hi my name is paul. my child was baker act from school this friday. she went to counsler to tell about some girls threatening her after school. the day before the whole school watched a suicide video. somehow in my childs concern of getting beatin up after school her counsler asked if she ever thought about suicide. my 13 yr old said yes , awhile ago i did but would never follow thru w/ it. that counsler called the school resourse officer who then decided my child was at risk. THEY BAKER ACT HER. there was no phone call to us as parents that said my child is having issues. my daughter was put in a back of a patrol car and taken to a mental hospital. she was not alone that day. a total of 6 kids were taken to the same place a day after they seen this video. 2 girls litterally cut themselves but was returned to class for the rest of the day. my child was hauled off to a mental institution. i dont understand this. my child was in a fight w/ some girls the week before and again, no contact from school. between the ages of 10 to 15 these kids are going thru a whole lot within themselves. what gives this school the right to take my child away w/o even contacting us that we may have some issues? we need help
I had some more thoughts about your question. I would really be raising the issue about why that video was shown in the school in the first place. I think that alot of people can really influence certain types of thinking to children by showing them these types of videos, when there may not have been any inclination there in the first place. I think that in some ways by showing kids that movie, they may have given them suggestive thoughts. I think that it is important for the schools to be teaching them that it is ok to talk to the counsellors or someone that is important to them like an adult or relative. By taking the actions that they did, I think that they have tought these kids, that if you are having troubles and maybe some thoughts (that with the proper help they can learn the tools to deal with their problems), they have shown these kids that if they do open up to someone there could be consequences for that (like going to a psyche ward). That is not a lesson that they want to teach our children.
I couldn't go to my parents or people either and I had nobody to talk to and all that did was create a whole world of trouble and even worse consequences than having a good outlet. I think that as a parent it is important to learn (as hard as I am sure it will be) to react to your children as individuals and not make a huge ordeal out of their mistakes. Teach them that there are good and bad choices in life and consequences to their actions. Always be a safe place for your children to go to with love, peace, and overall understanding of what it must be like for them now. If you can show your child that they can trust you whole heartedly, they will come to you.
ok, well because your child was suffering from a mental illness, they had to baker act your child involuntary because she was at potential risk of death!
Because of the strict confidentiality between counsellor and patient.....they can not give out information to parents unless requested to do so by police with a supoena.
Google the baker act and you will find out lots of info!
And as for parents in AUSTRALIA, WE DON'T HAVE THE BAKER ACT....ITS FOR U.S CITIZENS ONLY.....WE DO HAVE SOMETHING SIMILAR THOUGH!
Change schools, & find out where it was that you signed something saying that you terminated your rights to be informed as her legal guardian when she was enrolled in that school. Admitting her into a mental hospital whilst you are left in the dark about the whole thing to me is parramount to kidnapping. they are the responsibility of the school whilst participating in school activities and have to have signed permission slips to leave the school with teacher supervision to go on excussions and the like, so why do you sign nothing and are not informed when they haul her off to a psch ward??????
Get a lawyer & change schools.....call current afairs programs & get some attention drawn to this, because if theis is a new national school policy it has a great many flaws & needs changing before ireprable damage is done.
Hi there,
I'm just wondering if someone could tell me a little more about the Baker Act as I've never heard of it, we do have something along those lines in Canada, but nothing like what happened in that school. We are moving to the United States and I would sure like to understand things like this before I go sending my son off to a school there. Thanks
Sarah
I have to agree with tadexpress on most of what she says I don't however believe that they went about it the right way. I think there are other ways for this to be sorted out. I would go and discuss this calmly with the school and try to find out why this all happened so dramatically and if they can't explain it properly go higher up. I personally would be horrified if someone did this to my child without my knowledge and I would be doing everything I can to find out why it happened.
I agree with you Lexi there are better ways to handle some situations and this is one of them. I was trying to point out that without being privy to the conversation we dont know exactly what was said and if this counsellor was (and this is the bit that was missing from this mornings text) was following departmental/school policy then they may have acted as they were bound to to by their employer. Im not sure about US schools but I am aware that in Australian schools the policy in regards of duty of care and disclosures are very clear. When a disclosure is made that indicates the child is at risk then an investigation takes place immediately and that may include calling in DCD or relevent social services depts and yes that 'can' mean not calling the parents until such time as the safety of the child is assured. I would also like to stress that this action by a school is not taken easily or lightly and is dependant on the nature of the disclosure.
Personally I dont agree that the counsellor did the right thing but Im basing that on the fact that I am reacting as a parent who would be extremely distraught if it were to happen to a child of mine. However in defence of the counsellor's actions I can also state I dont know what was said by the child, how distressed the child was at the time or any of the other facts that would have to have been considered before a drastic action was taken. I do believe that people can be over zealous; not just in the US but especially in the US because of the litigation that goes on and maybe its possible that they erred on the side of caution in the end only the counsellor and the child know for sure what happened and was was said.
I think that the school should have made you the first person on the list to call, and given the chance for you as a parent to deal with the issue at hand. School is a tough place for kids to be these days, and I think that it is important for you to try to talk to your child as much as possible. I don't see from what you said that your daughter was at risk at all. Most people that are even considering that kind of thing Don't talk about it at all. The school had no right to do that without consulting you or even making you aware first.
Unfortunately the rights of a child upon disclosure must be addressed immediately and often without parental notification. In these instances its to protect the child from further harm or intimidation. I understand your anger and frustration one of my children was interviewed by police for over and hour without my knowledge when I challenged it I was told as long as there was an adult that the child knew and was looking after the childs best interests thats all they were required to do, in this case a deputy principal was supposed to be there to represent the best interests of my child and I know for a fact that he didnt even like him but thats beside the point.
Its scary to think that 1: this type of video would even be shown in a school and 2: a counsellor would even consider removing the child when its apparent that there's several students affected after seeing the film. Naturally we are not privy to the whole conversation between your daughter and the counsellor but in fairness I do not think that the counsellor would remove the child without just cause as to the fact that you werent notified my only conclusion is that somehow you were connected. Maybe your daughter said something that could be misconstrued and then when the whole episode happened was to afraid to say something to you or perhaps she said something but isnt even aware of it.
Counsellors deal with each case on an individual basis and make their judgements accordingly its possible that in this counsellors experience that what your daughter had told them and observations of behaviour that the counsellor felt your daughter was truly at risk, all frustration aside isnt it better to err on the side possible rather than probable, its better to be angry that they did something than they did nothing and this week you're planning a funeral.
The unfortunate part about this whole event (strictly in my own opinion), I think that by taking the daughter and sending her to the mental hospital for confiding in a school counsellor, they may have made a bad impression on your daughter.
If I was in that child's position, I would have a serious second thought the next time I really needed to talk to someone about a
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