I'm not sure where, if anywhere, this posting fits, but I was moved to comment so here it is.
As I was searching the higher education news
websites looking for the topic of this next blog, I noticed that police shot an
armed student yesterday after he pointed his gun at them on the University
of California Berkeley campus yesterday.
The story caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, as we know, we discussed the issue of
guns on campus earlier this year and that brought about many lively discussions
regarding the benefits and detriments of weapon possession (concealed-carry) to campus safety. As is often the case, the lively discussion
calmed while shootings remained out of the headlines for a few weeks. Unfortunately, Berkeley is the site of the
latest tragedy. This post is not a
direct follow-on to the question of whether or not the situation might have
played out differently if one of his fellow students was armed. In all honesty, that discussion does not matter
to me as much as the possible reason for this student’s decision to go to the
campus brandishing a weapon.
Reading the story, it sounds as if this might have
been a case of suicide by police officer.
The individual involved had apparently mentioned two previous suicide
attempts on his personal website – a site that was removed from the web shortly
after the incident. From the Chronicle article, it is not
clear whether anyone from the university was aware of that information before yesterday. As many who work in higher education are
aware, this time of year is particularly stressful for some students. Projects and
papers are due and final exams loom. Two
weeks ago, the Chronicle ran an article titled, Can Student –Affairs Professions Help in a
Time of Stress? Whereas that
article was specifically discussing the topic of financial stress, it is an appropriate question for those of us who can literally be lifelines for students
in need of counseling, support, and caring.
Amongst our own busy lives, I encourage each of us to keep an eye out
for students who seem to be flailing or withdrawing. Genuine and kind words may not be enough to
alleviate a student’s stress completely, but the simple act of showing that you care
could end up saving a life.
This Saturday, November 19, 2011, is International Survivors of Suicide Loss
Day. According to the event
flier, “This is a day for survivors of suicide
loss, their family and friends and the clinicians who support them.”
For any of you who have lived through
the loss of a loved one through suicide, I hope that you will consider sharing your experience
and your strength with others who share a pain similar to yours. There are far too many people who take their
own lives, and an even greater number of survivors who face the challenge of
continuing to live in the aftermath.
This is yet another tragic story of the concealed or non-cealed guns on college campuses. The debates and issues on whether guns should be allowed on campuses or not apparently still and will be a very hot and interesting topic. Robyn, this article brings up a side of the story that I don't think we have examined enough, the issue of having a weapon as a means for suicide. Going to your question, yes, I believe that the role of student affairs professionals is to provide services for those who need assistance. I understand that there are many places for students to reach out or try and help students who are struggling mentally in school. But as student affairs professional, we should be able to seek out those who are obviously looking at hurting themselves and assist them as much as possible, to the best of our ability. For the most part, a suicidal student will not seek help themselves by walking through a door, they will post on social media sites, blog about it, text friends about it, and give the SA people leverage to approach them and try and help them as much as possible before the suicidal student will do harm to not only them self, but possibly to those around them as well.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is another concealed or non-concealed / allow weapons on campus issue. There simply isn't enough information to make a determination. Also, it appears this young mans actions, while tragic, were blatant and intended. Rules and regulations tend to be ignored in those instances.
ReplyDeleteIt is mentioned the young man had two previous suicide attempts yet it doesn't mention whether he was seeing a psychiatric professional or not or whether he was on medications to address any issues.
I agree with DK as a suicidal student will most often not seek help. To assuage the possibility of suicide takes a community effort, awareness and commitment to act for the benefit of the student. There is a great deal of pressure on young people to perform from their peers, parents and the institution.
Unfortunately, I seriously doubt there will be a change in the pressure put on students to perform as such an action may 'lower standards' and there are so many who successfully do complete their courses of instruction. Instead, there will only be a push to increase suicide awareness and some will brush it off as the "person couldn't make the cut" or "there must have been some serious psychiatric disorder present" or "he must have been on drugs". I have seen it before and such a response is unacceptable.
To me, such limited and ignorant responses apply, at best, a band-aid solution and dehumanizes the tragedy making it easier to deal with. To address the issue takes a genuine community effort and needs to be done in such a manner where the importance of every life, every person, is emphasized and students are reached through the building of relationships.
Robyn, thank you for such a thoughtful post.
ReplyDeleteYour post makes me think of two issues which have affected me in my 15 years in higher education. The first is the guns on campus thing. I know intelligent and well intentioned people on both sides of the argument of whether we should allow concealed weapons on campus. As much as I consider both sides, I come back to the one that says that the police officers will react when they see a gun and ask questions later. If this student was attempting "suicide by cop", he knew that.
The second issue is suicide. It reminds me that this is a highly traumatic and stressful time for students (and staff and faculty). In the week before thanksgiving every year that I have been in higher ed, things (and people) get a little crazy. They are stressed and angry and trying to fit everything in before the end of the week.
Higher education as a whole is in an interesting situation when it comes to mental health issues of its students. The line of where our responsibilities and liabilities are keeps wavering with every court case that gets decided. Do we have more of a liability to the student who is mentally ill or to the students around him?
Pima Community College got a lot of criticism from the general public for not doing enough about Jared Lee Loughner before he shot Gabrielle Giffords and 2 dozen others. But they did everything they could do, in the right way, with the resources they had.
Every new case like this opens new questions, but I believe that as institutions of higher education, we cannot also be mental health institutions for those for whom we do not have the resources to help.
T his past week I took part in a Shot's Fired workshop where we learned tips on how to deal with an active shooter. The training was actually pretty intense. Throughout the video you are encouraged that, YOU CAN SURVIVE. In order to do so, you have to be willing to fight. The video provided tips regarding what to do if you are trapped and what to do if the shooter is in the room with you. It also addresses what to do when police enter the room.
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting video and very informative. It certainly made me feel a bit more empowered to act if I find myself in such a situation.