Louisiana lawmakers are advancing a measure that would allow colleges and universities to contact parents when students experience mental health crises, addressing a gap in current privacy protections for adult students.
House Bill 202, sponsored by Rep. Delisha Boyd, D-New Orleans, would require colleges and universities to offer privacy waivers to students. These waivers would authorize schools to contact a pre-designated person in cases of mental health crisis or situations where a student poses a risk to themselves or others. Students would retain the choice of whether to complete the waiver.
Privacy Laws Currently Prevent Parental Contact
Boyd explained to the House Committee on Education that colleges are currently unable to contact parents under existing privacy laws that protect adult students. “The measure is necessary because colleges are currently not able to contact parents under privacy laws that protect adult students,” according to Boyd’s remarks to the committee.
Response to Campus Deaths
Legislators on the House Committee on Education characterized the proposal as a “fail safe.” The bill responds to several high-profile deaths on college campuses. Boyd referenced a recent tragedy at Xavier University of Louisiana, stating: “Just recently, we had a student at Xavier University that committed suicide about a month ago. Imagine if someone had paid attention to the change in attitude, the personality or what have you, it could have ended in a different way.”
The measure will next be discussed on the House floor, according to the source.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://lailluminator.com/briefs/louisiana-universities-could-get-fail-safe-for-students-in-mental-health-crisis/