Fairfax County Public Schools has crossed the line with their "depression survey" (house, price)

[CAVA1990]

We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home

[OrangeFish]

I don't have high school students (my kids are in elementary school) so I did not receive the letter, but at a minimum I think FCPS should have this letter posted somewhere on their website. (I looked for it and couldn't find it.)

[Forehead]

My initial assumption is that this is a reaction to Newtown, but it has probably been in the works for awhile.

[marie5v]

Originally Posted by Forehead

My initial assumption is that this is a reaction to Newtown, but it has probably been in the works for awhile.

It does look like a Cover-Your-Assets reaction to school shootings, or perhaps suicides, in general. Probably just trying to do as much as possible to look they are trying to prevent student deaths so that if they ever have to go to court they have a paper trail to show they did something. The fact that something is poorly thought out and will probably be ineffective does not matter to FCPS - it's all about the CYA policy.

[shapirotwp]

Hello,

My name is Taylor Shapiro. I'm the Fairfax County education reporter at The Washington Post. I'm interested in talking to parents and their reaction to this survey. Please e-mail me at shapirot [at] washpost [dot] com. Also, if someone has a copy of the letter about the survey I'd like to see it. Thanks. -TRS

[choff5]

Originally Posted by Forehead

My initial assumption is that this is a reaction to Newtown, but it has probably been in the works for awhile.

It is not something new, it is not the first year for this, and is not done county wide at the same time. I know some high schools did it well before Newtown so it is not a reaction to that. I believe it is up to the individual schools to decide if and when they are doing the screening. If families can opt out, which would be my guess, then what is the issue? I would hope the schools involved would have the opportunity to respond to any questions about this.

[CAVA1990]

Sounds like some people around here have authority issues.

[Doppelganger69]

Schools already screen kids for vision and hearing problems and scoliosis. They also promote public health by requiring that children receive vaccines in order to register. In this case, they are screening for a mental health issue that can cause significant learning challenges and pervasive lifetime difficulties, even death.

In all cases, we would hope that parents would be on top of things with their kids - for example, already getting their eyes, ears, and backs checked annually with the pediatrician, and fully vaccinating their children without any other incentive - but we know that isn't the case, so the public schools have a great opportunity to serve as a promoter of public health. Mental health issues are often hidden from the parents and difficult to discover, especially in teens who tend (even when in the best of health) to separate from the parents as part of normal development. The schools are in a good place to help discover a child in danger.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Yet another reason for homeschooling...

[FindingZen]

My educator wife's opinion about this is that one can't have it both ways. In her words, many parents want schools to help to determine which students might be a danger to themselves and others; not participating in this survey may prevent one of the more effective ways of doing so. She also figures that students would have the choice to opt out.