The more things change....

From John Taylor Gatto's The Underground History of American Education, chapter five:

One of Munsterberg’s favorite disciples, Lillian Wald, became a powerful advocate of medical incursions into public schools. The famous progressive social reformer wrote in 1905: "It is difficult to place a limit upon the service which medical inspection should perform," continuing, "Is it not logical to conclude that physical development...should so far as possible be demanded?" One year later, immigrant public schools in Manhattan began performing tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies in school without notifying parents. The New York Times (June 29, 1906) reported that "Frantic Italians" —- many armed with stilettos -— "stormed" three schools, attacking teachers and dragging children from [their] clutches....

From the legal advocacy group The Rutherford Institute, July 30, 2000:

Strangers entered two different elementary schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma on two separate occasions. They forcibly removed the clothes from numerous children between the ages of three and five—over their cries of fear and desperate attempts to resist—and proceeded to probe the genitals of the now-nude children.

. . .

The nurses conducted their exams over the protests of the children, with some crying for their mothers. Still others, intimidated and filled with fear, even attempted to resist physically. Their parents did not know that the exams were scheduled and had not given their consent. So there was no way they could have known the terror their children were enduring during their school day.

The nurses stretched the children out on a floor mat, on top of a school desk, and forcibly removed their clothes. Although the nurses were not even wearing hygienic gloves, they pressed and probed the children’s genitals and took blood samples. The exams were conducted en masse—the children endured these humiliations in front of one other, amidst the panic, crying and fear.

When confronted about the situation, the Head Start director responsible for the exams said that he didn’t think there was anything strange or unusual about the physicals....

. . .

Thirteen families have now filed a lawsuit against Head Start, the nurses involved, the county health department and the school district. The parents allege violations of their privacy, emotional and mental distress of their children and other constitutional claims.

And in Pennsylvania, several years back:

The Washington Times (Genital Exams at School Irk Parents, A1 4/27/96) reports that 50 [actually 59] sixth-grade girls at a public school in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania were forced to undergo "genital examinations" in violation of the expressed will of the girls and without the notification of parents.

Katie Tucker, the mother of one of the girl's who was violated, tells the story: "[After being marched into the nurses office] they were told they needed to take off their clothes and just leave their underwear on. They were standing in line, perfectly embarrassed, and then they found out the doctor was doing genital exams.

"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 done.' And the nurse said 'Too bad.'

"[The physician] put the girls in a room and had them lie down on a table, spread-eagled, with nothing covering them...." The inspection was supposedly for genital warts and lesions. Mrs. Tucker continues, "The girls had no idea what they were doing. The doctor didn't talk to them. She just did the genital exam and didn't say one word. All my daughter could do was stare up at the ceiling. And it hurt. It still hurts."

School officials in the Pennsylvania case refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing and were supported by other educators:

The Pennsylvania branch of the National Education Association (NEA) supports the actions of Dr. Vahanvaty, the supervising school nurses, and the requirement of an in-school genital exam. Teachers wore blue ribbons to demonstrate their support of the exam. The district and state police agreed with Dr. Vahanvaty's statement that she acted within professional and state guidelines.

The East Stroudsburg School Board approved of the examination. A motion to give children the right to refuse examinations below the waist was defeated 8 to 1.

These educators were, however, clearly in the wrong:

SCRANTON, PA -- U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo ruled on July 27 that the East Stroudsburg School District violated the Fourth Amendment rights of 59 6th grade girls who were given genital exams without parental consent in 1996. The exams occurred at the J.T. Lambert Middle School. The judge ruled that the exams constituted "unreasonable searches," and said he "could not identify a compelling government reason to examine the genitals."

Two days later, the jury returned a verdict against the district, awarding a total of $60,000 in damages, or $7,500 for each of the eight student plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The jury did not award damages to the parents. The physician who performed the exams reached an out-of-court settlement [reportedly for $25,000 per student] with the girls families.

In addition to this we have, in essence, the state-mandated drugging of 1 or 2 children in a typical classroom.

They started off using schools to enact public health measures against the will of parents, and they are still trying to pull it off today. The more things change....