Anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide, and other mental | Assess whether the student feels hopeless, desperate, health issues are important factors to consider when conducting an assessment.
Keep in mind that students with emotional issues or developmental disorders might behave in a way that is maladaptive, but might not be concerning or threatening because the behavior is a product of their diagnosis.
Behaviors exhibited by a student with a diagnosed disorder need to be evaluated in the context of that diagnosis and the student’s known baseline of behavior.
If the student is experiencing feelings related to a diagnosable mental illness, such as depression, then the Team needs to consider the effect of these feelings on their behaviors when assessing the student’s risk of engaging in harm to self or others.
On January 18, 1993, a 17-year-old male student fatally shot his English teacher and a school custodian at his high school and held classmates hostage before surrendering to police.
The student had recently turned in a poem to his English teacher for an assignment that discussed his thoughts of committing homicide or suicide.
The student had failed in at least three prior suicide attempts, including one the night before his attack.
Although the student entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill at trial, ultimately he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Determine if the student has had thoughts about or engaged in behaviors that would indicate the student’s desperation.
The Team should determine whether the student has felt this way before, how the student managed those feelings then, and whether those same resources for coping are available to the student now.
Consider whether the student has tried addressing the problems in a positive way, but was unable to resolve them, thereby leading to a sense of hopelessness about their situation.
On February 1, 1997, a 16-year-old male student used a shotgun to fire on fellow students in the common area of his high school prior to the start of the school day. He killed one student and the principal and injured two additional students.
Prior to his attack, the student had been bullied and teased by several classmates, including the student killed.
At some point prior to his attack, the student asked the principal and dean of students for help with the bullying he was experiencing. They intervened, and though the situation improved temporarily, the teasing and bullying soon resumed.
The student asked the principal for help a second time, but this time the principal advised him to just ignore the bullies. The student tried, but felt like the victimization worsened and he began to feel hopeless that it would ever end.
After his attack, the student explained that he felt as though he had asked the “proper people” for assistance, but he was denied help, so he decided that bringing a gun to school would scare his tormentors and get them to leave him alone.
When some friends learned of the plan, they told him that he had to use the weapon to shoot people or the bullying would continue. The student decided he would have to fire the weapon at people in order to end his torment.
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