It seems that whenever there is a shooting these days, everyone points their fingers to a couple stock explanations. Maybe it's lax gun laws, or maybe it's politically motivated, or maybe the shooter is mentally ill. Apparently, there are no other alternative explanations. And whenever a shooting takes place in a school, people quickly point to the mentally ill explanation, and then sometimes point their fingers to teachers. Didn't they notice the students' strange behavior? Why didn't anyone refer the student to the counseling center? Why didn't teachers alert school administrators? And so on. I used to think all this finger pointing was reserved for school shootings, but apparently it is not.
As you probably know, Jared Lee Loughner opened fire last Saturday at Representative Gabrielle Gifford's "Congress on the Corner" event, an opportunity for her to meet with her constituents. A bullet went through Gifford's head, but she survived. Others were not so lucky. Six others died, and 14 were injured. Of course, people are pointing their fingers at the standard explanations: gun laws, tea partiers, and mental illness.
Loughner was a student at Pima Community College. He apparently displayed unusual behavior and professors reported him to school administrators. Police were called to the school and he was suspended. Readmission to school would be contingent upon certification from a mental health professional. Fortunately, Loughner's professors reported his strange behavior. I am glad that this time, teachers cannot be blamed for failing to report unusual behavior.
I find it strangely odd that teachers are somehow expected to detect mental instability, being held accountable in some respect for their students' actions both inside and outside the classroom. And being that I'm currently a teaching assistant with plans to hopefully become a professor, I think about this sometimes.
The thing is, we are trained to assess students' knowledge and understanding of the course material we are teaching them, not to assess their mental health. We are simply unqualified to do so. Plus, I'm sure that it is quite difficult to do so in a classroom setting. For one thing, we just don't know our students well enough to determine their mental stability. No matter how big or small the class size, it is difficult to get to know students. My discussion sections may have about 20 people each, but it is difficult to get to know students when I see them only once a week and all at once. I am available via email, office hours, and appointments, but I can't make anyone come see me.
Second, strange and unusual behavior does not mean that a student is mentally unstable. An article in the LA Times reports Loughner "laughed and muttered to himself" and was incoherent and nonsensical when he spoke. He also made some bizarre outbursts in class. His classmates and professors thought that he was on drugs. I might assume the same. But even if a drug problem is suspected, I'm not certain that it's a professor's place or responsibility to confront the student. I really can't see that going too well, that a student would be receptive to a professor reaching out like that.
Other apparent evidence of Loughner's mental instability was his response to a test question. On an algebra test, Loughner wrote that "eat + sleep + brush teeth = math." So now I'm supposed to suspect that wrong, unusual, and irrelevant responses are somehow an indication of mental illness? This is only my 5th year as a TA, but I have seen quite a few unusual, creative, and flat out wrong responses to test questions. Do you mean to tell me that all these students are mentally unstable?
The Times reports other unusual behavior about Loughner, but I will spare you the details (follow my links for the article). When is strange behavior an indicator of mental illness, when is it a result of drugs, and when is it simply just strange behavior? While I'm no expert, Loughner's unusual behaviors could collectively indicate mental illness, but I just don't know, seeing as how I'm getting a Ph.D. in political science, not clinical psychology.
As you probably know, Jared Lee Loughner opened fire last Saturday at Representative Gabrielle Gifford's "Congress on the Corner" event, an opportunity for her to meet with her constituents. A bullet went through Gifford's head, but she survived. Others were not so lucky. Six others died, and 14 were injured. Of course, people are pointing their fingers at the standard explanations: gun laws, tea partiers, and mental illness.
Loughner was a student at Pima Community College. He apparently displayed unusual behavior and professors reported him to school administrators. Police were called to the school and he was suspended. Readmission to school would be contingent upon certification from a mental health professional. Fortunately, Loughner's professors reported his strange behavior. I am glad that this time, teachers cannot be blamed for failing to report unusual behavior.
I find it strangely odd that teachers are somehow expected to detect mental instability, being held accountable in some respect for their students' actions both inside and outside the classroom. And being that I'm currently a teaching assistant with plans to hopefully become a professor, I think about this sometimes.
The thing is, we are trained to assess students' knowledge and understanding of the course material we are teaching them, not to assess their mental health. We are simply unqualified to do so. Plus, I'm sure that it is quite difficult to do so in a classroom setting. For one thing, we just don't know our students well enough to determine their mental stability. No matter how big or small the class size, it is difficult to get to know students. My discussion sections may have about 20 people each, but it is difficult to get to know students when I see them only once a week and all at once. I am available via email, office hours, and appointments, but I can't make anyone come see me.
Second, strange and unusual behavior does not mean that a student is mentally unstable. An article in the LA Times reports Loughner "laughed and muttered to himself" and was incoherent and nonsensical when he spoke. He also made some bizarre outbursts in class. His classmates and professors thought that he was on drugs. I might assume the same. But even if a drug problem is suspected, I'm not certain that it's a professor's place or responsibility to confront the student. I really can't see that going too well, that a student would be receptive to a professor reaching out like that.
Other apparent evidence of Loughner's mental instability was his response to a test question. On an algebra test, Loughner wrote that "eat + sleep + brush teeth = math." So now I'm supposed to suspect that wrong, unusual, and irrelevant responses are somehow an indication of mental illness? This is only my 5th year as a TA, but I have seen quite a few unusual, creative, and flat out wrong responses to test questions. Do you mean to tell me that all these students are mentally unstable?
The Times reports other unusual behavior about Loughner, but I will spare you the details (follow my links for the article). When is strange behavior an indicator of mental illness, when is it a result of drugs, and when is it simply just strange behavior? While I'm no expert, Loughner's unusual behaviors could collectively indicate mental illness, but I just don't know, seeing as how I'm getting a Ph.D. in political science, not clinical psychology.
1 comment:
I'd listened to the interview of Loughner's mother on NPR the other day. Aside from her painfully opportunistic requests to get her own show on the Oprah network, she made a really interesting point: in many cases, the families of potentially dangerous mentally ill people often warn the police and doctors about their family member, but their warnings go unheeded. When the mentally ill person is over 18 and hasn't done anything "yet," they are within their rights to refuse to be committed in an institution. There's little that can be done in those cases, at least until the mentally ill person does do something violent.
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