A Church of Scientology group that produces controversial resources on children's mental health has defended posting pamphlets and a documentary to NSW schools.
The material was sent out by the Australian branch of the Citizens Committee on Human Rights, which disputes the methods used to diagnose ADHD or any other childhood learning or mental health disorder.
Included in the material - reportedly delivered to every principal in NSW - was a documentary entitled Psychiatry: Friend or Foe? The Untold Story of Australian Psychiatry.
The film accuses the mental health sector of mass-drugging children, and links anti-depressant medication with youth suicides.
The CCHR was founded in the 1960s by the Church of Scientology, but describes itself as a "non-profit, non-political, non-religious mental health industry watchdog" aimed at exposing abuse committed under the guise of mental health.
The committee said parents and teachers had the right to know the dangers of psychiatric drugs and it was up principals to decide if they'd screen the film or not.
"We make no apologies for wanting to publicise the documentary's messages in light of the significant impact that psychiatric drugs are having across the nation's youth," the CCHR told AAP in a statement on Friday.
The letter sent to schools also criticised mental health screening program KidsMatter, run by BeyondBlue and the Australian Psychological Society.
The CCHR claims KidsMatter relies on "subjective and arbitrary questions that any child could test positive for".
But APS KidsMatter manager Lyn O'Grady says the program works with health professionals, parents and schools to develop robust and sophisticated responses to children's mental health.
"The research is clear that learning and mental health are closely aligned," Dr O'Grady told AAP.
"It's hard for people to think about children in distress - we think of childhood as a fun period in life. But part of our work is getting people to understand some children have difficulties."
Dr O'Grady said schools were very attuned to the importance of mental health in young children, and were likely to continue working in accordance with the prevailing evidence and best practice.
She said medicating children for mental health issues was only one of many solutions, and in the case of attention deficit disorders was not considered a cure.
NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes will tell schools to bin the material.
"We live in a free society and people are entitled to their views, but schools are not an appropriate battleground for these sorts of issues," he told ABC Radio on Friday.
