Increased mental health funding not the answer to campus violence

UW students are no strangers to the prospect of violence. The recent shootings at Northern Illinois, the latest in a string of high profile attacks on college campuses, has state legislators poised to act in an effort to prevent a similar occurrence in our own backyard.

I had the opportunity to sit in on a discussion between a group of UW student lobbyists and Rep. Deb Wallace, head of the state House Higher Education Committee. I was appalled at Wallace’s alarm that students had been assaulted in the immediate vicinity of campus. Wallace was clearly concerned, but the lack of information was unsettling.

Even more unsettling was Wallace’s proposed course of action, as outlined in an editorial she co-authored last week in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Wallace and Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles defended Gov. Christine Gregoire’s proposal to increase campus safety procedures and coordination, as well as funding for mental health care services.

I have nothing against either of these proposals, if done for the right reason. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have a clear outline and knowledge of emergency procedures should disaster strike. Increasing funding for mental health care, on the other hand, seems more of a knee-jerk reaction than a thought out approach to the issue of campus violence.

I’m all for increasing the availability of psychiatric care for students, but doing it under the guise of violence prevention is silly. I understand that the gunmen at places like Virginia Tech were deeply disturbed individuals who may have benefited from psychiatric help, but I’m more worried about getting strong-armed on my way home from the library than being gunned down by a peer on campus.

Tragic though they were, these aforementioned cataclysms were isolated events that may or may not have been preventable for any number of reasons. Assuming that such a tragedy wouldn’t have occurred if only the gunman had had access to more mental health services is a ridiculous presumption.

There’s the distinct possibility that these individuals were beyond help.

Furthermore, it’s unfair to put the burden of violence prevention on psychologists and psychiatrists. Violence prevention comes down to vigilance and law enforcement. There will always be incidents. To prevent incidents from becoming tragedies, the university should increase security on and off campus.

I admire Wallace’s conviction, but I hope they will focus on solving the issues at hand rather forcing through a convenient solution.