children

Less Than An Hour Of Screentime A Day Can Harm Your Child’s Socioemotional Health

A large study has just been published on the effects of screentime in children and the results are extremely concerning.

Sixteen authors contributed to Electronic Screen Use and Children’s Socioemotional Problems, published by the American Psychological Association this month. The study model is very interesting. It collected research papers that had studied screen use in children in any way, pulled the results of 117 of those studies and then used something called Multivariate analysis to predict the outcome of screen use in children under 18.

The studied data included research from all over the world between 1972 and 2024. American-derived studies comprised the bulk of the study (41), with Canada (13), Australia (11), Germany (7) and the Netherlands (7) coming in behind. A total of 331,391 children were represented through the researched studies – 48.1% were boys and 48.5% were girls, with the mean age reported as 10.4 years.

This study is hugely significant for two reasons:

The number of children included in the study. The larger a study size, the much more likely statistical analyses are to produce accurate results. Small study sizes are harder to produce statistically significant results than larger ones. With over 300 hundred thousand children included through all the research analyzed, the statistical significance of any reported conclusions are very high.
The number of years of research collected is – again – very high. It may mean one thing that a report done in 1972 finds that screen time correlates with emotional troubles in children, but to find that same result in a study from 2024 is huge. As in the numbers of children represented in the study, the number of years represented in the study also creates a very high statistical significance that the results are accurately reported.

Therefore, the conclusions from this research are NOT to be ignored. They are, by all accounts, statistically significant thanks to the robust number of children studied over a long period of time.

Please click on the link for the paper’s title to look at the study for yourself. It was very interesting research – a really ingenious way of coming to a conclusion about screens and the behavior of children.

Now, here’s the bottom line.

CHILDREN – PARTICULARLY THOSE FROM AGES 6-10 – WHO USE SCREENS MORE THAN 30 MINUTES A DAY ARE PRONE TO SOCIOEMOTIONAL PROBLEMS such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms (48), followed by aggressive behavior (39), emotional problems (37), conduct problems (including oppositional defiant behavior; 30), mental health problems (20), peer relationship problems (19), antisocial behavior (17), and low self-esteem (11).

From the research:

These data suggest that small amounts of screen use are not problematic— there appear to be few differences between outcomes for children watching 10 and 30 min per day. For children exceeding the guidelines, there was a substantial association between their screen use and socioemotional problems. At these levels, more is worse, likely because screens increasingly displace other essential protective behaviors (Roberts et al., 1993; World Health Organization, 2019). As noted earlier, meta-analyses have shown that screen usage is associated with lower levels of physical activity (Kontostoli et al., 2021), poor sleep duration or quality (Carter et al., 2016; Hale & Guan, 2015; Zhang et al., 2022), and reduced in-person social interactions (Twenge et al., 2018). Small increases in screen use are unlikely to displace these behaviors, but once exceeding guidelines, an extra hour of screen use likely means less sleep, social time, or physical activity.

And this goes both ways. From the study:

…children on screens may be at greater risk of developing socioemotional problems, just as children with preexisting socioemotional problems may turn to screens in general as a way to cope with their emotional and social distress.

So, in closing, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, aggressively limit the amount of time your child/children spend on screens. Do NOT allow them to have ANY screens in their bedrooms during the nighttime hours at all – no TVs, no computers, no phones, no pads, no Gameboys, no Nintendos, no NOTHING with a screen.

If you even scan the research, you’ll find that allowing kids to have screens at nighttime contributes to lack of sleep, which in turn – despite what they’re seeing on those screens – causes an inability to control their emotions because they are tired.

I remember when our kids turned 18. Both the boys went out and bought TVs. Our youngest daughter was happy to have her phone 24/7 because she uses her phone for everything in the world, but the boys were ecstatic to have their own TV. Hysterically, only one of them ever really used it much even after an 18 year wait!

Our future resides in our children. Let’s give them – and us – the best future we can. Let’s be the adults in the room and protect our children’s mental health by severely limiting their screen use. Pronto.

