NC Schools May Bar Students for "Safety Reasons"

[susiestar]

I find this to be somewhat alarming, though I can see why colleges are looking for ways to handle the problems. In the Charlotte Observer it says taht the colleges and universities are discussing adding rules to bar students from the schools for safety reasons.

With the number of shootings on school campuses that are occurring, and the trauma that it inflicts on the entire community, I can understand why schools are looking for ways to prevent them. I seriously doubt that they can effectively identify true threats, and this is going to be one more way to scare people away from getting mental health treatment.

Who is going to decide? How will they get the records of a student or potential student so that they can evaluate whether or not they will be a safety risk? This is going to end up as another tool to keep those who are mentally ill away from any chance to improve their lives. If they requrie your records to see if you can be admitted, what does this mean to dr-patient confidentiality? What would the incentive to get treatment be?

Do you think that there is a way to identify students who would be a safety risk and keep them off of campuses?What would define someone as a safety risk other than past criminal offenses? do you think that college administrators are qualified to make these decisions?

What mental illnesses/criminal acts would result in a student being barred from school? while in college there is no FAPE or LRE, do students have to forfeit their right to confidentiality of medical records to gain admittance? If it is okay to ask for that info, are private schools able to ask for more than public schools can?

Would this keep your teen from seeking help from a therapist or psychiatrist or taking medications to treat a mental illness?

I cannot fathom a way that this would NOT be used to keep poor kids who needed help in the forms of IEPs, etc... out of school. Those with more $$ would know their rights more and be more likely to appeal a decision and to insist that only certain info be released. They are also more likely to seek the advice of an attorney before agreeing to this, and during the entire process.

Is this just another way to widen the gap between the haves and have-nots? Will itbe one more step that leads to some system of keeping all this info on a national or state database of some kind? If you are denied access to a college for this reason, will it also be used to keep you from getting public assistance like HUD housing on the grounds that you would be a safety risk in the community? HOw will this info be kept from insurance companies who then would charge more for medical, car, home, life insurance because you are deemed "unsafe", if they even let you have coverage at all?

What do you think? Would you feel safer if your child went to a school with a policy like this? Would schools work to suppress info about students who were barred the way they try to talk students into not filing police reports about rapes and assaults on college campuses? (I know for a fact that our university works hard to convince students that if they file a police report for a rape then it will be super hard on them, while if they let the university "handle" it then it will be "just as legal" and won't be as hard and will be kept "private". They do it because then they don't have to let parents and the public know and it keeps donations up and parents don't worry about sending their kids to college here. I have witnessed this personally.)

How would this even work?

 

[Hound dog]

Wow. Just another way personal rights will be stomped on and everyone will decide it's ok simply because someone spouts it as Public Safety, or in this case, school safety, but it is the same thing.

This is utterly ridiculous. A person who has never seen a therapist/psychiatrist is just as apt to take a nose dive off the deep end as someone who has....either in the past or is currently in a treatment program.

I understand a facility wanting to keep students safe......... but this is so far over the line it is unthinkable.

There is no way you can possibly hope to protect a person from every possible dangerous situation in the world.

These school shootings are horrific. But I'm sure if they tried the schools could come up with better campus security to cope. But of course that takes spending money......and they're always loathe to do that. ugh

 

[slsh]

This is a half-xxxxx approach to the problem. They are not going to admit students who they deem safety risks, but that's it? No intervention? No referral? So these "safety risks" will be roaming communities. Incredibly short-sighted. No concern for the person they view as a safety risk, who may very well have a heck of a lot to contribute to a community.

Ugh - a knee-jerk reaction to a real problem.

I suspect a couple of ADA complaints are coming their way.

 

[DammitJanet]

I doubt this will work well. Number one, it seems pretty aimed at community colleges which do not have on campus housing. Those are the two year or vocational schools. Most of them also have a police academy on campus. My local community college has instituted some very good security measure in the last few years. They have more security guards on duty during the day and even more at night for students who take classes that get out after dark. The parking lots are well lit and police call boxes are prominent in the parking lots about every 100 ft. The campus is also covered by security cameras.

I dont think they check backgrounds because Mandy has a driving charges and two drug charges...misdemeanors but still. If they knew how she threatens people, they might have reason to be concerned...lol. I think she is all bark and no bite but who knows. We do have more than our fair share of violence here. For such a rural area we get a lot of murders but most end up being drug related in some for or fashion.

 

[HaoZi]

If they were serious about booting kids as "safety risks" they need to look harder at the guys doing the hazing and date rapes. You know, the top fraternities.

 

[Nancy]

HaoZi I agree!

Nancy

 

[AnnieO]

So let me see here... I've been on ADs (and recently) so I guess I wouldn't be admitted.

However, I know a few people I wouldn't want anywhere near me, that have never been diagnosis'd or even seen...

For instance, the young man in Arizona. Had asked for help - did not receive. Hmm.

 

[DammitJanet]

It doesnt say a thing about saying they are going to deny someone for simply being on an antidepressant. Right now this is only for Community Colleges and it says :
The policy says that community colleges can deny admission to an applicant "when there is an articulable, imminent and significant threat to the applicant or other individuals."
If an applicant is denied, the college must:
Document detailed facts supporting the rationale for the decision.
Record the time period for which the denial is in effect and the rationale for that time period.
Document the conditions upon which the applicant could become eligible for admission.
Implement an appeals process.

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