the parents. Is this
the standard procedure in every school where
Teen Screen is being used?
10. How is it possible to label a child with
one of the myriad "disorders" contained in the
DSM (Diagnostic & Statistical Manual used by
mental health practitioners as their "bible")
without ever personally interviewing the child
in depth?
11. Is the child ever referred to a family
physician, nutritionist or chiropractor for a
complete medical evaluation if any problems show
up on the survey?
Diagnostic Predictive Scales DPS-8 (Youth)
“This interview (survey) is designed to be
used by qualified professional as an aid to
diagnosis.
It is not a substitute for a thorough clinical
evaluation”.
1. Who decides which people are "qualified
professionals?"
2.
Of what use is this survey to schools and
teachers to enable them to ensure the student is
getting a real education?
3.
Has this survey proven itself as a useful tool
to enable children to read, write and do math
better?
4.
Who has access to the completed surveys, and for
what purpose?
1.
“Who spent the most time taking care of you in
the past 3 months?:
Both parents
Mother, only
Father, only
Grandparents (s)
Sister/brother
Aunt/uncle
Foster parents
Other adult”
2.
“In the last three months did you have trouble
seeing the chalkboard”?
3.
“Do you wear glasses”?
4.
“Have you seen an eye doctor about this”?
5.
“In the last three months….did
you have a toothache”?
6.
“Have you seen a dentist about this”?
These questions are very intrusive into
the privacy of the child and the family. What
is their purpose? If a child needs glasses or
needs to see a dentist, these are things which
can easily be addressed by the school nurse and
the parents or guardians of the child. Why
would a national "psychological" organization
want this information? What relevance does this
information have to the prevention of teen
suicides?
SECTION A
1.
“In the last three months….have
you often felt very nervous and uncomfortable
when you have been with a group of children…say,
in the lunchroom at school or at a party”?
This question addresses some very typical
adolescent behaviour. It is also typical of
psychiatry to classify normal behaviours as
"mental disorders." The DSM is full of them,
i.e. "mathematics disorder," and "reading
disorder." Children who are not taught to read
properly cannot read. They need to be properly
instructed. This is NOT a mental disorder, and
there is no medication which can help a child
learn to read. Just as there is no medication
that will take the place of the hormonal and
social adjustments which are NORMAL for all
adolescents.
2. “Have you often felt very nervous when
you had to do things in front of people”?
Who hasn't?? I don't know a single
adult or child who doesn't experience a bit of
nervousness when having to "do things in front
of people." Once again, digging for a
"disorder" amongst what is truly normal
behaviour.
SECTION B
1.
“For this question, I want to know if you have
ever had a sudden attack of feeling very afraid.
In the kind of attack, I mean someone becomes
very afraid even though there is nothing around
them to frighten them.
Sometimes they feel they can’t breathe…sometimes
their heart beats very fast. The attacks come
on very suddenly, then goes away, but they get
afraid that the attacks might come back.
In the last three months have you had an attack
when all of a sudden you felt you were very
afraid or strange”?
2.
“Have you had a time when you were suddenly
feeling like you were suffocating or you
couldn’t breathe”?
3.
“Do you have asthma”?
4.
“The only time you felt afraid or couldn’t
breathe was when you were having an asthma
attack”?
There is a very serious problem with this
question. It does not ask under what
circumstances the child is experiencing these
things. A car accident? A really frightening
encounter with a criminal? Watching a very
scary movie? Sometimes, even if there is
nothing in the present environment to be afraid
of, just remembering these things can cause
anxiety. Also, there are medical conditions and
nutritional deficiencies which can also cause
these symptoms. Asthma is not the ONLY medical
reason extant for this condition.
SECTION C
5.
“In the last three months….Have
often worried a lot before you were going to
play a sport or game or some other activity Have
you had a lot of headaches”?
This question gets skewed due to the
fact that it is a normal behaviour combined with
a question about headaches. If a child is
having "a lot of headaches" they should be seen
by a regular physician and given a complete and
very thorough medical examination. A
psychiatrist or psychologist is the LAST person
this child should see.
6. “In the last three months have you had
other aches and pains”?