June 14, 2025 0

Boycotting Braum’s Over Public Drag Queen Performances Is But One Front In The Fight To Save The Innocence Of Our Children

This morning I was reading a post on the wall of a friend. It was an open letter to Braum’s explaining that they would no longer shop with Braum’s because they are one of a group of sponsors for something called, “Pride on The Plaza”. “Pride On The Plaza” is the June event in a full yearly calendar cycle of something called, “Live On The Plaza” – monthly events held in the Plaza District of Oklahoma City.

Braum’s and the other sponsors in the screenshot, sponsor ALL the monthly events in the monthly Live On The Plaza, which includes the June Pride event.

Here’s the thing – I’m about liberty. “Do what you want”, is essentially my motto. BUT, there is one enormous caveat. You can’t harm others in any way during the commission of you “doing what you want”.

I personally don’t care if you want to dress in drag and perform – FOR ADULTS. I personally don’t care if you want to go see drag performances AS AN ADULT. The problem with any drag event held in a public space, however, is the propensity for children to see that event.

Children – as I’ve said multiple hundreds of times – are not adults. I don’t care if you’re an adult and think your child will love a drag performance because it’s harmless fun – they aren’t going to get it. What they WILL get, however, is that the women they’re watching don’t look like any human XX chromosome female they see on the street and that’s confusing for them.

What they WILL do is copy the behavior they’re seeing – because that’s what kids do. Because drag is solely about sex, this is a problem. Children are not ready to understand what is and isn’t healthy for them – or even what they do and don’t want on an emotional level. Because of that, the only proper way to raise a child for the benefit of that child, is to protect the innocence of that child until they’re old enough to determine for themselves what they want to be and do.

In fact, I will argue that the only way to protect a society from eating itself (which is what we’re seeing now on a very large scale) is to protect the innocence of the children in that society until they are able to make determinations for themselves.

We’ve literally, seemingly lost the desire to protect our kids from influences other than the neutral today, however and public drag shows are just a small part of the non-neutral environments we’re allowing them to be a part of. Screens – at school and at home – are the primary cause of the loss of innocence of children and parents and teachers and other adults are allowing children access to developmentally inappropriate material DAILY.

So, fine, send a communication to Braum’s and tell them you won’t support their products if they’re going to support the loss of innocence of children…

BUT, if you’re going to single out Braum’s and the other sponsors of the Plaza Live events, do this too, or you’re not really accomplishing much other than resourcing your family’s dairy needs:

1. Go to the Oklahoma City Council meetings and make it plain to them that you object to tax dollar support of ANY public event that could harm the innocence of children attending.

2. STOP FUNDING THE OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL and write a letter to them telling them to stop booking public events that aren’t appropriate for children. Here is the link explaining how the Arts Council is the driving force behind the Plaza District in general.

3. Write the directors of the 16th Street Plaza District, Rachael CRAWFORD – Executive Director and Casey Longacre-marketing assistant and tell them the same thing that you’ve posted on social media about your lack of support for public drag shows and other public activities that support the loss of innocence of children.

4. Find a group of parents who want screens removed from classrooms and go to your school’s School Board meetings to protest until that Board removes screens from classrooms and begins to teach the “old fashioned” way in which students learn best and are least affected by developmentally inappropriate material.

5. Find a group of parents who will CONTINUALLY go to Board meetings and CONTINUE to complain about ANY developmentally inappropriate material in your child’s school (or better yet, take them out and homeschool them yourself – see Homeschool Oklahoma or our friends at Constitutional Home Educators Alliance for help with that).

6. TAKE SCREENS AWAY FROM YOUR CHILDREN! Simply don’t let YOUNG children use screens OF ANY KIND, and when they get old enough (early TEENS) to have some responsibility with a phone, dog the HECK out of the thing with parental controls and DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO USE THEM WHEN YOU ARE NOT AROUND TO MONITOR. Don’t let children have ANY screens in their rooms at night, period. Not a TV, not a computer, not a phone.

If you’re unwilling to do at least three of the things on the list above, please stop posting to social media about your outrage that there are drag queens in the Plaza District dancing for children. You’re right, it’s bad, but boycotting Braum’s solves very little if anything. If you really want to commit to protecting the innocence of children and our society, you’ll really do it, you won’t post on social media and consider your job completed. The innocence of our society’s children is of paramount importance. Posting to social media is easy, but putting the breaks on the wholesale destruction of the psyche of our children requires way more effort than that.

