Attention Pinellas County School Board:

As a concerned human being above all else, I urge you to reconsider NOT implementing TeenScreen as you will be protecting teen lives and their families from this nonsensical quota driven scam, which in the end will only benefit the deep pockets of Big Pharma and its Med Thugs.

I'm certain valued members of your board have children, and I am writing this letter in hopes to appeal to your compassionate hearts.  The life we live and breathe today is challenging enough, and we as adults have a hard enough time facing and conquering those challenges let alone children and youth. 

Drawing from "death statistic facts" induced by prescribed antidepressants, especially post September 2004 Congressional Hearings on this issue, magnified by my personal affiliations with families who have lost their children due to inaccurate diagnoses which led to inaccurate prescribed medications, which in specific heart wrenching cases, led to the death of their children - I IMPLORE YOU, please... take a stand AGAINST TeenScreen and SEIZE the leading role for other school districts to follow.

We must all join forces and protect our identities, our minds, our hearts, our souls, NOT subject our future leaders to subjective TeenScreens which in the end, its probability of harming teen lives is higher than saving lives.

With that said, before making your final decision, please review Dr. Karen Effrem's Talking Points on Mental Health Initiatives -  Problems with Screening and Drugging at http://www.edaction.org/2004/082704.htm.  In this letter, I will include the first THREE points referenced verbatim from her letter:

1) Screening does not prevent suicide - The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued its findings and recommendation against screening for suicide that corroborate those of the Canadian PSTF.  "USPSTF found no evidence that screening for suicide risk reduces suicide attempts or mortality. There is limited evidence on the accuracy of screening tools to identify suicide risk in the primary care setting, including tools to identify those at high risk. (See http://www.ahrp.org/infomail/04/05/21.html

2) Mental health diagnoses are "subjective" and "social constructions" as admitted by the authors of the diagnostic manuals themselves.  Both the World Health Organization and the Surgeon General reports say that it is especially difficult to accurately diagnose young children because they are so rapidly changing and developing.  This is particularly relevant to our opposition to the Foundations for Learning Act within No Child Left Behind, section 5542 (USC 20, sec.7269a).

3) Parents are already being coerced to put their children on psychiatric medications and some children are dying because of it. Universal screening and the accompanying treatments recommended by the New Freedom Commission will only increase that problem. Across the country, Patricia Weathers, the Carroll Family, the Johnston Family, and the Salazar Family were all charged or threatened with child abuse charges for refusing or taking their children off of psychiatric medications. Both Matthew Smith and Shaina Dunkle died of medication toxicity after their parents were coerced to place their children on drugs by the schools. What are the rights of youth and their parents to refuse or opt out of this screening?  Will they face coercion and threats of removal from school or child abuse/neglect charges if they refuse? How reliable are the screening instruments?  What if the diagnosis is wrong? How will a child or adolescent remove a stigmatizing label from their records that could follow them the rest of their lives? Will parents be honestly told about the potentially severe side effects of the medications used in treatment? There are no studies on the long-term effects of any of these drugs on the brains of children, especially in the 2 to 4 year old children that are increasingly being put on these drugs and more is being spent on them than on antibiotics. ( http://www.ahrp.org/infomail/04/05/25.html  )

Last but definitely not least, when you make your decision, have in mind "your own child" and what you would do if you were on the other side of the fence fighting together with families who have lost their children making the same request as I am writing to you at this very moment.  I could have very well been you, in your position, and you could have been the one writing this very letter to me making the same request.  Granted, I am not a parent, but I am a compassionate human being, and child advocate who has joined the family masses to stand against this TeenScreen monstrosity which is growing into an epidemic unless we take an aggressive stance and put a STOP to it immediately!


Most Respectfully,
Annie Armen

Annie Armen, J.D.
Host, Producer (T.V. / Radio for AAL)
Dedicated Family / Child Advocate
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"We must reach millions, and only UNITED our advocacy efforts will materialize!"
http://www.anniearmenlive.org/tributes.htm Special Thanks to Ken Kramer for providing us with his TeenScreen Website at
http://www.psychsearch.net/teenscreen.html.  
http://www.anniearmenlive.org/aalredflagalerts.htm