Uni students back suicide prevention measures
Bristol University lost 11 students in two years and is asking students to name a person to be contacted if they are struggling.
Wednesday 10 October 2018 09:16, UK
Some 94% of students at Bristol University have opted in to a policy that allows staff to contact their parents or guardians if they are struggling.
In the last two years there have been 11 deaths at Bristol University, where students are thought to have killed themselves.
None of them knew each other and their deaths were not connected.
The opt-in policy, among the first in the UK, is completed when students register. They are asked to name a person who can be contacted if there are concerns about their mental health.
Ben Murray, 19, was one of those who died earlier on this year. He had failed to turn up for his exams and the university had asked him to leave. His father James thinks Ben could still be alive if he had been told about what was going on.
Mr Murray helped the university introduce its opt-in policy and told Sky News: "What we discovered soon after is a set of signs we think could have been identified earlier.
"Earlier intervention, including contacting us, could have been made.
"He wasn't connecting with his course, he expressed anxiety and he missed assessments, he missed exams, he wasn't easy to contact.
"A number of things you look at and think: surely the signs should have been seen."
Other students who are thought to have taken their own lives include James Thomson, a maths student from Northampton; Kim Long, who died in the first few weeks of starting his law degree; and Natasha Abrahart, a second year physics student.
The idea of the university contacting students' families regarding their well-being is a grey area - some people believe that, at 18, they are adults and have a right to privacy and data protection. Others insist that there is nothing to stop the university contacting parents if a student's well-being is at serious risk.
At Clifton Hill House halls of residence, the majority of freshers support the opt-in policy. Some acknowledge that students can become quite isolated and stressed, with an ever increasing workload. But others insist it depends on the relationship a person has with their parents.
Bristol is one of the country's top universities and, in a big city, students have to adjust not only to being away from home but also to the academic demands and pressures of social media.
Mark Ames, the university's director of student services, told Sky News: "We are recognising the responsibility for supporting good mental health and well-being, whether it's for students or for staff.
"It needs to be addressed holistically.
"So the opt in policy is part of that larger framework for support".
He added: "I do understand on a personal level how any parent is going to try and understand what happened and how it can be averted. Understandably, part of that is that they look at the university.
"It is also the case that coroners' inquests that we have had so far have commended the support provided by the university. But that doesn't mean we can be complacent."
Suicides happen at universities up and down the country: in the 2016-17 academic year, there were 95 recorded in England and Wales.
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.