In a shocking move, the Bush administration actually passed a bill that allows parents to have the final say in whether or not their kids are drugged for psychological "disorders".
This came just days after passing an opposing bill that creates a program to make psychological testing mandatory in public schools.
The government may be in bed with Big Pharma, but at least they are not yet calling for a wholesale drugging of the masses, a la Brave New World.
We are fortunate that there are some people paying attention to this under reported topic, and that they are willing to push back against the drug industry. While we may have taken a step back, this new bill has kept that backwards movement to a minimum.
If you missed it, here is a recap of the story so far...
Last month the Bush administration passed the New Freedom (from Dissent!) Iniative, which was included in the Omnibus Spending Bill. The program was designed along the lines of similar programs already in use in Texas and some other states, and attached mandatory psychological testing to federal funding for educational facilities and health centers. While this may sound innocuous, it really stems from a push by the drug industry to get more customers. The more kids they can get addicted to mind altering drugs, the better their profits. And, while many people, including kids, do have real problems fitting in to society, and may behave outside of our social norms, the drugs that are being prescribed for these antisocial behaviors have never been proven to cure anyone. (Only therapy and a better understanding of a child's background can permanently help.) In fact there have been studies lately that show, especially in kids and teens, that many of these psychoactive drugs have a dangerous effect on the users. These dangers are so prevalent that the FDA is now forcing drug companies to include "black box" warnings on the drug boxes.
For more information on the background of the New Freedom (from Dissent) Iniative, see my collection of articles.
Now for the good news. From a story on the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights website:
In order to receive federal funds under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), the "Prohibition on Mandatory Medication Amendment," was signed into law by President Bush today and requires schools to implement policies that prohibit schoolchildren being forced onto psychiatric drugs as a requisite for their education.
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Hundreds of parents across America have been pressured to put their school-aged children onto cocaine-like stimulants or antidepressants for which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just ordered a "black box label" warning of the drugs' high risk of causing suicide among children and adolescents. Ms. Kelly Preston, who met with members of Congress in June last year to enlist support of the amendment, said, "Every mother has an inherent right to protect her child from harm. However, many mothers have been denied that right because psychiatrists have inundated unwitting teachers with the false opinion that educational and behavioral problems are symptoms of 'mental disorders' that require mind-altering drugs. This law gives hope for a new era in education, one where teachers are free to work with parents to find academic solutions instead of unworkable and harmful psychiatric treatments that benefit no one but the psychiatric industry."
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CCHR says the next step in educational reform is to remove psychiatric and psychological testing and screening from schools which are the feeder lines to psychiatrists who have made turning schools into mental health clinics a business. Millions of students are now dependent upon psychiatric drugs or are taking them illegally. CCHR, joined by scores of parents and civil rights groups, say the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health's recommendations for mandatory mental health screening in school is a frightening representation of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, in which Huxley describes a controlled "utopian" civilization achieved with the "technique of suggestion - through infant conditioning and, later, with the aid of drugs." While the "Prohibition on Mandatory Medication Amendment" will help prevent some of psychiatry's propensity to drug all normal childhood behavior, many charge that the spurious sounding "Freedom Commission on Mental Health" and its recommendations will open another door to dangerous conditioning leading to massive increases in psychotropic drugging of a new generation.
If the schools are one of the last refuges of democratic education, then we must continue to fight for the rights of our children to be taught in an environment that encourages creativity, personal responsibility, and rational thought. Kids who may not "fit in" should not be left behind! These kids have a right to be educated, not medicated into oblivion. (Some medication may temporarily be useful, but only if it is accompanied by good cognitive therapy, and a realization that not all kids learn well in a static, overcrowded classroom.) We need quality public schools to ensure an educated intelligent electorate in the future, and to do that we need to make sure that our schools aren't simply drumming obedience into their students, by drugging them into submission. Fortunately, parents still have that right, though we need to be aware of this issue, lest another bill like the New Freedom (from Dissent!) Iniative sneaks by again.