cwsmithsonian.org

…continued..

Nanny knows best

The rise of the nanny state on college campuses has been going on for years. First it was smoking, banned in private dorm rooms to preserve young lungs and to prevent fires. College administrators have also taken on alcohol with a vengeance, increasing penalties for the vice, and cracking down on events where drinking is likely to occur. MIT made massive changes to its alcohol policies and Greek system after a death during Rush a few years ago, and Dartmouth, too, proposed closing its fraternities. Three years ago, Princeton administrators banned the Nude Olympics—an annual naked romp in the snow—because of allegations of sexual improprieties and a few hospitalizations for alcohol poisoning.

What the Shins are advocating is an extension of this parental role to cover students’ mental health. They may face problems with current law. While drinking under age 21 is illegal, mental health records are confidential and people cannot be treated against their will, unless they are in danger of harming themselves or others. If the Shins win, though, this won’t stop the busybodies from trying. And since many people have trouble distinguishing between everyday misery and actual depression, and between the depressed and the truly suicidal, residential assistants may start treating all melancholy as cause for alarm. There will be snooping, pushes for medication, and forced sessions with counselors. Some will insist that troubled students leave school for a while. All these reactions can raise a student’s stress level, and if pressuring parents or family troubles are part of the problem, then going home is really no solution at all.

I experienced this mental health model at my small, residential high school years ago. Two years before I enrolled, the school suffered through a spate of Kurt Cobain-inspired suicides. One boy shot himself near the school on prom night; two others killed themselves off campus. In the great consternation that followed, the school revamped its psychological services to take action at the first sign of distress. Kids who seemed troubled were forced to meet with the psychologist, and those who seemed a bit more troubled were sent home, even though missing school work probably added dangerously to their stress level. Many of us, wishing to skip all that, simply hid any signs of anxiety. So through academic stress, romantic and family troubles, and acute adolescent alienation, many of us avoided all adults supposedly there to help — hardly a better approach.

While a nanny state may stave off lawsuits, if MIT wants to stop suicides, panicking at the first sign of the blues is the worst thing the school could do.

..to be continued..