When a student's in trouble, should parents know?

In one highly publicized case, the parents of Elizabeth Shin sued the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after she committed suicide by setting fire to herself in her dorm room in 2000, arguing that the school hadn't done enough to prevent it. The case was eventually settled out of court. In another case, George Washington University, saying that he posed a danger, barred sophomore Jordan Nott from campus after the sophomore checked himself into a mental-health facility with suicidal thoughts. Mr. Nott sued, and the case was settled last year.

Virginia Tech has faced considerable criticism for its lack of early action on the day student Cho Seung-Hui went on his deadly rampage. But some experts say there weren't enough signs to warrant an involuntary commitment or to breach confidentiality. In 1995, many commentators were equally critical of Harvard for its decision to rescind admission to Gina Grant once it came out that the student had bludgeoned her abusive mother to death when she was 14.

For parents, the concerns center less on liability than the welfare of their child. "I understand privacy issues, but 18 years old is way too young to have no parental guidance or awareness or involvement," says one mother, whose daughter experienced serious depression her freshman year. Her other daughter tipped her off, and she instantly went to the school to help. But, she says, it was excruciating to go to the psychiatrist and find she couldn't learn the smallest detail about her daughter's condition. "As a mother, it rips you up inside."

Root, the Illinois parent, says she would want to know if her child's roommate had serious mental-health issues – and says it might be a good safety measure.

But sharing that information with roommates or parents is often not just illegal but counterproductive, say experts. "A counseling center couldn't operate if there wasn't some guarantee that what the student said in that setting was confidential. It's a cornerstone of the whole therapeutic process," says Robert Gallagher, who annually surveys university counseling center directors and ran the University of Pittsburgh's center for 25 years. He says he often asks students' permission to contact family.

In last year's survey, 92 percent of directors said they have seen a growing trend in the number of students attending with severe psychological problems.

It's unlikely privacy laws will change soon, though Dr. Gallagher and others say some clarification of exceptions that give counselors more flexibility might help.

But the Virginia Tech incident has made parents and students more aware of what they don't know. "Colleges should do more to make sure everybody is fit to be around other students," says Ashley Brown, a marketing major at Radford University in Virginia. If they can't inform roommates about medical issues, they could still do more background checks and perhaps determine that some students need solo living situations, she suggests.

"You never had to think about who your roommate was before," Ms. Brown says. "Now you want to know who that person really is."

Patrick Jonsson contributed to this report.

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