Intrusive Questionnaire Given To First Graders; See Parent’s EPIC Response!

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

If she stab herself and/or someone else during an episode .... or in her case takes her 7th grade 250 pound frame and beats the crap out of someone and there is blood, yes we call her parents and if parents cannot be found, the law and an ambulance might be called if someone is hurt.

And as I said in my previous post, if she is prone to such behaviors, she won't be going to a public school, or even living at home. You're speculating on an event that has not happened, and almost certainly won't happen.

We've called the ambulance two times this year because parents were out of pocket and could not be reached: [1] a student was violently seizing and had never done so before and [2] a child fell off the monkey bars and broke his arm.

Again, you're talking about medical conditions. This has nothing to do with teachers, nurses, administrators, etc., having personal mental health information about a student, which they should not have.

I'd like to see some of you who despise what I do and THINK you know what I do actually DO what I do.

Scarlett, I don't despise what you do. I greatly respect teachers and what they do. But you, your principal, your school counselor, your school nurse, your district psychologist are not qualified to take on these obligations. You are not trained for it, the nurse, counselor and psychologist are not qualified nor licensed for it, and mental health issues are none of your business.

If you could see this girl and be around her when she's about to go off in a manic rage - you all wouldn't be complaining about things like this.

I rest my case. Manic episodes are typified by euphoria, over-exuberance, self-indulgence and grandiosity. Rage comes during a depressive phase, and almost exclusively after the slide from manic to depressive episodes. I suspect that if you regularly see events that resembles a pending rage incident, particularly when she appears to be in a manic episode, it is what the girl wants you to see. She's playing you. The term "manic rage" is used incorrectly, because rage does not occur during mania. In fact, she's taking advantage of the fact you know something about her that you shouldn't know! If she were actually in such a greatly depressive episode as to be prone to rage, she'd be hospitalized. We done here?
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An aside here: I used to get referrals from the schools to provide substantive analysis of students whom were suspected to be ADD, perhaps on drugs, or suffering some other form of mental health issue. Almost uniformly, my interviews with them, over the course of a couple weeks for a minimum of four sessions, would find that they were 1) normal teens who were exploring their boundaries and needed to rechannel their energy elsewhere, or 2) actually were experimenting with drugs that had caused a mood and behavior change that would be alleviated with counseling and treatment accompanied by a stoppage of the drug abuse. The schools didn't like my work, because the psychiatrists they would then send my records to would agree with me.

The schools wanted to control the students they found "disruptive" even when the disruption was a normal part of being a teenager. They didn't like "different," they didn't like "uniqueness." They wanted then, and still want, conformity, and if they can't get it one way, they'll get it another. That means medication that makes them "conform," behave docilely, be "normal." It's just another thing wrong with education today. The administration regards conformity and "normal" as necessary to an adequate educational environment. They kill initiative before the teachers ever get to see it.

 

[plain_n_simple]

Scarlett O, God bless you and thank you for being a teacher.

 

[North Carolina Tentmaker]

First off, thank you Scarlett for all you do.

Second, this entire thread is a straw man argument. The questionnaire was not what it was made out to be and we are arguing about something that never really happened.

TND, you and Scarlett are arguing from completely different perspectives. She is not a professional counsellor, she is a teacher. You have the training to deal with extreme cases and from what I have seen in your other posts I think you are probably pretty good at it. But what we are talking about here are kids somewhere in between. Kids that cannot or will not receive services from a professional like yourself, but are still part of the school system. Scarlett’s perspective as a teacher or a parent’s perspective is very different from yours. You have to look at that one child with a serious condition. We have to look at all of them. You want to quibble over the term “Manic” because as a professional you have a very specific definition for it. Scarlett is describing her situation in the terms us normal people would use.

The bottom line is the questions on the form were not for a student, they were for a parent. And if the parent did not want to answer them then they shouldn’t. What about the parent who knows their kid is having trouble and wants to let someone know? Is it ok for them to answer?

I am not a teacher, but I do work with youth as a Boy Scout leader. I have had mothers drop kids off for summer camp and conveniently forget that they were on ADD medication (what a great opportunity to get them off of their meds and let someone else worry about them for a week). I have also had parents give me long lists of their kid’s conditions where the symptoms simply disappeared as soon and mom left. All in all I would rather have the information than not. Tell me what is going on with your kid and I can be more effective helping them.

Why not answer the questions? Is there something there you want to hide? If your kid has had cancer or lost a parent or the family has a drug abuse problem, don’t you think it is better to let those other caregivers in your kid’s lives (teachers) know? What do you possibly have to gain by not telling them?

If you don’t like the questions then don’t answer them, but don’t get mad because someone asked.

Anyway that’s my 2 cents worth.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

NCT, point well taken. I stand by my points regarding school psychologists and I have strong professional concerns about their qualifications and the responsibilities either given them or taken on by them. However, you and Scarlett are right about her needs in the classroom.

 

[North Carolina Tentmaker]

And I agree with many of those concerns TND. I have a great appreciation of what both you and Scarlett do. In an age where too many young people take their own lives and everyone is worried about the next school shooting there is a tremendous amount of pressure on teachers and psychologists. May God bless both of you with the sensitivity to realize your students/patients needs, the knowledge to give them the help and direction they need, and the wisdom to know when to ask for help.

OK, enough of that agreement stuff, what can we fight about

 

[Bro. Curtis]

I have no problem proclaiming my absolute love and respect for both Scarlett O and TNID, based on what they do here.

 

[Gina B]

Schools can be insanely intrusive and breeding grounds for all manner of insanity the corrupts family cohesiveness and the ability of people to raise children in the way they see fit.

That said, this is a standard form given to all ages and likely required 5,000 papers to be filed just for the stamp to acquire permission for the envelope to mail it. That's how government works - nothing to do with common core.

It IS important for teachers to know your child's mental health status. It is silly to think otherwise. A teacher is likely with your younger child more hours of the day than you are, five days a week, like it or not. If your child has mental health issues, it is important that people taking care of your child understand your child. Why would you not want that? You are putting your child's safety in their hands. If you don't like that idea, stop putting your child in the care of another person.

Do you really think a teacher should not know that a reassuring hand on the shoulder will calm your child, or send him/her into a rage? Should a teacher be barred from knowing that your child struggles with certain types of learning because of a known issue, and not because they're refusing to do the work? There are techniques used with different disorders and behaviors that are honed to each unique child, but if there is a known base to start with, you would hold that back from the person caring for your child? It's just plain silly to say teachers shouldn't know of these issues that can and do affect behavior and learning. Teaching is not separate from behavior, learning is not separate from life. Your child is constantly learning and those around them are constantly teaching them.

I think what you fear is not teachers knowing this stuff, which is ideal and normal, but the information being misused and abused, which is abnormal and which is happening in a number of cases across the country. Don't let that cloud your perception of what is right. It's not normal to have to hide away and keep everything secret because you fear the government workers. You should be able to trust that your child will be cared for. You shouldn't have to fear the information you share with teachers will be abused, and you do not need to put down teachers for needing this information to provide the best learning environment and care for your child.

You misunderstand where the problem is coming from. The majority of it, 99.9% of it, is not coming from teachers, so you're not going to solve any problems by badmouthing them.

Get to the root of why the information given to schools can be misused and who is misusing it. Who is getting that information, and what are those people doing to cause harm?