Someone posted this editorial/article this morning on the NYRA (National Youth Rights Association) forums:

Mental Health Screening in Schools Signals the End of Parental Rights
Nancy Levant

Aside from that ending jab at those who cannot afford private schools, I'm in agreement with the author. This is a pretty frightening proposal, the kind of thing a conspiracy theorist might come up with to show how Bush et al are pushing the world into 1984. But no one had to come up with this conspiracy, because it already exists. A Google search collaborated the information (with a more objective article in New Standard, for example)- this is not a joke. This is not a test. This is for real.

That said, it's hard to believe that anyone could support this initiative. This is a violation of privacy, of search and seizure rights, of rights to choose your own medication, of, if nothing else, parental rights to decide what is best for your child. (Not to mention the child's rights to choose what's best for themselves.)

Unfortunately, this is not a solitary event. Here you can find a story about a girl, Katie Wernecke, being taken from her parents and forced to undergo radiation treatments against both her own and her parents' wishes. After undergoing four chemotherapy treatments, she and her parents decided to forego radiation treatments out of fear that it will cause other cancers, stunt her growth, and cause other problems. They made a video in which Katie says, "No one asked me what I wanted. It's my body."

That's right. Not only is it HER body, her parents agree with her as to what should be done, and no one is being hurt by their choice except perhaps her. This doesn't even touch on all of the problems in the abortion debate, or the parental rights vs. youth rights. There should be no, I repeat no, interference on the part of the government, or even a question about it. This disgusts me.

So you take a solitary event like this (which has its duplicates in other isolated events of parents being chased across the country by CPS for refusing to give their kids Ritalin because some stupid doctor decided that the kid had ADHD because he was suffering carbon monoxide poisoning, or she couldn't read well, or whatever) and multiply it by millions of kids across the country, and what do you get? Apparently, the New "Freedom" Commission. Remember everyone:

Freedom=Slavery

War=Peace

Ignorance=Power.

Bill of Rights=Fancy Napkin

Common Psychiatrist (there are good ones, this is just the horror-story one): Carbon-monoxide poisoning? Dyslexic? ADD. Unwillingness to sit still and watch TV? ADHD. Questioning authority at all? ODD. And do you have any of those? Autism? Asperger's? Pretty much any PDD? There is one magical answer to your problems: medication, medication, medication. Pills, liquid, automatic implanted capsules, the magical remedies come in many different forms, and several are based off of less legal magical remedies like cocaine. Got a problem? Pop a pill. And, kids, just say NO to drugs.

And no, we're not living in Orwellian times.

P.S. everyone: just to show what a wonderful democratic republic this is, you can all go over and vote on the poll for your support or disagreement with this proposal. Just go over to the nav bar, and where it says "Things To Do: Cast Your Vote" you can click and go vote. It won't change the situation, but it'll get your voice heard on my blog!