Can I Sue the School District for Emotional Distress?

Xuan Zhang | November 3rd, 2020

Stress is the body’s reaction to physical, mental and emotional factors. An optimal level of stress can enhance working ability, which is a positive stress aligned with achievements and exhilaration. However, excessive stress can lead to both physical and mental health problems; reduced self-esteem and may affect students’ academic performance. Most importantly, stress may trigger students to commit suicide.

Transitioning to university is an important stepping stone towards adulthood from childhood. The fast physical and mental changes during this period causes students to experience incompatibility of integrating into their social environments rendering them as victims of stress. A research conducted by Professor David Klonsky of the University of British Columbia found that “around 19.4% of first-year students had the idea of suicide, and 14.7% had plans to kill themselves”. Adolescence is a dangerous period of time where young people are at the stage of self-organization and role confusion. (1)

To be more specific, for many students, school is the best time for their personal and career growth. However, these critical years can also be undermined by anxiety, stress and burnout. Many students are living away from home for the first time. Especially for the international students that are experiencing difficulties integrating into the local culture, they have less access to support from family and friends. For many International Students, stress primarily tends to come from adapting to their new environment, balancing a heavy course load and their social lives, exploring career interests, and interpersonal relations. Such stress may usually cause psychological, physical, and behavioural problems, which affect many students’ performance. Moreover, students also have the opportunity to experiment with alcohol and other drugs, which may cause them to adopt ineffective coping mechanisms, exacerbating their mental health challenges and possibly increasing their risk for suicide.

The pressure of perfection has been one of the major causes of suicide on campus. In March 2019, the third student suicide was uncovered at the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, of the University of Toronto, St. George campus. Three people died by suicide on campus in 2018, which is the same number as in 2017, according to the president Metric Gertler. The major reason behind student’s suicide is the heavy workload. According to the research, “nearly 47.5% of the students faced pressure due to increased class workload”. (2) Students felt that the increased workload and assignments decreased their time for studying the material and balancing their social life. Although the university puts permanent barriers made of glass and wire; it will not solve the nature of the issue. The solution implemented by the campus was seen as too little and too late by students. Majority of students raised the concern of the school's deficient mental wellness system. The average wait time for counselling is too long, especially for students in burnout and crisis.

The question is whether people are eligible for suing schools for negligence? From a parent’s perspective, when their child is injured at school both physically and mentally, the situation can be terrifying. Students attend school with the assumption that the supervisors and professors are going to keep them safe, but that doesn’t always happen. In the case of suicide and self-injuries at school, it’s time to learn what your options are. Don’t let any injuries go unpunished if other people were responsible.

If an individual decides to sue a college or university for their injuries physically and mentally, they must have evidence to support that the school was negligent in failing to keep its campus and students safe. One way to demonstrate this is by bringing a claim for premises liability.(3) For example, students should reveal that the university was aware of the threat to safety by using witnesses, prior incidents, and correspondence. Then, they should provide pictures or evidence that show unsafe campus conditions, such as insecure fences that allow students to jump from campus buildings. In addition, individuals should review the contract between the university and its students, and mention the provisions where the institution was negligent in its duty to keep students safe. Some factors that may determine whether the university was negligent and thus may be held accountable, include whether the university could foresee that the student may be of threat to other students or themselves, how much control the school had over its students during the time of the fatal incident and the location of where it took place.(4)

In conclusion, when a student experiences excessive stress, it can interfere with their ability to learn, memorize, and score good grades. This will lead to poor physical, emotional, and mental health such as depression and anxiety; more seriously, suicide. It is essential for the university to find out the main reasons behind the problem and help the students better cope with the situation. It's our hope and collective actions that lets us progress.

Endnotes

1. E. D. Klonsky and Alexis M. May, "The Three-Step Theory (3ST): A New Theory of Suicide Rooted in the “Ideation-to-Action” Framework," International Journal of Cognitive Therapy 8, no. 2 (2015): xx, doi:10.1521/ijct.2015.8.2.114.

2. Express Informer, "'It's Literally Life or Death': Students Say University Dragging Feet on Mental Health Services | EXPRESS INFORMER," Express Informer | All Latest News Around the World, accessed November 3, 2020, https://expressinformer.com/its-literally-life-or-death-students-say-university-dragging-feet-on-mental-health-services.

3. Jaclyn Wishnia, "Suing a College or University for Negligence," LegalMatch Law Library, last modified October 22, 2020, https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/campus-safety-lawsuits.html.

4. Peter S. Spiro, "Ontario Students Succeed in Suing Their College for Negligent Misrepresentation," TheCourt.ca, last modified August 14, 2013, https://www.thecourt.ca/ontario-students-succeed-in-suing-their-college-for-negligent-misrepresentation.