Mental and Behavioral Health
Mental health experts have expressed concern that the Netflix show “13 Reasons Why” poses a health risk for young people struggling with mental health issues due to the graphic depiction of suicide of a highly relatable main character. New research published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal used Google search data to show that following the show’s premiere, online searches for terms related to suicide awareness and prevention increased, indicating a positive reaction. However, search terms associated with suicidal ideation had a greater relative increase which tends to substantiate experts’ concerns.
In an op-ed for WBUR, Dr. Gene Beresin, the executive director of The MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, criticized President Trump’s speech to the Boy Scouts of America. Calling it “toxic,” Beresin asserted that the speech promoted individual winning over shared group effort, modeled belittling those who disagree over listening and conversing, and glorified material wealth and social status above higher values.
In 2014, Madison Holleran, a former student at the University of Pennsylvania, ended her life by jumping from a building in the middle of downtown Philadelphia. Holleran’s death was widely publicized and raised concerns about mental health on college campuses. NPR interviewed sportswriter Kate Fagan about her new book What Made Maddy Run which explores Holleran’s struggles leading up to her death. In the interview, Fagan discusses the difficulty Halleran had in talking about her struggle, the compulsion people have to edit their lives for social media, and what schools can do to better help students struggling with mental health.
High risk drinking at the University of Iowa is at its lowest point in 25 years, having decreased by 28 percent since 2009, according to the latest National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey. The school credits the UI Alcohol Harm Reduction Advisory Committee, formed in 2009, which set goals, increased programming, and built community partnerships to reduce high risk student drinking. What hasn’t changed? The number of students who experience negative consequences as a result of drinking.
Diversity and Inclusion
After a difficult year at Harvey Mudd College that included racial tensions, student suicide, and a campus shutdown, President Maria Klawe talks to NPR about the experience and how the school is gearing up for the fall semester. The school has focused on recruiting beyond the top 1 percent of high schools to increase diversity, but this had led to tensions with faculty and a stressed student body. Going into the fall semester, Klawe is listening to student requests to be a bigger part of the conversation about solutions and will be hosting meetings on mental health, work-life balance, and diversity and inclusion.
Campus Protests
In a three-part series entitled “Campus Unrest”, the New York Times explores the protests at Berkeley through the eyes of students from both sides of the political spectrum. The series covers a number of thought-provoking topics from the outrage and threats targeting professors who have expressed their views about race and politics, to the increasing student demand for recognition of their diverse identities, whether racial, sexual, religious, or first-generation.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
According to a police report, more than 100 witnesses were questioned by Michigan State University police in the investigation into sexual assault allegations against three ex-MSU football players, Joshua King, Donnie Corley and Demetric Vance. The witnesses include coaching staff, team members, MSU basketball players, MSU women’s basketball players, students at the party where the alleged sexual assault occurred, and an Uber driver. On June 5, the Ingham County Prosecutor authorized sexual assault charges against the three.
Universities and sexual assault victim advocates are hoping that the Trump administration will clarify the Obama administration’s Title IX guidelines outlined in the “Dear Colleague” letter, rather than rescind them completely. The Education Department says it is weighing numerous proposals before shifting federal policy.
College Affordability
Recent data have shown that net college tuition is, for the first time in years, rising in line with inflation. Between 1990 and 2016, tuition grew at a rate more than double that of inflation every year. NPR Ed asked a range of experts if this plateau is a signal of college becoming more affordable, and if the proliferation of public free tuition programs in states like New York and Rhode Island is a trend or a sustainable model.
