AIBU to think school should tell me that they are testing DS school year for Chlamydia?

[cathykate]

DS has just come come and told me that his year is getting tested for chlamydia, most have it already done but his class is the last and going to have it after half term. WTF??
his is the first I have heard of this? no email or letter from the school..and because of this I am really annoyed.
While I agree that awareness of STD's should be promoted by schools, I can't believe they can go ahead and test body fluids without parental consent?? ( year 11 which is 15 and 16 year olds)
I have no problem with the test but with them NOT letting us know it was happening. We have to sign consent forms for the school left right and centre, but this is something I would have actually wanted to have been asked about and GIVEN my consent for?
AIBU

For me it depends on how the question was couched. If it was a case of assumed consent- right everyone is going to do this, here's a pot and in you go- I don't think that's on at all. If they asked in a way that made it clear that refusal was an option, then give. Ideally though it would be done confidentially so no one would know if it had been done or not.

My school decided to conduct random drug screening once. I was very annoyed about that and would have refused but thankfully wasn't asked. The less bolshy students may well have felt pressured into into it though.

I'm interested to know what happens if they test positive? Admit I'm ignorant as to treatment but would parental consent be required if medication was required?

If they asked parents, students who needed the test might not get it, because their parents might say something along the lines of “you don’t need this, do you?!” And the child will know there’ll be hell to pay if they say yes (my mum would have gone through the roof).
Also I think it’s good to get people in the habit of getting tested, and showing them how quick/easy/painless it is is a good way to start.

give = fine

The tests aren't even compulsary. Well not in my area anyway.

They've been going round the colleges and senior schools offering the tests in return for a biscuit, some keyring and a pen. Pretty sweet deal tbh but then I'll do anything for a ginger nut

We had something similar at school, the people who came in to do sex-ed gave everyone little kits with instructions to take a sample and then you could submit it in for a chlamydia test if you wanted. I think the incentive was free cinema tickets ha. This was 10 years ago.

We were year 12 so 16/17. I can’t remember whether year 11 was also included or not.

At 15 children can go to their local clinic for STD testing/contraception without parental knowledge let alone consent, so I’m guessing parental consent wouldn’t be needed if offered through school either?

Hi, just reading this and thought I'd give the medical perspective. For children the Gillick competence standard is used meaning that a child of any age can consent to a procedure if the medical professional deems that they fully understand both it and it's consequences. Almost all 15/ 16 year olds would be able to pass this. It's also very unlikely a child would want their parent to know they'd had the test and the child has the right to confidentiality. This means the child can tell their parent but the school cannot. As for the actual procedure it's most likely similar to the tests you can do and post- females: insert and remove a small swab (a bit like a tampon) and pop it in a tube, can be done very easily in a toilet cubicle. Males: provide a small urine sample.

Parental consent is required for school-hosted vaccinations because there simply isn't time to check each pupil's understanding - not just of the jab but of this own medical history - and without that you cannot be sure that consent is properly informed.

If the HCPS administered a jab which for which there was no parental consent and the child had an adverse reaction which was entirely predictable (eg allergy, or autoimmune/other underlying condition) then they couid be struck off and possibly prosecuted - they wouid have to rely on contemporaneous notes of the consultation with the child. Something there just isn't time to do adequately in a school session.

It's not the same for chlamydia testing, as nothing is introduced to the body; so the possibility of harm and the need for HCP to assure themselves that medical history is accurately related because it is properly understood, both fall away

I'm interested to know what happens if they test positive? Admit I'm ignorant as to treatment but would parental consent be required if medication was required?

A friend tested positive in this situation and was called to the school nurses office where they told her the result. I can’t remember if she had to be referred to an external clinic in order to be prescribed the medication, I’m guessing so.

Re parental consent... I doubt it at 15? As I’ve said in my pp I know friends who were going for testing and being prescribed contraception at age 15 without parental knowledge. I’m sure another friend received STD treatment at that age without her parents knowing as well. I have no idea how the law stands with even younger patients though, there must be some sort of cut-off age?

Fine if the kids are giving informed consent.

But as described, I'm not sure how ethical this is tbh - there is potential for kids to be pushed into consenting to a medical procedure that they may not need (not all teens are sexually active at 15) or in a context which makes them uncomfortable.

(I'd be absolutely fine with my teenagers being offered testing in private, by a nurse or GP).

DS1 did this at school - in return for a pair of yellow headphones if I remember correctly!

I think some of you have the wrong idea about how it works. It’s an entirely optional part of sex education. A lesson on STDs with an informal invitation to anyone who may want one to have a chlamydia test. It’s more to show how easy it is to access STD tests & improve awareness of sexual health in that age group.

It’s not like the school vaccination programs. It’s entirely optional. It’s not assumed anyone is going to take part & it’s certainly not assumed that everyone is sexually active!

It's a urine test for females too, unless maybe symptomatic.

@coffeerunner - thanks for clarifying. It makes more sense now.

Hi all thank you for your comments. Couple of things, I am aware DS can go off to GP on his own back...and honestly if he felt he couldn't share a health concern with me, going to docs on his own is totally fine by me, no worries about that's HIS decision.
I was more upset by the state/school stepping in without my knowledge or consent and organising this. I have had to sign all sort of consents in the past including jabs carried out in the school but this test has not even been mentioned, totally out of the blue.
Thank you Shawshank for your link it was very informative and maybe if school had sent an email with a bit of information I wouldn't be so annoyed.

It's not like a jab where there would be more of an issue if there was a reaction or side effect
It's peeing in a pot
This doesn't need parental consent and as PPs have said, yes fewer kids would get the test if they knew they needed parental consent. So given that there are no possible adverse effects to peeing in a pot, it's definitely a decision a 15 year old can make (see Gillick competence as PPs have said)

Its actually the Fraser guidelines - not Gillick - that are specific to sexual health and contraception.
15yr olds do not need their mum & dads consent to access these services and yabu and unrealistic thinking that they should.

Hang on a minute, testing and treating an sti is a good thing. If your DC isn't sexually active then they'll get a negative and if they have got chlamydia then they will be treated. Don't you think that it's about time stigma was taken out of sti testing, then more people would be tested and it'd like going to the dentist. The problem is that because people aren't tested and treated, sti's spread. I think it's a brilliant idea.