Student pressures

A student from the University of Guelph is in hospital and the floor of a residence remains vacant after an apparent suicide attempt that was broadcast live on the internet.

Police tape still hangs outside the Dundas East residence at the University of Guelph. It was on the fourth floor Saturday night where a male student barricaded himself inside a room. He set fire to the room while still inside and broadcast all of it in an online chatroom with 200 people watching.

Student Kay Hillyer: “A little bit disturbing, it’s also a little bit weird to know that while everybody else had no idea what was going on, there was people anywhere in the world that knew.”

Fire fighters pulled the 20-year old out. The building was evacuated, and 34 students on that floor remain displaced. Tuesday, the student who set the fire is ok, but in hospital while others were left to deal with the reality.

Kay: “One of the international students was in that room and he’s just feeling a little bit scared by it, that he didn’t see signs of it.”

Many of the students did not want to talk, but they do have counselling services available.

Administration says that as many as 1 in 5 students could become vulnerable during their university career, whether it be here a Guelph or elsewhere in Ontario, and they want to make sure that the necessary help is available to them before something terrible happens.”

Brenda Whiteside, the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs, says support services are there all of time, but they do see an upswing at specific points: “Start of the semester, middle of the semester, end of the semester, we put in place extra supports and extra eyes and ears to make sure that people are ok.”

Right now is one of the worst times. It’s the end of the semester and students are preparing for exams. It can be overwhelming, but they say its a reality that they deal with.

Student Gamze Ekinturkoglu: “The stress will never leave you, even if you’re doing well.”

We spoke with the nurse in charge of mental health at McMaster and she said there’s a few things that people can look for. If a student becomes somewhat displaced or becomes quiet, they stop going to class or if they change their patterns of eating and sleeping, then those are the ones to watch for. But ultimately, as much as everyone cares and can ask them to get help, it’s the student themselves that has to walk through the door.