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

US privacy laws prevent counselors from informing parents of danger signs. But many say they should know if their young adult children – or their roommates – need help.

from the April 27, 2007 edition

Page 3 of 3

Page 1 | Page 2 | 3

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.

1 | 2 | Page 3