By David M. Bresnahan
© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
Potentially violent school children might be detected in advance
through the use of psychological testing, but a federal court has made
that tougher to do.
Concern over the shooting in Littleton, Colo., has brought forth
proposals on ways to prevent such violence, which include psychological
surveys to establish profiles of potential troublemakers. A federal
lawsuit in Texas was settled in favor of stronger parental rights and
more restrictions on what schools can and cannot do.
A survey of elementary and high school children regarding sexuality,
morality, personal beliefs, their parent's behavior, and similar
personal issues prompted legal action by parents. A federal court has
just handed them a major victory over teachers who conducted surveys
against parent's wishes.
Students were being given surveys, which the suit called "invasive
and intrusive psychological exams." A federal court agreed and
established requirements for parental
notification and consent.
"The signing of this federal court order signals a bright future for
all parents in the San Antonio Independent School District and the
protection of their parental rights in the education of their children.
We are hopeful that districts across the state will take a look at what
happened in this case and voluntarily implement the same or similar
measures in their own district to protect and advance parental rights.
Remember, parents are full partners with educators in the education of
their children, and they need to be treated that way," said Texas
Justice Foundation attorney Thomas W. Stack of the victory he obtained
for the concerned parents in the suit.
Several surveys were provided to WorldNetDaily. Sample questions from
the surveys include:
- If you could change one thing about your family what would it be
and why?
- What's the thing you need most that you are not getting from your
family?
Also included are questions regarding religious preference, family
income, and sexual preference.
Many of the surveys seemed to contain a large number of questions
about family size, structure, and problems that may occur in the home.
Surveys collected by the Christian Alert Network from schools around the
country contain questions about sexual activities and preferences.
Rev. Curt Tomlin told WorldNetDaily that surveys of this type are
used in schools all across the country. He said he does not see how such
a survey could accurately predict which students might commit an act of
violence. He said there are many teenagers who would purposely answer
the survey incorrectly just to get attention or try to be funny.
Stack agreed. He said the use of a survey is not going to solve the
problem of violence in the schools.
The poor print quality of the surveys indicates they have been copied
many times. The same or similar surveys have been found by members of
the Christian Alert Network in all areas of the country. No one seems to
know where they originated, including officials in the San Antonio
Independent School District.
Thomas Sanchez, school board president, told WorldNetDaily that he is
pleased with the court decision and believes a better system for
administering surveys will be the result. He said that he was personally
concerned about the lack of professionalism of the surveys and the way
in which they were given.
Sanchez said the issue raised by the parents helped to correct a
problem to make the schools better. He was upset that the surveys were
being given by teachers who were not qualified as counselors.
Students in the San Antonio schools were told not to tell their
parents about the surveys or the journals they were forced to keep.
Teachers would provide a question or topic of a personal nature each day
and require children to respond in the journals, which were kept locked
in the school. One fifth grader smuggled her survey home to her mother.
The 10-year-old daughter of Lisa Tellez came home last year
complaining of the survey she was forced to take against her will. When
she told the teacher she did not wish to participate she was told that
her mother had signed a permission slip for the survey when she signed
up for a master gardener program two years previous. The young girl was
also forced to write in a daily journal, which she finally decided to
smuggle home to show her mother.
Mrs. Tellez had been actively involved as an officer of the PTA and a
volunteer at the school. She was unaware of the surveys and the journals
until her daughter complained. She said she never signed a permission
slip, and the school was unable to produce it.
When she asked for copies of the surveys, student records, and to
review teaching materials the battle began. Her daughter began coming
home with stories of how she would be taken out of class and
interrogated about the intentions of her mother.
Mrs. Tellez was not alone in her concerns. Many parents joined the
effort. After many months of complaints and filling a class action
federal lawsuit, the school board finally granted her, and dozens of
other parents, a hearing at a board meeting. She complained of the
nature of the surveys and the secretive nature surrounding them.
"There were things about sexual preference, death, suicide, abortion
counseling and things like that that I wanted to teach her about
myself," Tellez told WorldNetDaily. "I started realizing that she wasn't
learning anything academic. I hadn't realized that because they weren't
allowing the kids to bring their work home anymore. They only sent
report cards, and hers were great.
"I asked her what she was learning and it turned out she was learning
about UFOs, Bermuda Triangle, medieval times, Egyptian culture, how to
embalm, and there was just nothing academic. This was last year in the
fifth grade. There was no spelling. She couldn't multiply. She was
taking no math," she said.
When she approached the faculty and administration of the school she
was told that the program was designed to teach her child critical
thinking.
Mrs. Tellez said it didn't take long to find out that her 15-year-old
son was also taking similar surveys at the high school. The Tellez
children were removed from public school and began homeschooling, but
have since been placed in a private Christian school.
Mrs. Tellez had always believed her children were doing well in
school because they were getting good grades on report cards and were
being listed on the honor roll.
"My daughter was three years behind when I had her tested. My son was
four years behind. These are kids that were honor students. My daughter
couldn't write cursive and she was in the fifth grade," remarked Mrs.
Tellez.
She said she considers the experience she has had to be a blessing in
disguise. The discovery of the offensive surveys enabled her to discover
that her children were not being schooled in the basic academic subjects
she had assumed they were getting. She believes her children are now
getting the education she expected but didn't get in the public schools.
"They're just so determined at being surrogate parents instead of
being educators. They have a totally different idea of what children
should be raised to believe than what my husband and I do. As long as
they're going to try to instill particular values in children, my
children can't go there because their values are no values at all," Mrs.
Tellez described.
The Tellez family are Christians and complained that the schools were
telling their children that there is no God and that Christians are
hateful.
"They teach them that there are no moral absolutes. Well, yes there
are. You always have to be accountable for what you do. You have to face
the consequences whether they're good or bad," said Mrs. Tellez.
It has been a strain on the Tellez family budget to send three
children to a private school. Many of their friends would like to leave
the public schools but don't have the means to homeschool and can't
afford a private education.
The court order has established requirements which must now be met by
the school district, which Stack says he hopes will be a model for all
schools in the nation. The federal order requires the following:
- A special committee, which will include parents, will approve
future surveys.
- All past surveys must be destroyed.
- Parental consent will be obtained before students are given
surveys.
- Parents will be given a copy of any survey they request before it
is administered.
- School classes will only involve academic issues.
- Counseling instruction may only be given by certified counselors.
- The faculty will be given in-service training on parental rights.
- The faculty will be instructed not to intimidate, interrogate, or
retaliate against the children of parents who exercise their parental
rights.
- Children will be questioned about grievances only with parents
present.
- School records will be made available to parents on request.