Asking this question which requires only
a yes or no answer provides no information at
all as to what may be the cause of any aches or
pains. If the child is having aches and pains,
a person who was genuinely interested in the
welfare of the child would want to know what
caused them. Is the child over-doing in sports
activities? Has the child recently had the flu,
been in a car accident, broken a bone? These
things need only to be addressed by a regular
physician or health care provider. What can
psychiatric medication or counseling do to heal
a broken arm???
7. “Are you the kind of person who is often
very tense, or finds it very hard to relax”?
Due to the fact that most children and adults in
the U.S. are inundated with food additives,
dyes, MSG, mercury from dental fillings and
vaccinations, chlorine & flouride in drinking
water, etc., this question would probably be
answered in the affirmative by at least 75% of
the population. There is no existing drug or
counseling protocol which would be at all
effective in eliminating the causes stated
above.
SECTION D
8.
“Some young people have times when one thought
comes into the mind over and over again.
When people have these thoughts they usually get
upset, because the thoughts are strange. No
matter how hard they try the thoughts keep on
coming back.
Now I am going to ask you if you have had
thoughts like these in the last three months.
Have you had to count things over and over
again? Or make yourself do things a certain
number of times”?
9.
“In the last three months…was there a time when
you washed your hands or body over and over
again or changed your clothes many times each
day because you thought they were dirty”?
10.
“Have you often felt you should check on things
over and over again? For example: checking that
the front door is locked…or the stove is turned
off or that something else was done, though you
knew it had been done”?
Asking a teenager to answer these questions
while sitting at a computer terminal is not
nearly adequate. Teens are normally
introspective, and some of them are easily
suggestible. An interview with a live person
who can observe body language, eye contact, etc.
is the only way to get an answer to these
questions which would in any way be definitive
of a problem.
11.
“In the last three months….have
you often worried that things you touch are
dirty or have germs”?
Television, radio, and print media have
created so much fear about "bacteria" and flu
"pandemics" that it would be ABNORMAL for most
of the population to answer this question in the
negative. Advertisements for anti-bacterial
soap, "wiping away germs" in the kitchen and
bathroom, germs in nurseries and day care
centers are a constant in our society.
12.“Have you had any other thoughts that kept
coming into your mind over and over again that
you couldn’t get rid of”?
What adolescent girl is NOT constantly
thinking about how her hair looks? Are her hips
too big? Are her clothes cool enough? Does the
boy she has a crush on even know she exists?
The NORMAL answer to this question would be
yes. Unless a teenager is drugged into total
oblivion, there isn't an adolescent anywhere who
would not answer this question in the
affirmative.
13. “In the last three months…
Have you done things like counting, checking,
washing, over and over again because you like to
do these things”?
14.
“Have you done these things like counting,
checking, washing, over and over again, only
because you’ve been told by someone else to make
sure that you’ve done them right”?
SECTION E
15.
“In the last three months…
Has there been a time when nothing was fun for
you and you just weren’t interested in
anything”?
There is not a person living who could
answer no to this question. Lack of sleep,
over-stimulation from watching too much
television, worry about typical every-day things
that teens worry about, any number of things
could contribute to feeling like this. It is
obvious that whoever wrote this question is not
in the least bit interested in knowing the
duration of these feelings. Something like this
which is of long duration, accompanied by
visible lack of care about personal appearance,
might indicate a problem. As the question is
written, it uncovers nothing.
16. “Has there been a time when you had less
energy than you usually do”?
Considering the fact that there are
times when every human being has low energy
levels, this question is completely irrelevant
to any possibility of discovering a mental
problem. Low blood sugar, recovering from an
illness, and any number of medical situations
can sap one's energy.
17.
“Has there been a time when you felt you
couldn’t do anything well or that you weren’t as
good-looking or as smart as other people”?
I dare you to find a single adolescent
anywhere in the world who would not give an
affirmative answer to this question. The
question itself perfectly describes a NORMAL
teen-ager.
18. “In the last three months…
Has there been a time when you thought seriously
about killing yourself”?
Once again, this question addresses
normal adolescent thinking. Trying to come up
with ways to make parents, or an ex-boyfriend or
girlfriend feel sorry for them, most teens will
entertain the idea of suicide as a solution.
19. “Have you tried to kill yourself in the
last year”?
Considering the fact that suicide
attempts are the main side effects of ALL
psychiatric drugs that are foisted upon our
youth, (Paxil, Zoloft, Ritalin, Concerta, just
to name a few), this question is lacking a
necessary qualifier. If the person who wrote
this question was truly interested in the
welfare of the child, they would want to know if
the child was on any psychiatric medication.
