Shouldn't Have Happened!

DAVE BARTLETT The Telegram: Health Minister Ross Wiseman says it was unfortunate and "shouldn't have happened. "On Saturday, Dec. 13th, two young people on the Janeway Children's Hospital psychiatric ward were committed under the Mental Health Act, then taken by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary - in handcuffs - to the Waterford Hospital. The children were moved to the Waterford after all four nurses who work on the Janeway ward called in sick, closing it down.

Wiseman said Eastern Health is "working on the continued treatment of these two young children and also trying to deal with the staffing issues to allow that unit at the Janeway to reopen." "I'm glad the minister acknowledges, today, that that is unacceptable treatment," said Yvonne Jones, Opposition Leader. "These children are emotionally ill. They are not criminals in our society, nor should they be treated as such. "Jones said this is another example of how a severe nurse shortage is "trickling down" to affect health-care services.

Wiseman said what happened on the weekend was unusual. He also said the nurses who called in sick are specially trained and couldn't be replaced by regular nursing staff. "Just putting a body in there just for the sake of having a nurse wasn't appropriate. The safety of the children were the first things in (the) minds of the physicians treating these people, " said Wiseman.

Wiseman said it was those doctors who made the decision to commit the youth for their own safety. Because the youth have been committed, Jones pointed out they have become wards of the state, and the parents' visiting rights have been restricted. "As a parent myself, I would expect and would want to be a part of my child's treatment, " Wiseman said.

Wiseman said he would consider looking at the Mental Health Act as it pertains to children. Any person committed under the act must be restrained and transported by police.

Many centuries ago it was written:

1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

From our beginning as creatures of the earth, we have held sacred the lessons from our beginning that has defined who we are, the way we live and the way we teach our children all over this nation is our most valuable and vulnerable resource.

We should not take dominion over our children's future, but parents must be allowed to teach their children the directions on how to reach the healthiest future and destination as is possible. Parenting must belong to parents, otherwise all we become in adulthood, is a reproductive baby factory, whose only responsibilities are to provide food, cloths and shelter for our children, and to, take responsibility for illicit activity, negative behavior and cover cost of repairing or replacing items damaged or destroyed by their children under 16.

Mr. Wiseman must react to these challenges in a more sure approach, always ready.

What is it with Danny's government playing catch up all the time? Are they all so blind sighted that they do not see these kinds of things coming well in advance? I wonder what the next package of fun and games shall be? And thereafter say that they never saw it coming, despite being told of potential problems in advance.

It's hard to believe that Wiseman can get up in the morning, let alone keep his job or even want to. It goes to show that Danny's pool of talent is not very deep. We can't I suppose imagine how so many children are falling through the cracks, and cracks that are in the floors of elementary schools.

I am a firm believer that many children who are diagnosed in this province with psychological disorders such, ADD, ADHD, ODD, and the many others described in the medical books are often misdiagnosed. Worse than that, many children are diagnosed at the whim of poorly conducted school evaluations, ISS test and improper time stretches before retest.

A real truth, school professionals will sometimes disclose that school boards and their systemic policy allow extra resources for every so many kids coined ill in their schools. These resources come by way of tools, teaching aids and human resource.Most often the real disorder, which is not written about in the books is more common and can be diagnosed by most parents; Bad Rationale Aided Trashing Syndrome or "BRATS".

I spoke to a junior high school principal last year, she told me that over 25% of her students we diagnosed with these types of illness. This news paints a sad picture, should these statistics be true. However, being from the old school, I believe we have allowed labels to be placed on our children, and placed there by our system.

It cannot ever be said that a child requiring extra support from a teacher, and failing because it is'nt received that the school is at fault. What I must say is these children are learning disabled and or ADD/ADHD. These are labels and they are enforced with subtle intimidation to parents to accept these labels in order to prevent all the threats that follow if they do not.

There is a cross departmental unity between Department of HCS, HRLE, and Education. This unity allows for reporting back and forth on the development of children. Parents are often told, non compliance will be discussed with Child Youth Services. Very often these tactics work.

I am not suggesting the children in this story are not ill, but I am suggesting children who may be a tad lazy getting homework done, a tad rambunctious or simply put, not into the school thing, will rebel and play the ADD/ADHD card if they know what it is.

Where does a child realize it's time to scratch/cut their bodies because they were told they may have ADD/ADHD? Please allow my opinion!

Children should not know what the characteristics of these disorders are, or even know they have them! However, schools, health professionals, and educational psychologist are far too eager to report to "Miss Molly" that she has ADD/ADHD adding they really should study up on it! Truth is these kids do study all the demographics of onset or probable disorders where it’s often manifested into something much bigger.

These things must come to be considered, after all, mental illness is invisible, but when a child is able to move from understanding "no" to big things, to not taking "no" for any answer to anything, and where that behavior evolved by them taking tantrums to get what they wanted, then something is to be said for aiding a child to understand the definition of these disorders.

There are countless cases documented where "Staged Disorders" or mistaken "Role Play" was diagnosed as the real thing, simply because manipulation and grandstanding by smart ass kids was more powerful than the diagnostics and professionals making them.


It's time for action, not studies.


Brudder