Mental Health Profiling: Article Analysis

For years, there have been multiple stories on the news about school shootings. Students and faculty feel that change is necessary to keep all schools safer and to create a better learning environment. But one thing still remains: What can be done to prevent mass shootings and other traumatic events on campus in the future? Although they appear to offer opposing viewpoints, those who disagree about how to make schools safer share common ground regarding enhancing security and how overly preparing students could possibly cause problems. There are many different methods to making campuses a safer environment, not only for students, but faculty as well. In Benjamin Reiss’ article “Campus Security and the Specter of Mental-Health Profiling”, he offers the audience an example of how to create a safer environment. Reiss’ suggestion is that “mandatory evaluations are becoming a standard mechanism to enhance campus security.” (Benjamin Reiss paragraph 1) Although the idea is suggested, Reiss questions whether this could make anyone safer. The author of “Campus Shootings: a Prevention Primer,” James Allen Fox agrees that schools need to be safer but with a different method. His suggested method is “a new security DVD, Shots Fired on Campus: Student Version, demonstrates tips and techniques on how to survive an “active shooter” attach on campus.” (James Allen Fox paragraph 1) According to the article, many colleges have already preordered the DVD before it was released. Any type of violence or misbehavior will disrupt the learning process and cause a distraction that everyone would like to avoid. In the article “Assessing Safety: A Campus-Wide Initiative” by Kerrie Baker and Kathleen Boland, many studies were conducted. Baker and Boland state that “It is a college’s duty to address these concerns with diligence to allay their fears of violent attacks.” (Kerrie Baker and Kathleen Boland paragraph 40). There are many different ways to go about making a campus a safer environment for students and faculty, and many colleges are taking those precautions to, hopefully, prevent future occurrences. There is a common ground regarding enhancements towards campus security, even though some schools may have different methods than others. Fox states that there are business opportunities that come with every tragedy and shares “Two dads in Massachusetts formed a security company to produce and sell special backpacks lined with bullet-deflecting shields.” (Fox paragraph 4) Not only do the campuses feel the need to make it a safer environment, but parents want to see their children safe as well. According to Reiss, there has been much criticism towards colleges that are not doing anything to prevent …show more content…
Fox uses an airline to compare to emergency preparedness. “Imagine if one day the flight attendant announced that passengers and crew were to engage in a crash drill.” (Fox paragraph 9). He goes on to say how traumatizing that would be to anyone on the flight. The possibility of tragedy happening could increase in the attempt to prepare the students by giving them information of previous incidents. With Reiss’ article, the suggestion of a mental health evaluation on a suspected student could cause more problems than necessary. “Who speaks for the student who is sent involuntarily to a counseling center, who gets a visit from the campus threat-management team, who is strong-armed into a psychiatric hospital?” (Reiss paragraph 7). Who’s to say that the student is a threat to other students and