From the Illinois Family Institute comes an article written by.Fran Eaton.
Illinois Adopts the Nation’s First Mandatory Mental Health Screening for Students
This summer, Illinois became the first state in the nation to require public school students, grades three through twelve, to be screened for mental health issues, beginning the 2027-28 school year.
Teachers could ask children an array of mental health survey questions, such as:
- How comfortable are you attending school daily?
- Do you have issues initiating conversations with classmates or teachers?
- Do you feel comfortable expressing your emotions to others in school?
- Have you faced any difficulty in making friends in school?
- How often do you feel overwhelmed by your emotions?
- Do you feel that you have control over your emotions most of the time?
- How often do you feel lonely or isolated?
- Is there anything that bothered the idea of attending school?
While parents will be allowed to opt their children out of the program, Governor Pritzker emphasized the importance of student mental health screening as he signed the measure into law on July 31. “We know how transformational these screenings can be for kids at this age,” Pritzker said.
“They provide early identification and intervention so those who are struggling get the help that they need as soon as possible. They improve academic and social outcomes. They help us break down the stigma that too often is a barrier to seeking help.”
When the Illinois Senate considered SB 1560 this year, it passed with no opposition. However, when the Illinois House debated the measure, Republican lawmakers voiced serious concern about the bill’s precedent and whether it would undermine parental authority and responsibility for their children.
State Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) raised several questions from the perspective of a parent when SB 1560 was considered on the House floor this past spring.
“Who will be developing this mental health screening?” Niemerg asked.
“ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) will be procuring a universal mental health screening tool that school districts will have the option to use, but they will also have the option not to use that tool …,” bill sponsor State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe (D-Chicago) answered.
ISBE will offer the screening tool at no cost to school districts; however, districts may choose to purchase their own screening tools if they so desire, she said.
She assured Rep. Niemerg that every school would have an “opt out” policy for parents who do not want their children screened.
“Opt out” policies assume that unless a parent or responsible party asks for an opportunity to “opt out,” they agree to their children’s screening, and the survey will take place.
In closing, Rep. Niemerg asked if parents would have access to the questions and answers their children provide in the screenings.
Rep. LaPointe said,
“Um, so it’s a simple question, but there’s not a simple-simple answer. We do have laws on the books in Illinois today that kids 12 and over can seek mental health treatment without their parents’ or guardians’ notification. So, as you can see, that law is going to intersect here with the students that are being screened who are over 12 years old.”
Rep. Niemerg closed his on-floor questioning with,
“This is a very dangerous piece of legislation that removes parental rights …”
Niemerg remains very concerned about Illinois being the first state to screen its students, aged 8 to 18, on private issues without parental consent.
“This was a very egregious piece of legislation, and when it came across my desk in the House, I chose to debate it vigorously and to make sure I asked clear, logical, cogent questions about how this would work, why the bill sponsor was doing this, and how it will reflect on our children and our children’s future,” Rep. Niemerg said.
“Moreover, I asked questions as a father, not just as a legislator, and that was very important.”
Niemerg says he recommends that parents throughout Illinois inform their school administration that they do not want their children to be screened for mental health issues.
Parental rights are a big issue in the state of Illinois, and unfortunately, the Democrats continue to ignore that, Niemerg said in an interview for the Illinois Family Institute.
“From Governor Pritzker on down to the House and to the Senate, it’s a situation where parents were being left at the front door. These children have been brought into the schools and are being indoctrinated with this radical leftist agenda and for them to sit there and have no answers for me, to have no transparency, to say ‘We’re just going to let ISBE draft these rules and regulations’ – a liberal organization with very little conservative membership – and then say, ‘OK, we’re not going to vote on it,’ isn’t acceptable,” he said.
The situation raises so many unanswered questions for parents, he said.
“What’s the point of us being here if we’re going to have an unelected bureaucratic organization institute these radical mandates into our school system? What are we doing here in the General Assembly? Where are the checks and balances?” Niemerg asked.
District residents should be aware of how their representatives and senators are voting on these issues, Niemerg said. Once set into motion, there will be little or no opportunity to adjust the public policy.
Illinois’ new law drew attention from national media, from the New York Post to Fox News.
“Certainly, we want to say to parents, opt out,” former educator Cara Truss told the New York Post. “And if you think that your child may be suffering from some sort of mental episode, get your own screening. Go out and allow your child’s doctor to be the catalyst for whether or not you make the decision to deal with that, whether it’s mental illness or whether it’s trauma.”
FoxNews.com quoted Abigail Shrier, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, who wrote on X:
“I want to be on the record and crystal clear. This is a disastrous policy that will do vastly more harm than good. Watch as tens of thousands of Illinois kids get shoved into the mental health funnel and convinced they are sick. Many or most of which will be false positives.”
Illinois Family Institute’s Dave Smith urges parents to stay vigilant about the dangers tied to this new law.
“Parents must understand the grave risks when public schools take charge of mental health screenings. These are the same institutions that push radical ideology as normal—calling boys girls, installing tampon machines in boys’ bathrooms, and exposing young children to inappropriate graphic sexual content. Why would we ever entrust them with our children’s hearts and minds?”
Smith added,
“Moms and dads must do everything possible to guard their children from being taken captive by the lies of this world. ‘See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.’ (Colossians 2:8)”
The Illinois House sponsors and co-sponsors of SB 1560 were State Representatives Lindsey LaPointe – Terra Costa Howard – Laura Faver Dias – Stephanie A. Kifowit, Michelle Mussman, Michael J. Kelly, Mary Gill, Dave Vella, Nicolle Grasse, Tracy Katz Muhl, Michael Crawford, Kelly M. Cassidy, Kevin John Olickal, Anna Moeller, and Nabeela Syed.
The Illinois Senate sponsors and co-sponsors of SB 1560 were State Senators Sara Feigenholtz, Kimberly A. Lightford, Laura Fine, and Mary Edly-Allen.
Take ACTION: To OPT OUT, Click HERE.
