Life in the halls - is it mentally healthy?
Life in the halls can be lonely for some students. Last year's death of Canterbury student Mason Pendrous, which went unnoticed for 8 weeks, caused national concern. Massey journalism student Kyra Warbrick asks whether our halls are doing enough to look after students.
A couple days after reading an article about a student who had tragically passed away in a hall in Canterbury, I received a call from my hall’s coordinator, asking how I was doing.
As a resident at the Cube, a Massey Wellington hall, I was baffled to learn that the Canterbury student, named Mason Pendrous, had gone unnoticed for 8 weeks before his body was found. While the cause of death remains unknown, this incident caused a discussion around the struggles many students face when living in halls of residence, particularly with mental health.
It is well known that the transition to university and living away from home for the first time comes with its challenges; students are left to find their own way in the real world, make new friends and figure out how they want to spend the rest of their lives: this has put a lot of pressure on students.
In the 2018 Kei Te Pai? survey where 2000 students were surveyed about their university experiences, 28.39% students considered dropping out due to feeling overwhelmed and 20.17% considered it due to mental illness.
In addition, the pressure of living in a university hall and having to face the same challenges has been found to worsen students’ mental health. Many past and present university students and hall residents have come forward to share their own experiences in the halls in relation to the Canterbury death.
Stuff reporter Joel MacManus says, “University halls are a minefield of mental health problems”, and attributes it to being without family support for the first time, academic pressure and the inability to make friends.
Stuff reporter Sam Sherwood also recounts the experience of a student who shared her experience with depression, isolation and a suicidal attempt in her hall: “I wanted to party with the other students but felt I didn't know how.
“I felt I was being so visibly depressed that it would be impossible for people to not notice. I started to think if I died in my room nobody would notice.”
Salient, the Victoria University student magazine, reported that suicide attempts in their halls had doubled from 9 in 2013 to 20 in 2017.
While some students could understand how a death in the halls could have gone unnoticed for so long, other students, such as Canterbury student Sam Gibson who enjoyed hall life, raised concerns that he “wasn’t checked on.”
Several past and present hall residents have commented on the lack of pastoral care that could have prevented such incidents, as well as the overwhelming pressure put on RA’s to oversee the welfare of their residents.
At Sonoda Village, the Canterbury University hall where Pendrous was found, there were only 2 RAs employed to support 108 residents. This means that these RAs would have had to juggle the issues of 108 residents along with working, studying and trying to pay rent.
MacManus claims, “I personally know RAs who have stayed up all night, terrified and shaking, after taking suicidal students to the hospital, who have walked in on students cutting themselves, who have held sobbing first years who just survived sexual assaults.”
There is an immense pressure of being an RA and many have struggled in the position, especially when a lot of their work is underpaid.
The question remains: what can be done to help these struggling students? What systems should be introduced to ensure effective pastoral care and prevent such horrific incidents?
Education Minister Chris Hipkins recently announced that the government will be introducing a fine of $100,000 if universities fail to look after their hall residents. He believes that hall residents should “be assured when they choose to live in a hall or hostel that there are minimum standards of safety and that there is support available to them if they need it.”
Students who partook in the Kei Te Pai? survey made suggestions to raise awareness about mental health issues in halls and how to combat them, as well as “investigate halls of residence as causing or heightening mental illness.”
University halls are believed to be where you will make life-long friends and have fun while studying. However, new systems need to be put in place to ensure the welfare of residents and limiting the pressure put on RA’s.
Jimena's story
Despite being bubbly, friendly and able to get along with most people, Jimena found herself struggling to adjust to hall life in 2018.
Jimena opted to live in a hall in her first year as an opportunity to make friends in a new city and have support.
“Through moving into a hall, I expected to find security and support and a secure network of friends. I didn’t have too many expectations, but I visualized a fun and sociable year.”
Now as a second-year nursing student, she reflects on her experience in the hall in three words: lonely, isolating, and depressing.
“For most of the year I struggled to make friends. I got to know people and made acquaintances with whom I could talk to when I ran into them, but there was nobody to reach out to and spend time with.” This affected her self-esteem and drove her towards isolation and anxiety.
Jimena believes that there were many contributing factors to the mental health of hall residents; many fellow hall residents had existing cases of eating disorders, depression and anxiety, which could have been exacerbated by the halls.
“I picked up on a few people that were isolating themselves from the hall community, either not coming out of their room, or not spending time at the halls whatsoever. All you see and hear is other hall members spending time together in the communal spaces outside your room, so there were definitely a few people who were having a tough time who I would say did not feel part of the hall community.”
While she felt that the RA’s were friendly, approachable and always around to chat, she recommended that future RA’s be observant of people you don’t see often and go out of your way to be friendly and talk to them, because any small interaction could help a struggling resident.
An RA’s Perspective
This student was after a job that would look good on her CV, so she decided to apply for an RA position at a Wellington residential hall. As it turns out, she was in for a lot more than she bargained for.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how halls worked and what students in high school might need to know before they come into a hall.”
As a natural-born leader and Dux student, an RA position seemed fitting for her, however she has found that overseeing the welfare of hall residents is severely draining.
“It feels like being hit constantly by a truck because you think you've just helped one person and then boom, someone else is suicidal, being bullied, not eating because they can't cook or failing a course.”
Upon being asked about the prominence of mental health issues in university halls, she says that it can be attributed to the transition of moving out of home for the first time and the stresses that come with it, such as university assignments, making friends and cooking and cleaning for yourself.
“Many residents have pre-existing mental health problems or university causes them for the first time, and they have no idea how to ask for help or deal with their feelings. When you add living in a pressure cooker of new people and experiences, it's only inevitable that they will worsen.
“There's never really a break and management might say you don't have to interact when you’re not on duty, but if you see someone upset, you’re expected to check-in. We are basically working double what is expected and lots of it is unpaid.”
While being an RA has its perks, this RA believes that there are some systems established to help hall residents, the issues that they faced should be talked about more.