The news trickling out of Aurora, Colorado about the man who shot and killed 12 theater customers and injured 58 others on July 20, 2012 is reviewing the events which led up to the tragedy. As with any tragedy, retracing the days before an event and the warning signs shed light on the event and attempts to clarify answers.
The shooter of July 20, 2012, by all accounts, is a brilliant man who allegedly has mental health problems. He was enrolled in an elite science program at the University of Colorado until a few weeks before the shootings. His attendance, performance and subsequent departure from the University of Colorado are part of the investigation.
If the shooting had occurred on the campus of the University of Colorado, there may be more questions as to the procedures in place for student safety at the time of the shooting because the Aurora shooter had demonstrated some signs of trouble prior to July 20,2012. According to news reports, he was in contact with the University of Colorado mental health program at his campus.
Post secondary schools are under strict guidelines related to securing the safety of their students. The Clery Act is a series of guiding principles and regulations which post-secondary institutions are mandated to follow. Recent news coverage of the Penn State scandal involving the sexual abuse guilty verdict against Jerry Sandusky and the shooting in Aurora, Colorado have kept The Clery Act in the news. Online press articles today have indicated that Virginia Tech, the site of the April 2007 massacre by a student where 33 people were killed (including the shooter), has had fines reinstated against it by Virginia authorities citing violations of The Clery Act related to timely notification of dangerous conditions on the campus.
As I was researching information for a book I am in the stages of writing related to violence prevention, I found an article from the Wall Street Journal dated December 9, 2008. In the article it is stated that as a direct result of the Virginia Tech shootings, another regulatory act regarding students had been changed to make sharing information more readily part of the prevention measures for campus safety.
The Act is FERPA, regulations which are in place to protect privacy of student records.
FERPA (Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act) regulations have been partially blamed for troubled students on campuses being able to fall under the radar and cause damage at their schools. There is general misunderstanding of students rights to privacy- especially when it comes to disturbing behaviors, threats and mental health issues.
First of all, anything that is observable in the public is not a private record, it is public behavior. If a student acts out in class, it is not privileged under FERPA or any right to privacy. That is why even teachers in a classroom are functioning in a public setting. Ensuing mental health help or disciplinary records do fall under FERPA. Make no mistake, the impaired mental health of anyone may impact judicial decisions, But, impaired mental health gives no one any special rights to hurt or kill anyone. Unfortunately, this is an area that needs clarification for many professionals who work with the mentally ill.
After a shooting, if the shooter or perpetrator dies, it seems easier to 'Monday morning quarterback" about suspect behavior before the event. In the case of surviving perpetrators who need to go to trial, lawyers will argue that FERPA regulations (if perpetrators are students) are to be enforced for judicial rights to be secured. That is understandable in a free nation with the right to a "fair trial by a jury of one's peers".
In the most recent shooting at Aurora, Colorado the news reports in the Denver Post and other major news organizations have been following the pre-trial motions related to the shooter's behaviors as a university student before the massacre. General information is known. One of the lead psychiatrists at the University of Colorado is being questioned as to her actions especially since it became public knowledge (through press investigations) that the shooter had sought mental health help, phoning the college phone line just minutes before he started shooting.
The University of Colorado is citing FERPA regulations as part of its explanations and defense of policies as it relates to the shooting at the theater. It is reported that the University of Colorado has hired attorneys for the psychiatrist and for a campus police officer. A gag order is in place to prevent much of the pre-trial information from becoming public.
The Wall Street Journal article of 2008 states that the FERPA regulations have been relaxed in order to prevent massacres such as the one at Virginia Tech. After a lengthy investigation by the state of Virginia, a task force found that misinterpretation of the FERPA regulations and confusion as to sharing information about the Virginia Tech shooter played a part in the delayed communication with the population at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. The change in the regulations of a few years ago was to "reassure school officials" that releasing confidential information of any student who posed a threat to self or others would not be met with violation charges. According to the article," the government was not out to second guess" decisions that were made to protect the safety and well being of the college population.
Since 2008, there is a clearer take on the "health and safety" exception to the FERPA regulations if the schools feel there is a significant threat to anyone in the student population. From news accounts, it is indicated that the shooter in Aurora did threaten a student in May and raised enough concerns for the school psychiatrist to discuss the troubled student with a campus police officer. The prosecutors office is investigating these areas of concern.
One of the interesting statements in the 2008 article was in regard to notifying parents of troubled students. Schools (as of 2008) can consider parents as appropriate people to contact if a troubled student is in crisis. "Under the new regulations (finalized in 2008) Mr. Rooker (Leroy Rooker- director of the Department of Education family policy) says an articulated threat by a student against himself or others is covered by the health or safety emergency exception to the FERPA regulations."
FERPA is meant to protect the privacy of student records. FERPA was never meant to protect dangerous or potentially dangerous behaviors. There is enough information coming with the investigation of the Aurora, Colorado shootings that may prove that once again, a tragedy, with clear warning signs leading up to it were ignored or misinterpreted. No one has the right to plan then commit a massacre.
The perpetrators themselves often give the warnings signs so as to be stopped. Although a notebook sent the day of the shootings to the psychiatrist by the shooter in Aurora, may prove to be covered from judicial consideration under FERPA or the Fifth Amendment, it is a key to unlocking the mindset of the shooter. Understandably, the attorneys for the shooter do not want the contents of the notebook disclosed.
The shooter is ultimately responsible for the deaths and injuries. No one at this point is disputing his guilt. But his state of mind in planning the events and on the day of the massacre are important for his defense. There are many questions related to why and how he accomplished utter destruction.
