Could the Arizona Shooting Have Been Prevented By College Officials?
The recent Arizona school shootings have given us something to think long and hard about: when it comes to mental illnesses on campus, where do we draw the line between caution and discrimination?
When Jared L. Loughner attended community college in Arizona, officials worried about the threat he posed to his fellow students – and rightly so. The 22-year-old was prone to frightening mood swings and believed firmly in conspiracy theories that could not be understood by anyone else.
The school recognized his strange behavior, but legally there was little that could be done. The truth is, there’s really no protocol when it comes to addressing mental illness on campus, no organized method for detecting and dealing with the dangers of having a mentally ill student on campus.
Although Loughner’s psychological issues were evident, the school could not legally force him into therapy. He was suspended from the institution, a suspension that was not lifted upon his refusal to undergo mental treatment. But a question is raised here: if a school has no choice but to let a student go in order to protect the community, does that school after a responsibility to that student even after his or her departure? Is there someone they should notify when a disturbed student refuses treatment for obvious issues? Even if they had notified local authorities, what could the authorities have done? Tailed him 24/7?
Tragically, Loughner’s case was far from over when he left school. Though he was not a student at the time of his paranoia-fueled shooting, he killed several students in his attempt to harm Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
Evidence suggests that the mentally ill are actually no more likely to commit violent crimes, but that mental issues – if left untreated – can manifest themselves in dangerous ways. Experts guess that a psychological evaluation could have possibly prevented the situation. They claim that cases like this are almost always premeditated and planned out meticulously, and a psychiatric professional could have picked up on these plans. Loughlin most likely suffers from schizophrenia.
There isn’t much that school officials could have done in this case, but with the recent surge in school shootings, I have to wonder if some sort of legal protocol should be established for mentally ill students. A small setting like a community college makes it easier for students and faculty to identify those who seem to need some help, but at larger universities, these issues are often concealed. A basic psychiatric evaluation for all students may be a good idea. But is it fair to the mentally healthy students? And is it fair to label students with diagnoses that could possibly follow them for the rest of their lives?
Should there be a national database of people like Jared Loughner, mentally ill students who do not appear to be seeking treatment, that can be accessed by certain authorities so people can better track when a student is going off the deep end? If only there had been, Loughner, rejected from the Army and his college, could have possibly been flagged and prevented from buying a gun.
And at the end of the day, we’re still left with the issue of whether or not colleges should be allowed to mandate that unstable students seek treatment. What are your views? Sound off below.
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JDU says:
Tue, 11th Jan 20116:23 pm
Obviously, it's impossible to know for sure what might have happened if something had been different, but better mental healthcare and intervention on college campuses is definitely needed, and we've known this for a while, especially after the Virginia Tech shooting.
Arr says:
Tue, 11th Jan 201110:13 pm
Two words: gun regulation. No guns up here in Canada and no mass shootings in schools. The answer is painfully obvious.
Jenna says:
Wed, 12th Jan 201112:55 am
Completely in agreement with Arr, the mentally ill are not the only ones that need to be prevented from buying guns. No one should be able to purchase a gun unless they need it for farming or law enforcement.
Anne says:
Wed, 12th Jan 201111:47 am
We let non-discrimination go too far when it can potentially become the cause of a tragedy like this. I definitely think, especially after being rejected from the army for mental health issues, that there should be a way to 'flag' someone. That said, there are many ways to illegal attain black market firearms, and stricter gun laws are not going to prevent someone who is hell bent on an a killing spree from doing so. I feel safer because both my home state and the state I go to school in have extremely liberal gun and weapons laws, and some of the lowest crime rates in the country. As nice as it would be for only police to need guns, if some maniac starts shooting, the police cant be there right away, having people with weapons, trained in safety and their use, can provide immediate protection.
Yuuki says:
Wed, 12th Jan 20112:16 pm
I don't really like the idea of forcing someone into treatment, or medication, or keeping them from school only for having a mental illness. Quite a few people, especially college aged people, have mental illnesses, and almost all of them will never be a danger to someone. Stricter gun regulations are always good, becaus yes, the police might not get there on time, but having a multitude of guns everywhere, even in the hands of the supposedly trained, is more dangerous than it is protective. I think in the case of Loughner, alerting the authorities, and tryig to encourage him to seek helpis really all that could have been done and should have been. Him having been kept out of the Army for mental health issues should NOT have been a reason for him to be tracked or flagged like some criminal.
Jenna says:
Tue, 18th Jan 20119:40 am
I think that it is too late to change gun laws in America now because it is embedded in the culture and is a part of the constitution. I think that it is distressing that the country did not recognize the impact that 'the right to bear arms' would have on their future and that they are now reaping the consequences.
In countries where guns are not available someone who is "hell bent on a killing spree" would not even consider a gun as there weapon of choice because they are just not available.
KRC says:
Tue, 18th Jan 20116:35 pm
No one should have access to medical records, it's an invasion of privacy. I'm technically considered mentally ill, I'm on medication. For what is no one's business. Am I going to kill anyone? No. Mental illness has such a stigma, and many people have it with out ever doing something harmful to themselves or others. I go to a very small school and was in counseling and confided to my RA, but recently stopped that, because I know that they were keeping records on me, that later may come back to haunt me, like if i wanted to run for class office.
thriftvo says:
Wed, 19th Jan 201112:56 pm
Can we clarify the facts here?
"Though he was not a student at the time of his paranoia-fueled shooting, he killed several students in his attempt to harm Representative Gabrielle Giffords."
Jared Loughner killed several victims at a Tucson grocery store. This did NOT happen at his campus. I understand the debate you are posing, but consider that this was done at Rep. Gifford's "Congress on Your Corner" event on a weekend, and that a 9-year old girl, Giffords' 30-year old aide, and four individuals over the age of 60 were killed, including a federal judge– not students at his school.
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_central_sout…
Peter Wiggin says:
Wed, 19th Jan 20114:47 pm
Totally agree with gun enforcement. It's worked for Mexico so well!
james says:
Wed, 4th May 20117:38 pm
the tucson shooting did not occur on any school campus. it happend at an open meeting held by congresswoman garbriel giffords, but your main point is completely agreeable, gun regulation in the united states should be more stringent, and there should also be an intergrated mental illness database with background checks. So that whacked people like jared dont have access to guns.