Please see the following message from our good friend Lee Spiller regarding calling for parental consent for mental health treatment in school.
Your Electronic Comments Needed In Support of HB497 Parental Consent for Mental Health Treatment in Schools Submit Electronic Comments Today Bill Will Be Heard in House Pub. Ed. Tuesday, 4-8-25
Tuesday, April 8, 2025, the House Public Education Committee will hear House Bill 497 by Patterson, calling for parental consent for mental health treatment in school.
In dealing with mental health treatment, the bill includes clamping down on the provision of “informational materials” to your child.
We expect the bill will be amended and are hoping that amendments will make the bill stronger.
Whether that happens or not, this is a great opportunity to educate the committee on just what is happening in our public schools.
This is important because in two different school districts in North Texas we found evidence of marketing personnel from a private psychiatric hospital directly lecturing students about mental health.
Most of us are tired of direct-to-consumer drug advertising. How much worse is it to find out that in some places, psych hospital marketing personnel are going directly to captive school students???!!!
Here is how you can help:
If you live outside of the Austin area, you can still participate by submitting an electronic comment in support of HB497. Here are some points you might want to make:
· There are so many activities happening in our school that look like therapy. These include mindfulness meditation, group discussions about emotions and why children are feeling them, and much more. Some parents have testified about their young children coming home upset after participating in “circle time” activities. Parents, not school personnel, should be the ones to decide whether their children participate in such activities.
· Schools should be mainly focused on academics. If schools want to delve into deeply personal and private social or mental activities, parents should be the decision makers as to whether their children participate.
· Assumed or implied parental consent is a reason why some parents are pulling their children out of public schools. This bill can help heal the breach by setting clearer boundaries.
If you can think of something else you want to say, please do. Bottom line is that parents and families need parental rights protections. There are several bills that address this issue. The surest route to getting those rights clarified is to move these consent bills.
Here is a link to the comment page. Just look for HB497 and click on it to start your comment:
