Sexual assault is serious problem that is nonetheless less a very different one from the one on the OP.
Yes, it is-- and I'm not denying that the problem, as posited in the OP, exists. Just that maybe the two problems aren't as distinct as it might at first appear.
I'm suggesting that even the students themselves may be more comfortable outwardly LABELING causation in one way, and the reality is probably considerably more nuanced. I've seen a fair number of students who initially wanted to label their problems as several other things, but who eventually opened up about the fact that it was actually that they'd been raped or assaulted. THEY didn't always make the connection that they had developed PTSD and were struggling because of mental illness brought on by trauma. It makes sense that this would lead to academic difficulties, of course-- but not to many college students, it doesn't. Even if it does, it just leads to more shame from many of the former high-achievers-- because they see it as "weak" that they are struggling in the face of it.
Again, this relates to external appearances-- because perfect children certainly don't get raped at parties where there is underage drinking, for example. And that does seem to be the prevailing thinking on what "campus sexual assault" looks like. (It doesn't always.)
Bostonian, while I respect that there are not solid numbers (and may never be, thanks to the vast under-reporting which occurs)-- my own observations tend to reflect the recent numbers of 80% being "at the hands of someone I knew/trusted" and 90% unreported to authorities, and somewhere around 1 in 10 being actually forcibly raped. I know a lot of university professors, and I know NOT ONE who thinks that 1-in-5 is inflated, if that says anything. What they do tend to think (erroneously, IME) is that it happens to "bad" girls who are making "bad" choices, and that therefore it won't happen to their oh-so-savvy children. I think that most parents do, actually. The truth is that students this happens to never see it coming-- which is sort of the point. {sigh}
The numbers of young men who are sexually assaulted are likely far, far higher than the 1 in 20 or so which has been estimated, as well. THOSE students really never tell anyone. But they do seem to commit suicide in greater numbers than their female counterparts.
Yes, toxic expectations from parents are a huge part of this. But-- as CD notes, some of this isn't even coming from parents, per se. It's pervasive now in the cultural landscape.
Imagine how that percentage of students who are sexually assaulted (however large or small one believes the percentage to be) responds in light of that landscape. Shame is a polite euphemism, probably-- and the response of campuses to reporting is cold comfort. It's far, far easier to make (damaged, struggling) victims go away than their assailants-- so many victims never say a word for fear of losing all that they've worked so hard to attain. They (most of them) would be best off taking a term or two off, but few of them are willing to say so, because they fear (as noted in the article) that their mental health woes will be used against them-- that they'll be seen as a liability in readmission.
The entire landscape is pretty horrifying, honestly. When you look at just how sparse mental health services are on campuses, it's mind-boggling that the problem of hospitalizations and suicides/attempts isn't worse than it is.
