Other people have already mentioned that students over the age of 18 are as much legally adults as you and I are and therefore no one can have any sort of custodial relationship over them whatsoever. Other people have already mentioned that if your doctor is required to report your condition to your parents, you'd probably respond by just not seeking help. People have even pointed out that the parents knowing about it wouldn't necessarily have stopped her from committing suicide. (And I'd like to add that having your parents constantly supervise you so you don't commit suicide might be enough to drive one to suicide if one weren't there already).
But what I want to blog about here is something I haven't seen mentioned yet: we must make sure that university students continue to have the same rights and freedoms as their peers who are not in school.
Whenever something tragic happens involving a university student, it's easy to call upon universities to do something to prevent it, usually by supervising students more heavily or placing restrictions on students. I've seen several calls for universities to be accountable to parents instead of to students, I've seen calls for alcohol to be banned on campus (even in residences), all kinds of things like this. But the thing is, in our society, going to university is a) not something everyone does, and b) generally considered the most laudable choice. Not everyone gets to go to university, and there are lots of people in that age group who aren't in university. If you're 18 years old and you, say, dropped out of high school, got knocked up, and are living on welfare and working for a gang as a drug dealer on the side, no institution is meddling in your life and trying to supervise you and reporting your medical situation to your parents. University students shouldn't have to face more restrictions and limitations just because they took what our society considers the optimal path.
Edit: This is the story that sparked this discussion.
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