June 13, 2025 1

V1SUT Talks Transgender Teacher

Friday, December 13th, our friend “Mary” with the V1SUT Vantage substack, joined Michael and I to talk about trans teachers. (Find the full video on our YouTube and Rumble channels)

Earlier in the week, Mary published, “First Drag Queen Now Secretly Trans Principal: Progressive Public Ed in America’s Reddest State” about the Western Heights Public School district, where the Superintendent hired a drag queen to Principal a district elementary school (Shane Murnan who has since been fired), who then hired another drag queen as a para professional and then a Chinese immigrant who was found soliciting sex from (what he thought was) a 15-year-old boy.

Now, Mary has found that a biological woman has been working in the district as a male in MANY different roles in the school for over eight years.

In the clip below, Mary talks about how hard it is to find a trans person once they change their identity. Should it be this hard – especially if this person is working with children?

She then goes on to talk about the fact that, according to Oklahoma law, a trans person must use the bathroom of their birth sex, not their preferred sex. If this is the case and it’s hard to find a trans person working in a school, how could we be sure they weren’t using facilities with biological boys?

Mary asked Ryan Walters and other OSDE employees about this issue, but received absolutely no answer in response. Why? Isn’t this a situation parents might want to know about?

In this last clip Mary talks about whether or not parents should know that their child’s teacher doesn’t present their biological sex in public. Not every parent agrees with alternative lifestyles and though there are no accusations of inappropriate interactions with this teacher and other students, don’t those parents have a right to know that his teacher is teaching their child?

I know I would certainly want to know. As I’ve said on the podcast from the beginning – I don’t care what people do on their private time, but people employed by taxpayers to shepherd children must meet a higher standard for their behavior and their lifestyle choices. Children are vulnerable and in need of protection in every way possible – especially at school where personal safety goes hand in hand with learning.

December 15, 2024 0

Parental Rights Foundation Press Release Regarding The Rights of Parents

The Parental Rights Foundation was pleased to send the following press release earlier today, featuring exciting new polling data about public support for parental rights:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE // June 1, 2022 // Purcellville, VA – The Parental Rights Foundation, working with Heart and Mind Strategies, recently asked the following question of a national audience: “In general, parents have the constitutional right to make decisions for their children without government interference unless there is proof of abuse or neglect. Do you agree or disagree with this view of parental rights?”

Overall, 83% of Americans agree with the statement above, and 51% strongly agree, according to the survey. Only 10% disagree, with just 3% strongly disagreeing. And only 6% are not sure.

Among Republicans, 90% support the question, with 64% strongly supportive. Among Democrats, 83% support, with 44% strongly supportive. And among Independents, 78% support, with 47% strongly supportive.

Both Trump voters (91% agree, 65% strongly agree) and Biden voters (84% agree, 44% strongly agree) are supportive.

Support is strong across ethnicity: Whites 85% agree, 53% strongly agree. Blacks 75% agree, 49% strongly agree. Asians 76% agree, 36% strongly agree. Hispanics 85% agree, 53% strongly agree.

Support is strong across additional demographics surveyed as well, including education, religion, age, employment status, household income, and region.

“Parental rights are truly universal,” said Will Estrada, President of the Parental Rights Foundation. “As we saw when Governor Youngkin won election in Virginia last year in a state that President Biden had won handily, as we saw this spring when parents in San Francisco voted their radical school board members out of office, and now as we see in this incredible survey, parental rights cut across party lines, ethnic lines, and gender lines.”

“Americans overwhelmingly agree that parents have the right to make decisions for their children,” said Bruce Blakeman, Senior Vice President at Heart and Mind Strategies, who conducted the survey. “It’s about as close to unanimity as you can get on an issue with Americans. These results show that any candidate who opposes parents’ rights does so at their own peril. This survey quantifies across the country what happened in the Virginia governor’s race last year.”

“Moms and dads love their children, raise their children, spend sleepless nights concerned for their children. Parental rights truly means protecting our precious children by empowering parents. That’s the heart of what this survey shows,” said Estrada.

