10/31/2019
In Loco Parentis: The Role Schools Must Play To Provide Mental Health Resources – Columbia Undergraduate Law Review
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January 2018 (1)
IN LOCO PARENTIS: THE ROLE
SCHOOLS MUST PLAY TO PROVIDE
MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
Pagona Kytzidis / August 30, 2017 / Leave a comment / Online, Summer 2017
University of Washington
University of Pennsylvania
Since its inception, America has embraced the idea of equality of opportunity; one
vital way to uphold this fundamental ideal is to implement a public education
November 2017 (8)
October 2017 (10)
August 2017 (9)
June 2017 (3)
April 2017 (5)
March 2017 (5)
December 2016 (1)
system that ensures equal access to resources.[1] Yet, in today’s world, this
November 2016 (8)
conceived ideal does not represent the reality of public education. While there are
October 2016 (2)
many persisting discriminatory practices, one that current students face is a lack of
September 2016 (4)
mental health resources in educational institutions. No local, regional, or federal
government has designed new legislation or adopted court decisions to challenge
educational institutions’ responsibility to sustain therapists, awareness, and
August 2016 (3)
May 2016 (1)
warranted treatment to ailing students. However, schools have a responsibility and
April 2016 (11)
history of protecting students through a century-old concept, called in loco parentis.
March 2016 (3)
February 2016 (4)
When it was founded, our education system adopted the British custom and
common law of in loco parentis from the earliest days of the American colonies. In
loco parentis implies strong central authority of educational institutions, stating that
schools take the role of parents when the students are placed under their care.
January 2016 (2)
November 2015 (5)
September 2015 (1)
This means that teachers and administrators can take disciplinary measures
August 2015 (2)
against students and must constantly look out for their students’ best interest and
June 2015 (1)
welfare.[2] Following this doctrine, schools must integrate mental health resources
May 2015 (1)
into public schools.
Nonetheless, the American debate regarding the extent of public schools’
April 2015 (4)
March 2015 (1)
involvement in the private lives of students lingers. Our education system attempts
February 2015 (1)
to balance every child’s right to an equal public education and a parent’s right to
January 2015 (3)
decide how to educate and raise their child. A parent’s formal educational
December 2014 (2)
jurisdiction ranges from choosing which school the child attends to deciding what or
November 2014 (2)
how the child learns. Additionally, education design and legislation falls under a
state’s jurisdiction, and broad, sweeping federal legislation regulating education is
uncommon.
August 2014 (4)
July 2014 (1)
May 2014 (1)
Several Supreme Court and lower appellate court cases have enforced in loco
April 2014 (1)
parentis. Many of these cases involve parents suing school districts over
March 2014 (1)
mandatory drug testing or drug searches, often arguing that since the public
schools are state actors, they cannot force individual citizens to comply to these
demands without probable cause or a warrant. However, as decided in Vernonia
School District47J vs. Wayne Acton, “school authorities ac[t] in loco parentis… with
February 2014 (1)
December 2013 (2)
November 2013 (4)
the power and indeed the duty to inculcate the habits and manners of civility.” The
October 2013 (1)
court in New Jersey vs. TLO further defines this duty, deciding that “[t]eachers and
July 2013 (5)
school administrators act in loco parentis in their dealings with students: their
May 2013 (1)
authority is that of the parent, not the State.” Schools are therefore “liable for
foreseeable injuries” (Garcia v. City of New York), but how are these compensable
injuries defined?[3]
March 2013 (1)
November 2012 (5)
https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/culr/2017/08/30/in-loco-parentis-the-role-schools-must-play-to-provide-mental-health-resources/
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10/31/2019
In Loco Parentis: The Role Schools Must Play To Provide Mental Health Resources – Columbia Undergraduate Law Review
Yes, a broken arm caused by a lack of supervision on the playground is not the
same as a child who has developed anxiety or depression. However, an
educational institution, acting in loco parentis, must oversee any injury—physical or
mental—that a student has. Nevertheless, teachers, administrators, and school
boards provide more resources for physical injury rather than mental injury. Three
out of four schools have full or part-time nurses, while less than one half of schools
have full or part-time psychologists.[4] For students in poverty, this lack of
psychologists in schools is exacerbated: though fifty-one percent of public school
students are eligible for free or reduced lunch,[5] only sixteen percent of school
psychologists work in these low-income school districts,[6] where the majority of
students are on free or reduced lunch.[7],[8]
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five young people have
a mental illness and half of all mental illness begins by the age fourteen.[9] In fact,
mental illness prevails in low-income communities, and these communities are
disproportionately made up of people of color.[10] Many students are unjustly
suffering because there are not adequate resources to help them. Because these
populations are especially challenged by self-advocacy when it comes to mental
illness, the parental authority—in this case the educational institution—should and
must provide mental health resources.
