John M. Grondelski, First Things
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Is “mental health” the new cudgel by which the state subverts parental rights? Developments on both sides of the Atlantic suggest the answer may be yes. Earlier this summer, Illinois became the first state to mandate annual mental health screenings for all public-school children in grades 3 through 12. Good parents and good teachers can recognize when a child is in trouble. But that does not justify the state stepping into the role of super-parent, initiating treatment independently of mothers and fathers. The argument here resembles earlier school-based “pragmatic” interventions such as condom distribution. When objections arise, officials reply that some parents are negligent or abusive, or that adolescents’ “privacy” must be protected. The real effect is to normalize state displacement of parents.
