Kennesaw State failed to look out for the mental health of students, staff and faculty following a campus-wide lockdown.
KSU should have given students, staff and faculty a mental health day after armed intruders caused a campus lockdown on Jan. 24.
At 6:44 p.m. on Jan. 24, all KSU students, staff and faculty received an alert about an armed intruder on the Kennesaw campus. People on campus were sheltered in a lockdown for 93 minutes, more than one and a half hours.
During the lockdown, the men’s basketball team’s home game at the Convocation Center started as scheduled at 7 p.m. There are many problems with this.
Due to the lockdown, KSU had plenty of time to postpone the game to another day and send out mass communication via email, app and social media. The lack of a response to the threat brings up the issue of America being desensitized to armed intruders and school shootings.
There were more mass shootings than days in the year in 2023, with 627 reported by ABC News on Dec. 4, 2023. Meanwhile, Georgia is ranked 15th in firearm-related deaths in the U.S.— no wonder most Americans are desensitized to mass shootings. Mental health professionals are even saying that Americans are becoming numb to violence.
While no one was hurt during the time the school was in lockdown, KSU failed to look out for the mental well-being of its students, staff and faculty. Shelter-in-place lockdowns due to an armed intruder are extremely traumatic experiences. The KSU community should have been given a mental health day on Jan. 25 following the lockdown.
The hundreds of KSU students, staff and faculty who experienced the almost two-hour lockdown suffered a tense and traumatic experience. Some people were locked down in classrooms, while others were locked down in more vulnerable areas like restrooms and closets.
Not only should KSU have given a mental health day, but they should also have offered mental health and wellbeing resources. It is unacceptable that they did not do this because KSU offers top-tier wellbeing and counseling services. They should have also offered Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) for all.
KSU President Kathy Schwaig should have sent out a university-wide email explaining the situation and offering the services of KSU Wellbeing and KSU Counseling and Psychological Services. This is not a good look for her following her lack of response and genuine care to the hate crime perpetrated against Jalique Rosemond last year.
KSU needs to be aware of this major lapse in judgment they made. The after-effects of the lockdown were detrimental to students’ success and mental health. Many people were left feeling vulnerable, traumatized, on edge and disturbed. How could anyone expect to continue going on with their lives like normal after a day like that?
Not requiring a mental health day for students to recuperate not only creates a negative interpretation of the school but reinforces negative mental health consequences like desensitization in students.