They would also want to know about any traumatic
incidents which may have happened in the child's
life.
20.
“Has there been a time when doing even the
little things made you feel really tired”?
Yet again, this question lacks any
medical qualifier. Has the child recently been
ill? Is the child getting adequate rest? Does
the child's diet contain enough nourishment for
a growing adolescent body? It is impossible to
answer this question with anything but a "yes"
as it has happened to everyone. Without the
medical qualifier, a yes answer does not
indicate anything relevant to the purported
purpose of this "
Teen Screen."
21. “In the last three months…
Has there been a time when you couldn’t think as
clearly or as fast as usual”?
I challenge you to show me a single
human who would not answer yes to this
question. The effects of drugs & alcohol, not
enough sleep, poor nutrition, being distracted
by any type of worry could bring this on.
“I have just asked you about the last three
months.
Now, I want you to think about the last year”.
SECTION F
22.
“The next questions are about you use of
alcohol-beer, wine, wine coolers, or hard
liquors like vodka, gin or whiskey.
Each can or bottle of beer, glass of wine or
wine cooler, shot of liquor, or mixed drink with
liquor it it counts as one drink.
In the last year…Have you had six or more
drinks”?
Is Teen Screen interested in running a
drug rehab operation that actually gets
results? If so, they would want to know if the
child goes on binges, or drinks until they pass
out, or has black-outs. The criteria of "6 or
more" tells us nothing.
23.
“Did you get in trouble with the police when you
were drunk or because you had been drinking”?
In the unlikely event that this question
is answered in the affirmative, where are the
follow-up questions? What did the parents do?
Has the teen changed his or her drinking habits
since the incident?
24. “In the last years…
Did you get into arguments with your family or
friends because of drinking”?
Show me a drinker who has NOT been in an
argument with family or friends while drinking.
25.
“Did you miss school to go drinking or because
you were hung over”?
It is very likely that a teenager
involved in heavy drinking would answer yes to
this question. If the person asking this
question were really interested in the child,
the question would also include "How many
times?" If it only happened once, (such as
after prom night), the question would be
answered in the affirmative with no indication
that it only happened once. In that case, it is
NOT a problem which needs any particular
attention and is not indicative of the
teen-ager's true behaviour.
SECTION G
26.
“In the last year…
Have you used marijuana six or more times”?
Teen Screen is supposed to be used to
prevent teen suicides. How is this relevant?
Using marijuana 6 or more times over the course
of an entire year is not necessarily an
indicator of any abnormal mental state.
27.
“Did you miss school to use marijuana or because
you were too high on marijuana to go to school”?
Once again, the ONLY question which would reveal
abnormal behaviour is left out. How many
times? If it's a regular occurance, it is a
problem. If it only happened once it is not.
28. “In the last year…
Did you get into arguments with your friends and
family because you were using marijuana”?
I would HOPE there were arguments about
a teen's marijuana use. This would be NORMAL.
SECTION H
29.
“Have you used any opiates to get high.
This includes things like codeine, Demerol,
morphine, percodan, methadone, Darvon, opium,
Delaudid, Talwin and so on”.
“In the last year…
Have you used any of these to get high””?
I find it very curious that no questions are
asked about the illicit use of psychiatric drugs
to get high. Most people don't know that heroin
was the psychiatrist's answer to morphine
addiction. Morphine was the answer to cocaine
addiction. All of these drugs were introduced
by psychiatrists as the solution. Now Ritalin
as become one of the most highly abused drugs.
Who introduced that drug? Psychiatrists.
30.
Have you used any kind of hallucinogen? This
includes LSD or “acid”, mescaline, peyote, DMT,
psilocybin and so on.
Have you used one of these?
An affirmative answer to this question
should only endear the teen to any psychiatrist
or psychologist. After all, it was psychologist
Timothy Leary who promoted these hallucinogens.
It was psychiatrists who gleefully used LSD to
try to induce psychosis in unsuspecting subjects
so they could "study" psychosis. Psychiatrist
"Jolly" West actually killed an elephant with
LSD at UCLA.
31. In the last year…
“Have you used stimulants or amphetamines…like
speed, diet pills, Benzedrine, methamphetamine
or anything like that to get high”?