The concept seems simple: the schools are supposed to act as parents when
watching over their students. Therefore, schools acting as responsible parents
become “liable for foreseeable injuries,” and these “injuries” include mental illness.
Yet, our government continues to fall short in providing these resources. Congress
almost fulfilled this obligation in 1975 with the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA). Congress rightfully demanded that educational institutions provide a
“free appropriate equal education” to all students, especially those with mental
disabilities. However, the only reference to emotional issues covered in the
legislation is “serious emotional distress”—a broad definition of mental illness that
wrongly lacks the specificity or clarity to cover the spectrum of emotional or mental
health issues.[11] Additionally, IDEA requires the parents’ serious intervention and
interest in order to make sure that their child is obtaining the proper supports that
they need. IDEA’s central mechanism for arranging special education is an
Individualized Education Plan (IEP), in which parents are intended to be the third
party, next to teachers and administrators. However, in situations when the parents
are absent or not as involved in the child’s life, the child still needs resources and
an IEP.[12] The only advocate the child can turn to is their school, the institution
which is legally considered to be their parent during school hours.
The United States Supreme Court has stated that the schools’ “authority is that of
the parent” and that they are “liable.” If twenty percent of students need resources
that they do not have access to, we are not providing an equal and appropriate
education. If twenty percent of their students experience “injuries” to their mental
health, and the school refuses to help them, they neglect their students and are no
longer acting in loco parentis. At this point, the United States is not maintaining
equal protection from mental illness. In fact, we are neglecting the children who
need it most. It is our responsibility to hold our government and its public
educational institutions accountable for providing adequate resources for students
with a mental health illness so that every student has equal opportunity to
maximize their potential to learn and achieve.
[1] “American Public Education: An Origin Story.” Education News. April 15, 2013.
Accessed August 21, 2017. http://www.educationnews.org/education-policy-andpolitics/american-public-education-an-origin-story.
[2] Garcia v. City of New York, 222 A.D.2d 192, 196
[3] Id. [2]
[4] Mithers, Carol. “Are school nurses disappearing?” CNN. April 04, 2011.
Accessed
August
21,
2017.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/04/04/school.nurse.shortage.parenting/index.html.
[5] “Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS).” National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES) Home Page, a part of the U.S. Department of Education. Accessed August
21, 2017. https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass0708_2013027_s1n_03.asp.
[6] “The NCES Fast Facts Tool provides quick answers to many education
questions (National Center for Education Statistics).” National Center for Education
https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/culr/2017/08/30/in-loco-parentis-the-role-schools-must-play-to-provide-mental-health-resources/
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10/31/2019
In Loco Parentis: The Role Schools Must Play To Provide Mental Health Resources – Columbia Undergraduate Law Review
Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a part of the U.S. Department of Education.
Accessed August 21, 2017. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84.
[7] “The NCES Fast Facts Tool provides quick answers to many education
questions (National Center for Education Statistics).” National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a part of the U.S. Department of Education.
Accessed August 21, 2017. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84.
[8] Layton, Lyndsey. “Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty.” The
Washington
Post.
January
16,
2015.
Accessed
August
21,
2017.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/majority-of-us-public-schoolstudents-are-in-poverty/2015/01/15/df7171d0-9ce9-11e4-a7ee526210d665b4_story.html?utm_term=.368b8a1b198d.
[9] “Any Disorder Among Children.” National Institute of Mental Health. Accessed
August
21,
2017.
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-
disorder-among-children.shtml.
[10] Office of the Surgeon General (US). “Chapter 3 Mental Health Care for African
Americans.” Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity: A Supplement to Mental
Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Accessed August 21, 2017.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44251/.
[11] Hague, Laura. “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.” In Culture Wars in
America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices, edited by Roger
Chapman,
and
James
Ciment.
2nd
ed.
Routledge,
2013.
http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?
qurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com%2Fcontent%2Fentry%2Fsharpecw%2Findividuals_with_disabilities_education_act%2F0%3Fi
[12] Russo, Charles J. and Allan G. Osborne. “Are School Boards Adequately
Meeting the IDEA’s Requirement of Providing a Free Appropriate Public Education
for All Students with Disabilities?.” In School Law, 108-126, Debating Issues in
American Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2012. doi:
10.4135/9781452218359.n7.
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