In the aftermath of the deadly Tucson shooting in January where 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner was charged with the fatally shooting of six people, injuring several more including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Tucson, the nation – and this campus – must open its eyes and spot the warning signs before another tragedy strikes closer to home.Not all perpetrators of the shootings showed signs of mental illness, but the warning signs were evident in the case of Loughner, who had a teacher and classmate both step forward with concerns. Mental illness can be anything from depression to personality disorders to schizophrenia, according to suicide.org.When you consider the free therapy sessions that the Student Health Center provides and how campus police works in conjunction with the Gardena Police Department, our administration is offering a certain degree of care for those in need. But is it enough? Our college, including faculty, staff, and students, can do their part to prevent a disaster from happening on the grounds in a variety of ways.Students can be vigilant and mindful of those around them and avoid saying hateful things. Hateful things isn’t just limited to what is physically said. One of the growing problems is cyber bullying. According to bullystatstitics.org more than half of teens and adolescents have been bullied online. Suicide warning signs, include appearing depressed or sad all the time (depression is the number one cause for suicide), performing poorly at work or in school, exhibiting changes in personality and losing interest in most activities, according to suicide.org.Faculty members can do this too while also extending offers to speak with a student privately to assess the problem and recommending a trip to the on-campus clinical psychologist for counseling. As it stands, faculty gets no formal training on what to do in the event of a shooting tragedy. The administration could also expand its six therapy sessions per year to as many times as students need, and hiring on a full-time clinical psychologist with an open-door policy to make people truly feel like EC is here to help them. All it takes is a little bit of effort by all parties and educating ourselves on the warning signs of suicide and mental illness to prevent a tragedy like the one that happened at Tucson happening here at EC.
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Editorial: Campus tragedies fueled by lack of communication
In the aftermath of the deadly Tucson shooting in January where 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner was charged with the fatally shooting of six people, injuring several more including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Tucson, the nation – and this campus – must open its eyes and spot the warning signs before another tragedy strikes closer to home.
Not all perpetrators of the shootings showed signs of mental illness, but the warning signs were evident in the case of Loughner, who had a teacher and classmate both step forward with concerns.
Mental illness can be anything from depression to personality disorders to schizophrenia, according to suicide.org.
When you consider the free therapy sessions that the Student Health Center provides and how campus police works in conjunction with the Gardena Police Department, our administration is offering a certain degree of care for those in need. But is it enough?
Our college, including faculty, staff, and students, can do their part to prevent a disaster from happening on the grounds in a variety of ways.
Students can be vigilant and mindful of those around them and avoid saying hateful things.
Hateful things isn’t just limited to what is physically said. One of the growing problems is cyber bullying.
According to bullystatstitics.org more than half of teens and adolescents have been bullied online.
Suicide warning signs, include appearing depressed or sad all the time (depression is the number one cause for suicide), performing poorly at work or in school, exhibiting changes in personality and losing interest in most activities, according to suicide.org.
Faculty members can do this too while also extending offers to speak with a student privately to assess the problem and recommending a trip to the on-campus clinical psychologist for counseling.
As it stands, faculty gets no formal training on what to do in the event of a shooting tragedy.
The administration could also expand its six therapy sessions per year to as many times as students need, and hiring on a full-time clinical psychologist with an open-door policy to make people truly feel like EC is here to help them.
All it takes is a little bit of effort by all parties and educating ourselves on the warning signs of suicide and mental illness to prevent a tragedy like the one that happened at Tucson happening here at EC.
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