Since more than 8 million school children in the
U.S. are being prescribed stimulant drugs by
psychiatrists, why should Teen Screen be
interested in any answer to this question?
32. “Have you used cocaine or ‘crack’?”
33.
“In the last year…Have you used heroin”?
34.
“Have you used PCP or “Angel Dust”?
35.
“In the last year…Have you used ecstasy”?
36.
“Have you used any inhalants…like glue, cleaning
fluid, gasoline or paint to get high”?
All of the above questions show several glaring
omissions. They do not ask how many times.
They also do not ask if the teen is abusing any
prescribed drugs. The fact that many teens
"share" their psychiatric drugs is not addressed
here either.
37. “How often did your parents feel worried or
concerned about the way you were feeling or
acting?
a.
A lot of the time
b.
Some of the time
c.
Hardly ever
d.
Not at all”
I would be very concerned if the parents
of any adolescent were not frequently worried
about their child. This is NORMAL.
38. “Were they worried or concerned because of:
a. You were feeling anxious or worried?
b. You were feeling sad or depressed?
c. Problems with your behavior?
d. Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e. Other things you did?
39. How often did you parents get annoyed or
upset with you because of the way you were
feeling or acting?
a. A lot of the time
b. Some of the time
c. Hardly ever
d. Not at all
40. Were they annoyed or upset because of:
a. You were feeling anxious or worried?
b. You were feeling sad or depressed?
c. Problems with your behavior?
d. Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e. Other things you did?
41. How often were you not able to do things or
go places with your family because of the way
you felt or acted?
a. A lot of the time
b. Some of the time
c. Hardly ever
d. Not at all
42. Were you not able to do things or go places
because:
a. You were feeling anxious or worried?
b. You were feeling sad or depressed?
c. Problems with your behavior?
d. Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e. Other things you did?
43. How often did the way you were feeling or
acting make it difficult to do your schoolwork
or cause problems with your grades?
a. A lot of the time
b. Some of the time
c. Hardly ever
d. Not at all
44. Did you have problems with your schoolwork
or grades because of:
a. You were feeling anxious or worried?
b. You were feeling sad or depressed?
c. Problems with your behavior?
d. Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e. Other things you did?
This question is of concern to me because it
does not address whether or not the student is
having problems due to the fact that he or she
is not being properly taught. If a child does
not understand something about what they are
studying, they will most likely feel most of
those things listed above.
45. How often were your teachers annoyed or
upset with you because of the way you were
feeling or acting?
a. A lot of the time
b. Some of the time
c. Hardly ever
d. Not at all
This question does not address the fact that
many of today's teachers are not competent to
teach. The obvious rise of functional
illiteracy in the U.S. is testament to the fact
that reading and writing are not being taught
properly. The attempts to downgrade tests to
coincide with the lack of good education, the
lowering of standards for college and university
acceptance, all point to a lack of good
teaching. If a teacher gets upset or annoyed
with a student, it is usually because that
student is not being taught in a way which will
actually assist him to learn anything.
43. Were you teachers annoyed or upset because
of:
a. You were feeling anxious or worried?
b. Problems with your behavior?
c. Problems with alcohol or drugs?
d. Other things you did?
44. How often did the way you were feeling or
acting make you feel bad or feel upset?
a. A lot of the time
b. Some of the time
c. Hardly ever
d. Not at all
45. Did you feel bad or upset because of:
a. You were feeling anxious or worried?
b. You were feeling sad or depressed?
c. Problems with your behavior?
d. Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e. Other things you did?
46. Have you been to see someone at a hospital,
or at a clinic because of the way you were
feeling or acting?
a. yes
b. no
47. Did you go to see someone because of:
a. You were feeling anxious or worried?
b. You were feeling sad or depressed?
c. Problems with your behavior?
d. Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e. Other things you did”?
If the child is seeing or has seen a
mental health practitioner, why does Teen Screen
want to know this? Do they think they are
better at preventing teen suicides than their
"partners in crime?" Will they not bother to
"assess" a survey done by a child who is already
under treatment? If the child is already being
treated, would the child's practitioner have
consented to allowing the child to do this
survey if they had been notified by Teen Screen?
END
Fair Use Notice Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of
the US Copyright Law.
This material is distributed without profit.
|
