Should Colleges Be Responsible for Monitoring Students' Mental Health?

Jan. 14, 2011— -- It's been nearly a week since Jared Lee Loughner allegedly opened fire at a Tucson supermarket, and people are still asking why no one intervened to help an apparently unstable person before he went on a rampage.

Some are pointing to Loughner's community college, asking whether they could have done more to help him or should have alerted authorities about a potential threat.

More colleges across the country are already depending on "threat assessment teams" to identify and monitor dangerous students, USA Today reports.

Such teams became widespread in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, but the practice has also raised concerns over students' rights. In recent decades, university students have gained freedoms and rights as the idea of in loco parentis has been abandoned.

Loughner attended Pima Community College, where he was flagged as a concern and suspended months before the attack. He was told not to return unless he sought medical help, but school administrators apparently did not follow up or report the events to authorities.

Our question to you today: Should colleges be responsible for their monitoring students' mental health?

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