Forced Exam Enrages Parents, Traumatizes Girls [more…]
April 15, 2010
Forced Exam Enrages Parents, Traumatizes Girls
On March 19, 1996, at J.T. Lambert Intermediate School, East Stroudsburg, PA, 59 sixth grade girls received physicals that included genital examinations. Under Pennsylvania state law, every sixth grader must have a physical exam. Those who had not submitted proof to the school that they had been examined by a doctor were given physicals at school. While the school says it sent notices home to the parents of all the girls, many parents claimed that they had not received them. The genital exam was not mentioned in the notice.
The Pocono Record reports that, “some parents told school officials that their daughters were given internal gynecological exams…” School officials and the pediatrician assert that there was “only an external examination of genitalia, — with some touching — which is within parameters state Department of Health.”
According to the Washington Times, the girls “were marched to the school nurse´s office, ordered to take off their clothes and then examined by a female pediatrician.” Katie Tucker, mother of an 11-year-old girl who was examined despite her protests, described the exams for the Times:
“The girls were scared. They were crying and trying to run out of the door, but one of the nurses was blocking the door so they couldn´t leave.”
“My daughter told the other nurse that, ‘My mother wouldn´t like this I want to call her. And they said No. And my daughter said, ´I don´t want this test to be done.´ And the nurse said , ´Too bad.´”
Parents of the girls complained, resulting in an investigation by the Pennsylvania State Patrol. The Times quoted Trooper Shannon Yates, “An investigation was done and no criminal conduct was found to have been done.”
The pediatrician who performed the exams, Dr. Ramiah Vahanvaty, asserts that the external genital exams were a necessary and legal means to check for sexually transmitted diseases. She added, “Even a parent doesn’t have the right to say what’s appropriate for a physician to do when they’re doing an exam.”
The Education Reporter reports the following:
“The Pennsylvania branch of the National Education Association (NEA) supports the actions of the pediatrician, the school nurses, and the requirement for an in-school genital exam. Teachers wore blue ribbons to show support for the exam. The East Stroudsburg School Board approved the examination. A motion to give children the right to refuse examinations below the waist was defeated 8 to 1.
“The East Stroudsburg School District receives $25,000 from Goals 2000. The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, signed by President Clinton in 1994, encourages public schools to offer free, health-related services to all students.” Goals 2000 also encourages “one-stop shopping health clinics” in all public schools.
The Rutherford Institute sued on behalf of 8 of the girls and their families. They won a judgement against the district, which was forced to pay $60,000 in damages. The jury also decided that the East Stroudsburg School District did not have parental consent when it forced the students to undergo genital examinations. This is small compensation to young girls who have had nightmares over their treatment at the hands of authority figures they once trusted.
If you are wondering how 59 traumatized 6th grade girls across the country affects you and your children, remember that Washington State (and every other state in the Union) has been accepting Goals 2000 funding for quite a while. Pennsylvania is the model for education reform for the nation. As goes Pennsylvania, so goes the nation — in time. This is a possible — perhaps likely — manifestation of school-based health clinics. Every Seattle high school has a school-based health clinic. There are now two school-linked health clinics in south King County — in the Renton and Highline school districts.
Lest you think this is an isolated incident, The Rutherford Institute is also suing on behalf of the parents of preschool children who suffered similar abuse in a Headstart program in Kansas. The Kansas case occurred after the Pennsylvania case had been publicized.
Goal 1 of Goals 2000 states, “All children will start school ready to learn.” This is what gives the nosey government nannies the excuse to intervene in families, beginning at the preschool level. In Washington State, we now have the Governor´s Commission on Early Learning creating a foundation, seeded with public money (i.e. your taxes), whose goal is ensuring that all children grow up with “a socially acceptable value system.”
Tags: Pennsylvania, goals 2000, physical exam
Forced Exam Enrages Parents, Traumatizes Girls
On March 19, 1996, at J.T. Lambert Intermediate School, East Stroudsburg, PA, 59 sixth grade girls received physicals that included genital examinations. Under Pennsylvania state law, every sixth grader must have a physical exam. Those who had not submitted proof to the school that they had been examined by a doctor were given physicals at school. While the school says it sent notices home to the parents of all the girls, many parents claimed that they had not received them. The genital exam was not mentioned in the notice.
The Pocono Record reports that, “some parents told school officials that their daughters were given internal gynecological exams…” School officials and the pediatrician assert that there was “only an external examination of genitalia, — with some touching — which is within parameters state Department of Health.”
According to the Washington Times, the girls “were marched to the school nurse´s office, ordered to take off their clothes and then examined by a female pediatrician.” Katie Tucker, mother of an 11-year-old girl who was examined despite her protests, described the exams for the Times:
“The girls were scared. They were crying and trying to run out of the door, but one of the nurses was blocking the door so they couldn´t leave.”
“My daughter told the other nurse that, ‘My mother wouldn´t like this I want to call her. And they said No. And my daughter said, ´I don´t want this test to be done.´ And the nurse said , ´Too bad.´”
Parents of the girls complained, resulting in an investigation by the Pennsylvania State Patrol. The Times quoted Trooper Shannon Yates, “An investigation was done and no criminal conduct was found to have been done.”
The pediatrician who performed the exams, Dr. Ramiah Vahanvaty, asserts that the external genital exams were a necessary and legal means to check for sexually transmitted diseases. She added, “Even a parent doesn’t have the right to say what’s appropriate for a physician to do when they’re doing an exam.”
The Education Reporter reports the following:
“The Pennsylvania branch of the National Education Association (NEA) supports the actions of the pediatrician, the school nurses, and the requirement for an in-school genital exam. Teachers wore blue ribbons to show support for the exam. The East Stroudsburg School Board approved the examination. A motion to give children the right to refuse examinations below the waist was defeated 8 to 1.
“The East Stroudsburg School District receives $25,000 from Goals 2000. The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, signed by President Clinton in 1994, encourages public schools to offer free, health-related services to all students.” Goals 2000 also encourages “one-stop shopping health clinics” in all public schools.
The Rutherford Institute sued on behalf of 8 of the girls and their families. They won a judgement against the district, which was forced to pay $60,000 in damages. The jury also decided that the East Stroudsburg School District did not have parental consent when it forced the students to undergo genital examinations. This is small compensation to young girls who have had nightmares over their treatment at the hands of authority figures they once trusted.
If you are wondering how 59 traumatized 6th grade girls across the country affects you and your children, remember that Washington State (and every other state in the Union) has been accepting Goals 2000 funding for quite a while. Pennsylvania is the model for education reform for the nation. As goes Pennsylvania, so goes the nation — in time. This is a possible — perhaps likely — manifestation of school-based health clinics. Every Seattle high school has a school-based health clinic. There are now two school-linked health clinics in south King County — in the Renton and Highline school districts.
Lest you think this is an isolated incident, The Rutherford Institute is also suing on behalf of the parents of preschool children who suffered similar abuse in a Headstart program in Kansas. The Kansas case occurred after the Pennsylvania case had been publicized.
Goal 1 of Goals 2000 states, “All children will start school ready to learn.” This is what gives the nosey government nannies the excuse to intervene in families, beginning at the preschool level. In Washington State, we now have the Governor´s Commission on Early Learning creating a foundation, seeded with public money (i.e. your taxes), whose goal is ensuring that all children grow up with “a socially acceptable value system.”
Tags: Pennsylvania, goals 2000, physical exam