In the fallout of a tragedy, people often ask, "What went wrong?" "How could this have been prevented?" and "Who is responsible?" As authorities attempt to sort out these questions regarding last Sunday's driving disaster in Grand Island, it is unfortunately clear that concerns over the welfare of college students are not strictly confined to this region.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a lawsuit filed in January over the April 10, 2000 suicide of sophomore Elizabeth Shin has brought attention to the controversial battle between protecting a student's privacy rights and the right of the parents to be kept informed of the safety of their child on campus.
Shin's parents are suing MIT for $27 million for wrongful death, charging that MIT should at least have informed them of their daughter's unstable mental condition. While at MIT, Shin made suicide threats, in one incident slit her wrists, and received counseling before she ended her life by setting herself on fire. Until her death, Shin's parents were never informed of their daughter's actions.
MIT, which has disavowed any responsibility, bases its defense on a long tradition of colleges and universities respecting the confidentiality and privacy rights of their students as adults. Legally, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) solidifies the recognition of student confidentiality by broadly protecting the student's privacy rights.
Over the years, high-profile student deaths, mostly related to alcohol abuse, have eroded the power of the privacy barrier. A 1998 amendment to FERPA gave universities the right to inform parents of any alcohol violations, which lead to an increase from 17 to 59 percent in schools following such practices.
0The belief that students automatically become adults once they go to college is an illusion. If that is the case, why have orientations, counseling and health centers? If students are independent, why are there financial aid packages dependent upon their parents' income? An 18-year-old is legally an adult, but in reality not many freshmen live fully adult lifestyles.
That is why it is incumbent on universities to immediately inform parents of any dangerous actions in which their children engage. It is simply common sense; when a seriously injured person is taken to the emergency room, the hospital informs the next of kin. A university is not in a vacuum and is not immune to the practice.
A school is also better off informing the parent because of the simple fact that it cannot watch an unstable student for 24 hours. Parents are also partially responsible for their children's health. Shin's mental problems were evident before she entered MIT, and should have induced a better dialogue between her parents and her caregivers.
Determining who bears the primary responsibility for such a death is obviously difficult to ascertain. Often in these situations, simply pointing the finger marginalizes the extent of the tragedy, and overshadows the sad problem of teen suicide. Elizabeth Shin's suicide eliminated any hope of finding the answers to the dark, irresolvable conflicts of her mind. Although the parties involved do not deserve direct blame for her death, they should consider what steps they could have taken to preserve her life.
