Such a tragedy. This young man was 18 and asked that his counselor not call his parents regarding personal issues. Counselor honored that request. Seems the water is quite muddy here–student rights vs third-party informant vs counselor responsibility vs parental involvement. What are your thoughts?
I am of the opinion that the counselor should have at least talked with the school’s head of counseling department and/or principal and eventually the parents should have been notified. I can imagine the friend and even the counselor (probably a younger woman) being intimidated by the boy’s parents and their likely reaction, so the senior school staff would be better equipped to handle the situation.
I should add that someone I barely knew, unrelated to school or our family, once called and let me know that my child was contemplating suicide. The call, naturally, upset me greatly, but I will be eternally grateful to this person.
At 18, the law treats you as an adult, right? Isn’t this why we can’t access our kids’ college and medical records without their permission? Sad story, but I can see why the counselor honored the request. Not sure if school counselors fall under HIPAA but my guess is they probably do.
It’s a sad situation and I can’t even imagine the grief the parents are feeling but I think it is misplaced blame.
@twicer Per the article linked, the counselor is male, not a young female.
My bad, it was the friend that was female.
Still, I stand by my point that the counselor may have avoided the conversation with the parents, and age difference may have contributed. Most school counselors I’ve met were on the younger side.
Under FERPA, the parental rights transfer to the student upon reaching the age of 18. This is true of HIPAA as well. What isn’t clear in the article is if the young man signed a release and authorized his parents access to his records.
And the counselor stated the young man denied suicidal thoughts to him. So he didn’t seem to have a concern for safety.
legally, an adult and unless the student signed over rights to the parents to file access…
Against federal and many states’ privacy laws, unless written permission is given.
Not in this case. The counselor is in his 40s with 2 masters degrees, 7 years at the current job, and many years in other industries.
The counselors at my kids’ schools were all middle aged or older. I don’t think you can assume most counselors are young.
This adult patient specifically asked the counselor NOT to contact his parents. The counselor did the right thing. Yes, it’s a tragedy. If counselors are held liable in such instances, many young patients are likely stop seeking help altogether. And then it’s a tragedy for us all.
The counsel was a high school counselor, so it’s not surprising the school had reporting guidelines. I’m not sure what requirements differences there are in Virginia for high school counselors compared to other counselors, if any. The case will likely turn on that though. Virginia may also have imminent danger contact laws, which many states do.
But why the lawsuit? Who’s idea was this? Will the settlement money go toward fixing the problem or will it go toward lining the pockets of the lawyers? An ugly lawsuit will only make this tragic situation worse.
If you read some of the comments to the linked article it seems there was another suicide at the school prior to this young man ending his life. Maybe the parent’s thought the lawsuit could help someone in the future.
It is so sad that this young man did not have the relationship with his parents that he could go to them for help.
I hope so.
Mixed thoughts, I thought that legally once a kid turns 18 they have the right to privacy with counseling and such.The other thing is if a kid is suicidal if telling the parents is necessarily the right thing, what if the parents are the cause of the kid being like that, should they necessarily be brought in until the kid has been helped? What if the parents are the cause of the kid wanting to commit suicide, like the parents who put so much pressure on the kid he cracks, and who would see him being like this as weakness? (and yes, folks, there are parents like that)…
Personally, I think in a case like this the counselor should legally be required to let someone higher up know and possibly get others involved,have some kind of process. I understand the parent’s grief, but I don’t know if you can put this one of the counselor, he may have done what he could, and I think this one is more likely to be a problem with the standards that are out there, that having one person as a gatekeeper is kind of dicey.
The initial information about suicide came from a friend of the young man via email. How much stock can a counselor place in information offered by a third party? Student denied that he was suicidal. Does the counselor override student’s word and believe the third party? Seems to me informing the principal or the dept. chair aware of the situation would have accomplished very little. Much of what a counselor does is based on gut instinct. It’s a very sticky situation. Has to be every counselor’s worst nightmare.
I am terribly sorry for these parents, but their suit is misguided.
I can say from personal experience that even good parents who ought to know better can react in a dreadfully destructive way when confronted with depression or other psychiatric issues in their child. And I was the child, not the parent. Luckily for my parents, I wasn’t suicidal, and they did not have to struggle with the guilt these people must be facing. Unluckily for me, issues that significantly impacted my life went untreated as a result.
How sad! One thing the counselor could have done is to suggest the friend to tell his parents if he wanted. It gets everyone off the hook and the parents notified. What is the suicidal rate among HS students?
I have posted this a few times about FERPA, but here it is again:
How is FERPA relevant for HS? Isn’t it limited to post secondary education ?
No any educational institution that receives federal funds.
What about HIPAA privacy rules in this instance?