"The Supreme Judicial Court’s hearing next month stems from the death of Han Duy Nguyen, a former MIT student, who committed suicide June 2, 2009, according to court documents. Nguyen jumped off a building after receiving a call from Birger Wernerfelt, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, during which he “read him the riot act” for an email Nguyen sent to a colleague, court documents show. "
No liability to colleges. “Duty to protect from harm” is nebulous especially if applied to someone who has already expressed thoughts of suicide. For one, the college can’t broadcast a student’s medical condition to every prof or employee.
Where is the duty of the family to protect, including encouraging the student to withdraw from school if too stressful? And ultimately, there is individual responsibility to seek help.
I certainly don’t hold my nephew’s college responsible for his death. It was a horrible tragedy but nobody’s fault.
No. The colleges don’t have a duty to protect adults from themselves.
The family knew he was a suicide risk. There is no way he should have been away at college.
OTOH, I am completely in favor of training for instructors that teaches them some level of familiarity with mental illness. I think this should be mandatory training for anyone who regularly comes into contact with young adults. It’s not their jobs to save their students, but it seems prudent to at least have some skills if something does come up. I would be devastated if anything happened to one of my students.
Aren’t their privacy laws protecting individuals from having their mental health issues disseminated? If so, how can a university let all channels know a student is at risk while still upholding that privacy?
Sounds like a slippery slope. If colleges are sued and held accountable, I could envision a climate where any whiff of mental health issues when applying would result in a denial and for existing students result in an involuntary leave. Colleges are academic institutions not mental health facilities. Yes, care and concern should be taken when appropriate but they shouldn’t be held accountable.
A student could also challenge a low grade on the basis that it is causing them emotional distress. Which could amount to blackmailing the instructor for a better grade.
There might be some rare cases where a college might have some liability. If, for instance, a student told a staff person they were suicidal and nothing was done. However, in a case like that, an ambulance is usually called, for exactly that reason.
If colleges are found to be liable, as I don’t think they will be, then there could be an effect on the admissions rate of kids with mental health issues, which would be unfair, though discrimination is supposed to be against the law. Complicated stuff.
Just want to add that even in close families, parents don’t always have the whole picture.
Some colleges seem to assume they could be held responsible. This leads to negative consequences for the student as well as their circle of friends.
My daughter’s roommate engaged in some self-harmful behavior. It was treated as a disciplinary issue. You messed up, here are the consequences. If you mess up again, you will be sent home. Now, not only is this person in a vulnerable place, they know if they ask for help anywhere on campus and it gets back to the Dean, they’re out. If the professionals are off limits, it can be the peers left picking up the slack in terms of a support network.
That’s horrible, @AroundHere. More of that type of attitude is what I’d be worried about if colleges are found liable, barring unique situations.
I’m not sure how many college students that I’ve seen professionally that were asked to take medical leave for a term. Depending on the college, I would be contacted by a Dean, coach, etc., and asked to write a report on suitability for a return. Sometimes we worked for an accommodation, e.g. As single room or a suite with a kitchen. I guess my “kids” were fortunate in that their families showed compassion and not anger.
On the other hand, I’ve heard tales of professors being very critical of a student. They have said such harsh words that they have made these young adults cry and question if they really should remain in college or grad school.
Should parents be held liable when a students commits suicide? If the answer is no, then how is the school any more responsible?
I think there may be a moral responsibility to help the student but not a legal one as I don’t think colleges are mandatory reporters such as health care professionals, teachers of children, etc.
I think that could make it seem that since the school mandated training, the school has created some legal responsibility to report. I don’t see colleges doing that.
I’m the parents of MIT student are hurting but the case seems to be about damages (aka money). Who would/could parents sue for money, each other?
If a school was held responsible for any student who commits suicide, then I don’t understand how a school could even function. There are just too many stressed out students in the world, and teenagers who are without parental guidance for the first time, and students with unrealistic expectations.
“I am completely in favor of training for instructors that teaches them some level of familiarity with mental illness.”
I think that this would be a very good idea.
Right, so now we should also expect companies to train their employees to detect mental illness so they could report. Those “young adults” are over 18, legally adults. Are we drawing a line between 18 and say 25?
So the reason the school should be responsible is because it has deep pocket.
IMO, suicide is due to mental illness, not necessary caused by a single event/adversity. If parents couldn’t detect mental illness in their child, why should we put that responsibility on to a school. School is there to provide education for our children. It is not there to be our kid’s surrogate family/friend/safety net.
We often advise applicants on this forum to not write about their struggle with mental illness on their college essay because colleges may not want to admit them due to liability.
If a student was mentally healthy when starting college, do we really think there is anything the college is doing that could cause mental illness to its students?
How is it more of college’s responsibility to detect a student stability than his/her family. Most students only see their professors’ few times a week. The RAs are all college students and many students live off campus without an RA. So people who would come in closest contacts with a students are his/her roommates. Are we then expect a student’s roommate(s) to detect and report on his/her mental state?
<<<IMO, suicide is due to mental illness, not necessary caused by a single event/adversity. <<<
And often not predictable.
Holding schools responsible would open a can of worms. Give a student a poor grade and the student commits suicide, is the school to blame? A student gets cut from the team, and he commits suicide, is the school to blame?
I have an acquaintance who is a college professor. He told me he is concerned about one of his students but isn’t sure what to do. What can a prof do in a case like that?
The parents should know their student. If he has shown signs of depression in high schools he should be encouraged to attend college nearby, not hundreds of miles away from home. But often parents cave to the kid’s desire to go to their dream school.
There was mother here on CC a couple of years ago contemplating suing a college because they did not monitor her daughter to make sure she took her medication. That is not the responsibility of a college.
The professor could be liable if it’s part of a pattern of abuse, and perhaps the university if they ignored multiple complaints or otherwise should have realized there was a problem. I doubt a court would hold a professor liable for ordinary grading situations.
Why? We’re trained to deal with all sorts of things that we’re not responsible to report.