The entire survey can be viewed online at www.ParentalRightsFoundation.org/poll2022.Thank you for standing with us in support of this vital cause. Your ongoing support enables us to stand up for children by empowering parents through protection of these important rights—rights upon which we all agree!

Sincerely,

Michael Ramey
Executive Director

June 3, 2022 0

Parents Have To Parent – It’s A Tough Job To Be Sure – But No One Can Do It But You

The other morning I read a horrible news story about a 12yo girl who was beaten and tortured by 2 other 12yo girls at what was supposed to be a ‘sleep over. That is a horrible situation and the girls must be punished – but let’s talk honestly here.

How many parents know the families of the children with whom their children interact? Sorry to say, I expect MOST don’t.

Sadly – and factually – most all the nonsense going on in public schools about which parents have (rightly) complained, could have been solved by parent involvement at even the basic level of knowing the families of their children’s friends – yet I will go so far as to say that a majority of parents have abdicated so much of the responsibility of caring for their children to the now-government-sponsored systems of daycare and school, that knowing the families of their children’s friends is simply meaningless and unnecessary to them.

How could I make such a statement? I’ve seen it firsthand.

I taught science for 7 years in the public system and 3 years at a homeschool coop. In between those years, I sat on the PTA of our kid’s government elementary before they were pulled to become educated at home. Consequently, I have about 30 years of involvement in many different forms and levels of education.

In EVERY educational situation in which I’ve found myself, I’ve seen FEW parents actually interact with the education of their children.

In fact, there’s even a segment of parents who call themselves “homeschoolers’ who simply drop their children off at ‘coop’ and go about their merry way – they don’t interact with other families, help with coop duties, or even inquire as to how their kids are doing in their subjects – they simply EXPECT others to do their job for them because, for whatever reason, they can’t or won’t do it for themselves.

Since the 1960’s and LBJ’s War On Poverty – where the government offered the benevolent hand of government to ‘help’ families care for themselves – we’ve seen SKYROCKETING dissolution of families, SKYROCKETING single-parenting and SKYROCKETING abandonment of even basic parental duties.

Why would a couple stay together when they can get ‘free’ money from the government to raise their kids separately? Why would a parent make the effort to educate or feed their children when the government does it for them without them having to expend any effort to do so? ‘Free’ daycare, ‘free’ education, ‘free’ lunch… the government programs are endless.

Human nature tends toward laziness – it’s the main reason we have technology – our very nature tells us we have to “work smarter, not harder”. Consequently, when the government inserts its ‘helpful’ hand, society is destroyed.

Solomon said, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece” (Proverbs 16:27) because humans will – by and large – attempt to do very little work. Once we don’t HAVE to keep ourselves fed, or clothed, or a roof above our heads, we’ll simply stop trying and allow others to do those jobs for us.

Then comes the death spiral; government provides ‘help’ to citizens, citizens stop providing for themselves, personal responsibility fails, government increases to counteract the lack of personal responsibility by creating more and more laws, citizens become oppressed, free society falls.

America is in this death spiral – and at this point we may not be able to recover.

If we ARE going to recover, however, MORE GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IS NOT THE ANSWER. The answer is MORE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.

So here’s my request: If your child is in a government school of any kind – get them out and assume the responsibility of educating them yourself without excuses. In this way, citizens can create lifeboats of self-educated families and individuals who can then extend a hand to those who need help exiting the system for whatever reason through their church or other non-governmental group.

Taking control of the personal responsibility for our own actions and consequences (and modeling this for our children and others) is THE ONLY WAY to improve ourselves and this country in a lasting way for generations to come.

March 7, 2022 0

Full Text of Oklahoma’s Parents’ Bill of Rights

Parents’ Bill of Rights

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:

SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2001 of Title 25, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights”.

B. This state, any political subdivision of this state or any other governmental entity shall not infringe on the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, health care and mental health of their children without demonstrating that the compelling governmental interest as applied to the child involved is of the highest order, is narrowly tailored and is not otherwise served by a less restrictive means.

