If you teach for any amount of time, you’re going
to encounter mentally unstable students. The degree of instability you
encounter may vary, but at some point you will encounter a student who makes
you concerned for his or her own safety, or perhaps even for the safety of your
other students, your colleagues, and even yourself. How do we respond to such situations
appropriately, with empathy, and while protecting the safety and classroom
experiences of our other students?
I was, unfortunately, recently reminded of what it
is like to have to deal with a student who poses a legitimate risk to the
people around them. The experience reminded me of how important it is to know
the appropriate procedures for such situations, as well as how important it is
for instructors to have institutional support when dealing with alarming
students.
Unfortunately, the protocols, and especially the
less transparent ones followed by your institution’s legal services office, are
sometimes designed more to protect institutions from liability in the event of
a tragedy than they are to prevent a tragedy in the first place.
Broadly, there are three categories of services
that one can access at most institutions if you are worried about a student’s behavior
and/or mental health. After you have alerted your own departmental leadership,
the options for reporting disturbing student behavior include your university’s
offices for counseling services, legal services, and campus security. And,
generally, most institution protocols for dealing with disturbed students will
have you access those resources in the order outlined here. Of course, it is
absolutely essential that you know and follow your institution’s specific
protocols. Failing to do so could result in a significant delay in getting
qualified experts to intervene with the student in question. In addition to the
risks incurred by such a delay, failing to follow your institution’s protocols
could in some rare cases even expose you to personal liability.
Department reporting: If a student alarms you or has
already caused you to initiate your institution’s first reporting step, it’s a
good idea to notify your supervisor. In many cases your supervisor will have
better knowledge of appropriate college protocols, or perhaps better knowledge
of the effectiveness of various offices that you may not have much experience
approaching. At the very least you want the appropriate official in your
department to be apprised of the situation. They can offer specific advice, or
simply help you navigate institution procedures properly.
Counseling services: Institution counseling services
are typically the first step in trying to connect a student with mental health
services and in putting a stop to the behaviors that are worrying you. Most institutions
have counseling centers, and most of
these centers have procedures for instructors to access when they are concerned
about an individual student. Counseling centers are usually quite clear in
providing guidelines for how to connect a worrisome or endangered student with
their services. In most cases, counseling centers will “take over” dealing with
the student once certain criteria have been met.
Legal services: If you and your supervisor are
uncertain how to intervene with a student, or if counseling services have
failed to remedy a student’s alarming behavior, I recommend consulting your institution’s
legal services office. This is only really useful in non-urgent situations.
Campus police: At most institutions, if you
feel that a student poses an imminent threat to himself or to others, campus
police are the go-to resource. Police can react the most quickly to intervene,
protect all parties’ physical safety, and ensure that the troubled student sees
an appropriate mental health professional.
In some situations a institution’s options for
responding to disturbing student speech or behavior may be frustratingly
limited. In the event that an institution’s standard response procedures are
unable to resolve the situation you’re faced with, here are some additional
options and things to keep in mind. Just because the other institution
officials have been unable to resolve a situation does not mean that you have
to accept ongoing behaviors that make you feel threatened or that make you fear
for the safety of others.
Trust your instincts and
share your thoughts: Our intuition is powerful, and if a student’s speech or behavior
becomes discomfiting, you need to listen to your instincts. Discuss the
situation with a trusted colleague or mentor. Remember that while we have a
legal obligation to protect student privacy, we are permitted to relay to
appropriate institution officials those student behaviors that we observe. Students
do of course have a right to privacy, but that right to privacy does not trump
your right to safety. Nor should one student’s personal issues be permitted to
disrupt the learning of their peers.
Create a paper trail: It can be very uncomfortable to
have to create a written record of the events and behaviors that are alarming
you, but it is absolutely necessary. Creating a written record of what has
happened, whom you have alerted, and when, is essential. Delete nothing. Keep
any relevant communications the student may have sent you, as well as any
messages you sent to supervisors or other officials. If you’re really worried,
it’s worth your time to record a log of events, of what behaviors you’ve
observed and when, and what actions you took, from speaking to the student to
contacting university officials. Such a record is particularly important if one
of the university offices you’ve contacted fails to follow through on its own
obligations, or if the student contests actions that you or the university
initiates.
Do not diagnose: Chances are that you lack both
the qualifications and the information to diagnose your troubled student’s
problem. So, refrain from the attempt. Limit your account in your
communications with colleagues and institution officials to verifiable facts,
things that you have observed directly , and things that have been relayed to
you by fellow students (only when applicable — don’t ask students to report on
one another). You impugn your own credibility when you make diagnoses
that you are unqualified to make.
Do not confront: When it comes to dealing with
the student of concern, don’t escalate the situation with a direct
confrontation, particularly if institutional remedies such a counseling have
already failed to change the student’s behavior.
Escalate, strategically,
at the institutional level: Unfortunately, as a faculty member you are not
always your institution’s primary concern. These are clearly options of last
resort. But, if you genuinely fear for your safety and the safety of your
campus community, you may be left with no other choices. Make your fears known.
If you really do fear for someone’s safety, let police know. We live in a
litigious society, and in cases where you feel your safety is at risk, you should
use that fact to your advantage. Once a specific fear has been raised, the
university is compelled to take action.
Don’t let your empathy
put you at risk: Students who engage in potentially threatening speech or behaviors are
often suffering from severe problems. It’s natural for us to feel badly for
them, to empathize and seek to understand that they too are victims of a
certain type. However, even though such students may themselves be the
suffering victims of a trauma or a mental disorder that they do not deserve and
did not bring upon themselves, that’s no reason to accept risk to your own
person or to the other students and colleagues. If you’re uncertain how to
proceed with a disturbing student, seek advice from colleagues and supervisors.
Those who, luckily, have never had to interact with
a truly unstable student may interpret this column as paranoid. Instructors who
interact with students week in and week out may be well positioned to help
unstable students receive the services that they need. In extreme cases,
intervening at the right moment may prevent tragedy.
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