Pros And Cons Of Mental Health Screening

Would you let your child’s school screen them for suicidal tendencies? According to At Issue from the SIRS database, thousands of teenagers in the United States commit suicide every year. One of the reasons is some teenagers do not understand that death is final. Teenagers young minds are also vulnerable to violence in the media, parental abuse, and feeling isolated or alone. The pro-view claims screenings can identify suicidal teenagers and get them help. The con-view believes the screening violates privacy and unfairly labels teenagers. This paper will examine the pro, con, and my viewpoint on whether children and teenagers should be screened at school for mental illness and suicidal tendencies. First, mental health screenings can help …show more content…
Firstly, kids can be misdiagnosed and wrongly labeled for years to come. Kenndy states that some people believe the mass screenings in school will over diagnose students and provide the students with, sometimes incorrect, life time labels. Therefore, kids could be labeled depressed and not really be depressed. Laura Landro then explains that some kids can answer questions during the test that can make them seem to have depression when they do not. Hence, kids can be labeled wrongly by screens fairly easily. Landro also shares, that people opposed to mental health screenings fear kids could be wrongly singled out, labeled as problematic, and stigmatized. Thus, it is a possibility for kids to be labeled incorrectly and become stuck with a lifetime label. Secondly, most depression cases are treated with medication instead of professional help. Linking back to over diagnosing, Brendan Borrell states, over diagnosing could lead to increased use of medication, such as Prozac, which has also been linked to an increase in suicide. Hence, students could be misdiagnosed, put on medication to help with depression, only to have even more suicidal thoughts they did not have to begin with. Borell then states that even if kids are identified properly, only one in five kids benefit from the medication treatments. Therefore, even if the tests are right, not all kids …show more content…
Firstly, school screenings would benefit children. Briggs explains young students that are not diagnosed as having mental illness run a high risk of suicide. Thus, in order to prevent suicides we need mental health screenings. Briggs continues by pointing out that mass shooters suffer from mental illness that could have been identified with a screening. Therefore, mental health screenings can identify potentially dangerous behavior. Briggs further states that children must be physically and mentally healthy to attend school. Hence, a school screening would identify the mentally unhealthy students. Secondly, not getting the necessary mental help has a negative impact. Allick shares the murder-suicide of two high school students, the perpetrator suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness. Thus, if a screening had been in place these deaths could have been avoided. Kennedy reports that an assistant principle happened to approach a student that needed help; this lucky encounter has a happy ending unlike most that do not end well. Therefore, a more formal mental health screenings would help identify students in need. I’ve personally had a close friend of my commit suicide because of issues at school. It makes you think about what would be different if screenings were in place or if somebody noticed something in time. Hence, not having mental health screenings has devastating