C. As used in the Parents’ Bill of Rights, “parent” means the natural or adoptive parent or legal guardian of a minor child.

SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2002 of Title 25, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. All parental rights are reserved to a parent of a minor child without obstruction or interference from this state, any political subdivision of this state, any other governmental entity or any other institution, including, but not limited to, the following rights:

1. The right to direct the education of the minor child;

2. All rights of parents identified in Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes, including the right to access and review all school records relating to the minor child;

3. The right to direct the upbringing of the minor child;

4. The right to direct the moral or religious training of the minor child;

5. The right to make healthcare decisions for the minor child, unless otherwise prohibited by law;

6. The right to access and review all medical records of the minor child unless otherwise prohibited by law or the parent is the subject of an investigation of a crime committed against the minor child and a law enforcement official requests that the information not be released;

7. The right to consent in writing before a biometric scan of the minor child is made, shared or stored;

8. The right to consent in writing before any record of the minor child’s blood or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is created, stored or shared, except as required by Sections 1-516 and 1-524.1 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or unless authorized pursuant to a court order;

9. The right to consent in writing before the state or any of its political subdivisions makes a video or voice recording of the minor child, unless the video or voice recording is made during or as a part of a court proceeding, by law enforcement officers during or as part of a law enforcement investigation, during or as part of a forensic interview in a criminal or Department of Human Services investigation or to be used solely for any of the following:

a. safety demonstrations, including the maintenance of order and discipline in the common areas of a school or on student transportation vehicles,

b. a purpose related to a legitimate academic or extracurricular activity,

c. a purpose related to regular classroom instruction,

d. security or surveillance of buildings or grounds, and

e. a photo identification card; and

10. The right to be notified promptly if an employee of this state, any political subdivision of this state, any other governmental entity or any other institution suspects that a criminal offense has been committed against the minor child by someone other than a parent, unless the incident has first been reported to law enforcement and notification of the parent would impede a law enforcement or Department of Human Services investigation. This paragraph does not create any new obligation for school districts and charter schools to report misconduct between students at school, such as fighting or aggressive play, that is routinely addressed as a student disciplinary matter by the school.

B. This section does not authorize or allow a parent to engage in conduct that is unlawful or to abuse or neglect a child in violation of the laws of this state. This section shall not be construed to apply to a parental action or decision that would end life. This section does not prohibit courts, law enforcement officers or employees of a government agency responsible for child welfare from acting in their official capacity within the reasonable and prudent scope of their authority. This section does not prohibit a court from issuing an order that is otherwise permitted by law.

C. Any attempt to encourage or coerce a minor child to withhold information from the child’s parent shall be grounds for discipline of an employee of this state, any political subdivision of this state or any other governmental entity, except for law enforcement personnel.

D. Unless those rights have been legally waived or legally terminated, parents have inalienable rights that are more comprehensive than those listed in this section. The Parents’ Bill of Rights does not prescribe all rights of parents. Unless otherwise required by law, the rights of parents of minor children shall not be limited or denied. The Parents’ Bill of Rights shall not be construed to apply to a parental action or decision that would end life.

SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2003 of Title 25, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. The board of education of a school district, in consultation with parents, teachers and administrators, shall develop and adopt a policy to promote the involvement of parents and guardians of children enrolled in the schools within the school district, including:

1. A plan for parent participation in the schools which is designed to improve parent and teacher cooperation in such areas as homework, attendance and discipline;

2. Procedures by which parents may learn about the course of study for their children and review learning materials, including the source of any supplemental educational materials;

3. Procedures by which parents who object to any learning material or activity on the basis that it is harmful may withdraw their children from the activity or from the class or program in which the material is used. Objection to a learning material or activity on the basis that it is harmful includes objection to a material or activity because it questions beliefs or practices in sex, morality or religion;

4. If a school district offers any sex education curricula pursuant to Section 11-105.1 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes or pursuant to any rules adopted by the State Board of Education, procedures to opt out of a school district from providing sex education instruction to a child if the child’s parent provides written objection to the child’s participation in the sex education curricula;

5. Procedures by which parents will be notified in advance of and given the opportunity to withdraw their children from any instruction or presentations regarding sexuality in courses other than formal sex education curricula pursuant to Section 11-105.1 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes;

