Illinois to Mandate Mental Health Screenings for Students

When I was a kid, we underwent all manner of health screenings. We were screened for hearing and speech issues, dyslexia, and tuberculosis. In middle school, it was common for someone to come in during homeroom and check all of our scalps for lice. With that in mind, schools screening children for health issues is not a new development. 

However, Illinois is expanding its school screenings to include mental health. Under an amendment to House Bill 1320, the Wellness Checks in Schools Program Act, the state will begin phasing in mental health screenings for all students in grades 7-12 starting in the fall of this year. 

The evaluations will use a "research-based screening tool," and schools have the option of developing their own screenings, provided that they use resources provided by the state's Department of Healthcare. The data will be reported with any identifying data omitted. The amendment further states that these checks will "be conducted in a manner that permits real-time evaluation of the results and same-day intervention by a mental health professional if necessary." 

On spec, this sounds like a wonderful idea. The teenage years are laden with angst and rife with difficulties, particularly in the 21st century. And it could be argued that such screenings may save lives. Mark Klaisner, executive director of West40 in West Cook County, told The Center Square that even before the advent of COVID-19, mental health and behavioral problems were causing issues for schools. 

"If you were to walk into any school and talk to the principal or the dean, they will tell you that behavioral incidents are way up from what they were 3 to 5 years ago," he said. "It’s fights in the hallways. It’s kids acting out.”

But this is Illinois, after all. With that in mind, some may opine that this is just another way to help Big Pharma move more pills. I suppose that is a possibility, but given the political atmosphere in Illinois and knowing how leftists have a penchant for using good intentions and soaring rhetoric to advance agendas, I do not think that profit is the motivating factor.

While parents and guardians must give permission for these screenings, what processes and investigations will be triggered, and what red flags will be raised if a parent chooses to have their child opt out? One must also ask what the criteria will be to determine the presence of mental illness and whether there will be attempts to access information to which the government may not normally have access. 

Will students be asked if there are any guns in the home? Will they be queried on their parents' politics or religious beliefs? Will students be asked if they identify as a different gender and if their parents support that identity? Will gender identity issues be diagnosed on the spot, and some sort of treatment be prescribed? 

Will these welfare checks result in home visits, with parents being forced to defend choices, ideals, and beliefs that just a short time ago needed no defense? Will birth control be recommended and provided? Will abortions be scheduled? Furthermore, will these screenings gauge or even acknowledge the negative effects that things such as CRT, DEI, the institutionalized sexualization of children, and the impact of social media use? 

There is the potential for much good to be accomplished, but there is also the potential for abuse.

Supporters will scoff and say that this is a much-needed service that will prove to be valuable for ensuring the safety and health of students and creating better schools. And at first blush, the potential for those kinds of successes certainly seems to be there. 

Everyone would like to see a decrease in violence and school shootings. That is a given. But how many times during the past years have you read on these and other pages stories of teachers, administrators, and districts pushing racial and gender agendas in end runs around parents? Those reports are legion, and the above questions are ones that parents need to consider and ask. 

After all, once upon a time, the Trojans looked over their walls and said, "Oh, a giant horse statue! What a lovely and thoughtful gift from the Greeks! That would look perfect in the rec room next to the pool table!" That story did not end well for the Trojans.