Protect university students

[MPSaveLives]

Over 80 students die from suicide at UK universities every year, yes every year. That is on average one death every 4 to 5 days. Student deaths from suicide at UK universities far exceed deaths resulting from many horrific events. Why hasn’t there been a government debate/public inquiry to learn lessons and prevent future deaths?

Every suicide leaves behind a grieving family. We are one such family. We lost a loving son to suicide at a UK university four years ago. A death that could have been prevented.

Children in school are protected by a legal duty of care. So is everyone in the workplace. Yet, students at a university are not. WHY NOT? Where is the parity in their care? Do we not owe them the same legal duty of care as everyone else?

In 2018, Student Minds published a report highlighting the plight of poorly supported staff and students, concluding that duty of care is not understood. The guidance provided to universities is not always applied as it is not compulsory. Hence the quality of student support becomes a "postcode" lottery.
If you are a parent of a son/daughter at a UK university or who will be going to one, is this what you want? Would you not expect the same duty of care at every university? Should it not be a legal duty of care, similar to what protects everyone else - school children, employees, people in prisons, in the army, in the police force, etc?

Bereaved parents have formed a group called Lived Experience for Action Right Now (The LEARN Network). We are calling on the UK government to debate and create a statutory Duty of Care for university students.
Sign our petition and support us in reaching our target of 100,00 signatures so this is debated in parliament, and a statute put in place on Duty of Care for ALL university students. ACT NOW, SAVE LIVES. Please sign and pass the details to family and friends and help us reach our target. Many thanks

Petition: www.thelearnnetwork.org.uk/statute-for-student-safety.html

I have signed OP. I am so sorry for your loss.

What is the comparative for non students in the same age group? We have been quite impressed by the mental health support available at the universities my dd and dsd have attended but they need to access them!

I've signed.. ive known a fair few young men that have had to be collected from uni with depression, including DS1 .. I think boys find it harder to talk and seek help then girls.

I'm so so sorry about your son.

Heres the link to the petition to make it easier
www.thelearnnetwork.org.uk/statute-for-student-safety.html

Thank you for your kind message and for signing the petition. Please forward this to your contacts too. Thank you

Thank you for your kind message and for signing the petition. Please forward this to your contacts too. Young men but men in general find it hard to talk about their challenges. Though it is improving, more needs to be done.

Yes, the suicide rate is lower at universities than in the general population in the same age group. But we must not start comparing apples with oranges, and such comparisons are not helpful in addressing the problems that exist at universities. I am glad that your dd and dsd got impressive support at their university but support is variable across the university sector Quality of mental health support should not be a postcode lottery. All students deserve the same high-quality care. After all, they all pay high tuition fees. Surely, students applying for a place at university, and their parents/guardians, would expect parity in care and support. Students are the only group who currently have no legal duty of care protection. Is this fair? Is this what we want when we know there is an increase in school children experiencing mental health challenges? Many of these children will progress to university. Surely we owe it to them to make sure they can thrive and succeed when they are there. Changes are required now.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I do think provision of mental health services, and suicide rates, are better for students than other groups. I think rather than making universities have duty, which by its nature favours more resources you people, surely generally improving youth mental health services for all would be preferable.

more resources you people

Is more resourced young people.

Totally agree re. men in general finding it hard to talk.. last Spring my DS2 lost his 2 best friends to suicide within 3 months of each other, and my next door neighbour also committed suicide just before Christmas - all male.

Signed. This is a cause I think about a lot, both dd and ds lost friends to suicide at uni in 2020 and a very dear ex pupil of mine last year. All very talented and much loved popular 20 year old men. It is so terribly sad.

Thank you so much for signing. Please ask both your dd and ds to pass The Learn Network details to the parents of the friends they lost, if they are in touch with the parents. Parents/siblings can email [email protected] if they wish to join the group for support. We in the group are all parents/siblings who can relate to such losses.
I would also greatly appreciate it if you could ask both your dd and ds to pass the petition details to their friends. Thank you.

I agree improving mental health support for all youth would be good. However, this petition is not just about mental health support. It is calling for a statutory duty of care for university students so they have the same rights as everyone else- children in schools and colleges, and everyone else in employment are all covered by a legal duty of care. University students are not.

I'm so sorry for your loss OP.

I used to work in this field. You're right that there is a wide variation in the amount of support universities provide. Some other significant factors from my experience are:

-the Tory government massively cut funding for disabled students several years ago now. Previously this support funded not only the individual disabled students' equipment, one to one study skills etc but also went towards funding support services such as mental health in some universities. The funding cuts mean universities have a lot less money available to them to provide mental health services. And yet the demand rises year after year. Universities are grappling with how much support they should and can give.

• NHS mental health services are (in my view) beyond breaking point. They literally cannot deal with the demand as they have been so underfunded. So when they find out that a potential patient is actually in a University, and therefore already has professionals at least semi involved and keeping an eye, they may not make this person a priority even if otherwise they would have detained them under section. They may decide they are already in a safe place, even though the people keeping an eye may be untrained in mental health and/ or not available 24/7.

This is just my opinion from what I have seen.

I am so sorry for your loss OP

I am sorry to say I have attended (well one was streamed, as in Covid and we couldn't attend in person) 3 funerals of 3 young men who have taken their own lives in the last 3.5 years.
One was a student, one a professional, highly qualified and successful in his field, one worked in a trade.
I agree with others, that this isn't a University issue, it is an issue to do with the paucity of mental health support, staffing, and indeed knowledge and research for society.

Students are the only group who currently have no legal duty of care protection.
That isn't true, as you seem to be forgetting all the people who are neither in employment nor at University
But also, having a legal duty of care doesn't actually prevent so many people from taking their lives.

This is a much bigger and more complex issue than it is being simplified to here.

Signed - over 27,900 now. So sorry for your loss, OP.

Signed.

Thank you for signing. Over 56K signatures now and rising. Please pass information and link onto friends and family who can help. Thank you

I agree that those not in employment nor at university are protected. But should this argument stop doing something for a group who don't currently have legal protection?
Yes suicide is complex but if there are clear processes and procedures, monitoring and accountability at university, and staff have training and full understanding of data disclosures, then the right action will be taken when there is a cry for help. If you are familiar with many of the cases I now know about where the right action could have saved a life, then surely failures to act should be addressed and universities not be allowed to choose what they impement and not implement from the guidance given to them by Universities UK. Guidelines are not implemented in full because they are not mandatory.

OP, I started a couple of threads on this too (I hadn't spotted this one), and got quite a lot of negative feedback. MNHQ must have moved my thread from the Higher Education Board to this one yesterday.

As you will now know the petition reached its target of 100,000 signatures today - well done to you and all the other bereaved families who conducted a brilliant campaign.

And thanks to everyone on this thread who signed and shared.

Thank you so much for your support. #ForThe100 did a brilliant job at supporting the cause. Elated that we reached the target and the support in the last few days has been nothing short of amazing and continues to rise.
We have all had some negative comments but then you expect these, but these distractions can be overcome when you truly believe that change can happen for the good of all students. When you experience such a loss, find out after the event where an action could have prevented the loss, then you realise you cannot just sit back. Lessons must be learnt and changes made.

I would like to thank everyone who supported us with your kind and heartfelt words, and who understood how vital this change is for the future of our students. Now let's make sure the government has the debate and does the right thing. 🙏