6. Procedures by which parents may learn about the nature and purpose of clubs and activities that are part of the school curriculum, as well as extracurricular clubs and activities that have been approved by the school; and

7. Procedures by which parents may learn about parental rights and responsibilities under the laws of this state, including the following:

a. the right to opt out of a sex education curriculum if one is provided by the school district,

b. open enrollment rights,

c. the right to opt out of assignments pursuant to this section,

d. the right to be exempt from the immunization laws of the state pursuant to Section 1210.192 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes,

e. the promotion requirements prescribed in Section 1210.508E of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes,

f. the minimum course of study and competency requirements for graduation from high school prescribed in Section 11-103.6 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes,

g. the right to opt out of instruction on the acquired immune deficiency syndrome pursuant to Section 11-103.3 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes,

h. the right to review test results,

i. the right to participate in gifted programs pursuant to Sections 1210.301 through 1210.308 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes,

j. the right to inspect instructional materials used in connection with any research or experimentation program or project pursuant to Section 11-106 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes,

k. the right to receive a school report card,

l. the attendance requirements prescribed in Section 10-106 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes,

m. the right to public review of courses of study and textbooks,

n. the right to be excused from school attendance for religious purposes,

o. policies related to parental involvement pursuant to this section,

p. the right to participate in parent-teacher associations and organizations that are sanctioned by the board of education of a school district, and

q. the right to opt out of any data collection instrument at the district level that would capture data for inclusion in the state longitudinal student data system except what is necessary and essential for establishing a student’s public school record.

B. The board of education of a school district may adopt a policy to provide to parents the information required by this section in an electronic form.

C. A parent shall submit a written request for information pursuant to this section during regular business hours to either the school principal at the school site or the superintendent of the school district at the office of the school district. Within ten (10) days of receiving the request for information, the school principal or the superintendent of the school district shall either deliver the requested information to the parent or submit to the parent a written explanation of the reasons for the denial of the requested information. If the request for information is denied or the parent does not receive the requested information within fifteen (15) days after submitting the request for information, the parent may submit a written request for the information to the board of education of a school district, which shall formally consider the request at the next scheduled public meeting of the board if the request can be properly noticed on the agenda. If the request cannot be properly noticed on the agenda, the board of education of a school district shall formally consider the request at the next subsequent public meeting of the board.

SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2004 of Title 25, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. Except as otherwise provided by law, no person, corporation, association, organization, state-supported institution, or individual employed by any of these entities may procure, solicit to perform, arrange for the performance of, perform surgical procedures, or perform a physical examination upon a minor or prescribe any prescription drugs to a minor without first obtaining a written consent of a parent or legal guardian of the minor.

B. No hospital as defined in Section 1-701 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes may permit surgical procedures to be performed upon a minor in its facilities without first having received a written consent from a parent or legal guardian of the minor.

C. The provisions of this section shall not apply when it has been determined by a physician that an emergency exists and that it is necessary to perform such surgical procedures for the treatment of an injury or drug abuse, or to save the life of the patient, or when such parent or legal guardian cannot be located or contacted after a reasonably diligent effort.

D. The provisions of this section shall not apply to an abortion, which shall be governed by the provisions of Sections 1-740 through 1-740.6 and Sections 1-744 through 1-744.6 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes or any successor statute.

E. A person who violates a provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment of not more than one (1) year in the county jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2005 of Title 25, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. Except as otherwise provided by law or a court order, no person, corporation, association, organization or state-supported institution, or any individual employed by any of these entities, may procure, solicit to perform, arrange for the performance of or perform mental health evaluation in a clinical or nonclinical setting or mental health treatment on a minor without first obtaining the written or oral consent of a parent or a legal guardian of the minor child. If the parental consent is given through telemedicine, the health professional must verify the identity of the parent at the site where the consent is given.

B. This section does not apply when an emergency exists that requires a person to perform mental health screening or provide mental health treatment to prevent serious injury to or save the life of a minor child.

C. A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment of not more than one (1) year in the county jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SECTION 6. This act shall become effective November 1, 2014.

January 11, 2016 12