It is also important to learn so that the retrospective can be used to help prevent other massacres. We can at least try....and learn from history. Threats against others or oneself are not protected speech nor are the threats protected under doctor patient relationships..."or advanced confessions".
"Monday morning quarterbacking" always gives a clearer picture of what went right or wrong. Do we learn from the information and share it... or do we make the same mistakes and see a replay of school massacres on a regular basis?
One of the interesting statements in the 2008 article was in regard to notifying parents of troubled students. Schools (as of 2008) can consider parents as appropriate people to contact if a troubled student is in crisis. "Under the new regulations (finalized in 2008) Mr. Rooker (Leroy Rooker- director of the Department of Education family policy) says an articulated threat by a student against himself or others is covered by the health or safety emergency exception to the FERPA regulations."
FERPA is meant to protect the privacy of student records. FERPA was never meant to protect dangerous or potentially dangerous behaviors. There is enough information coming with the investigation of the Aurora, Colorado shootings that may prove that once again, a tragedy, with clear warning signs leading up to it were ignored or misinterpreted. No one has the right to plan then commit a massacre.
The perpetrators themselves often give the warnings signs so as to be stopped. Although a notebook sent the day of the shootings to the psychiatrist by the shooter in Aurora, may prove to be covered from judicial consideration under FERPA or the Fifth Amendment, it is a key to unlocking the mindset of the shooter. Understandably, the attorneys for the shooter do not want the contents of the notebook disclosed.
The shooter is ultimately responsible for the deaths and injuries. No one at this point is disputing his guilt. But his state of mind in planning the events and on the day of the massacre are important for his defense. There are many questions related to why and how he accomplished utter destruction.
It is also important to learn so that the retrospective can be used to help prevent other massacres. We can at least try....and learn from history. Threats against others or oneself are not protected speech nor are the threats protected under doctor patient relationships..."or advanced confessions".
"Monday morning quarterbacking" always gives a clearer picture of what went right or wrong. Do we learn from the information and share it... or do we make the same mistakes and see a replay of school massacres on a regular basis?
We may never know if a tragedy was avoided, but we always know when one isn't.
Information paraphrased is from The Wall Street Journal December 9, 2008.
Education Department Reworks Privacy Regulations by Elizabeth Bernstein
Elizabeth Bernstein also wrote a series of articles in 2007 related to colleges and helping students in crisis
Bucking Privacy Concerns, Cornell Acts as Watchdog ..WSJ December 28, 2007
Marian R. Carlino
September 1, 2012
Excerpt from my address to NJEA on January 26, 1999 with a former co-worker present and my (now ex) husband;
"In the Guide to Safe Schools, the experts summarize by saying: 'Everyone who cares about children, cares about ending the violence. It is time to break the silence that too often characterize even the most well-meaning school communications. School safety is everyone's job. Teachers, administrators, parents, community members and students all must commit to meeting the challenge by getting help for children who show signs of being trouble." .....In a December 1 (1998) (The Press) newspaper article, the parents of the children who were killed in Paducah, Kentucky said they felt forsaken. because people didn't know what to say or do. The principal of the high school stated that the teachers also "try to be much more aware of students that are not seeming to adjust to high school or...kids that are troubled and why they're troubled..that is very much on their (the teachers') minds.
After Shannon Wright was killed on March 24, 1998, the troubled child in my class was very much on my mind. The principal made me the enemy in dealing with this child. to him, his parents and to the Board of Education....
Addition: September 2, 2012.....Over 14 years later, people are still debating what to do when a troubled child (or adult) shows signs of impending violence. The answer is not that difficult...seek additional help. We can not prevent everything..but massacres show us just how much we miss in warning signs because people hesitate to act. When people fail to act to seek intervention, troubled people can become killers. ..and everyone lives with regrets.
I can honestly state that I have no regrets from my actions on March 24 and March 25, 1998... because the world has seen what happens when people fail to believe that someone is capable of murder. Prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Marian R. Carlino September 2, 2012
Excerpt from my address to NJEA on January 26, 1999 with a former co-worker present and my (now ex) husband;
"In the Guide to Safe Schools, the experts summarize by saying: 'Everyone who cares about children, cares about ending the violence. It is time to break the silence that too often characterize even the most well-meaning school communications. School safety is everyone's job. Teachers, administrators, parents, community members and students all must commit to meeting the challenge by getting help for children who show signs of being trouble." .....In a December 1 (1998) (The Press) newspaper article, the parents of the children who were killed in Paducah, Kentucky said they felt forsaken. because people didn't know what to say or do. The principal of the high school stated that the teachers also "try to be much more aware of students that are not seeming to adjust to high school or...kids that are troubled and why they're troubled..that is very much on their (the teachers') minds.
After Shannon Wright was killed on March 24, 1998, the troubled child in my class was very much on my mind. The principal made me the enemy in dealing with this child. to him, his parents and to the Board of Education....
Addition: September 2, 2012.....Over 14 years later, people are still debating what to do when a troubled child (or adult) shows signs of impending violence. The answer is not that difficult...seek additional help. We can not prevent everything..but massacres show us just how much we miss in warning signs because people hesitate to act. When people fail to act to seek intervention, troubled people can become killers. ..and everyone lives with regrets.
I can honestly state that I have no regrets from my actions on March 24 and March 25, 1998... because the world has seen what happens when people fail to believe that someone is capable of murder. Prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Marian R. Carlino September 2, 2012
