With both kinds of traumatic events on the rise, school counselors can't keep up with the demand for mental health services.
Janine Menard is just one person, but as a school counselor, she's responsible for the well-being of 1,300 students. Because of this ratio, she says she missed the signs of a "good student" who committed suicide.
“She was in such pain, and I couldn’t see it,” says Menard, who has been a school counselor for 15 years and chairs the Arizona School Counselors Association's Board of Directors.
She's the only school counselor for two different schools, and most of her time is spent on the neediest students -- those in foster care or living in extreme poverty.
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Dear readers,
ReplyDeleteTo inform all of you, the case loads of school counselors are well beyond national averages of mental health professionals. The ratio cited is fairly typical, and there is no rational way they can hope to attend (in any meaningful way) to these issues. Add to that, it is fairly typical for school administrators to add to their workload with tasks not related to counseling. I know that teachers (and the profession in general) have not had favorable press overall , but these professionals are frankly very stressed. I have proposed openly at many meetings in the past for a minimum of 6 counselors per HS, and was openly mocked regarding that at the time, but given current societal issues, it does not seem to be outlandish. To my counselor colleagues, I value what you do.
Regards,
Paladin
So we have gone from "Should I be my brothers keeper", to "I am my brothers, neighbor, child 5 doors down, old lady 8 blocks over, and grocers keeper. I guess the liberals have won and Clinton was right it does take a village.
ReplyDeleteUntil society starts thinking logically and rationally about the current state of our country and WHY! ALL these terrible things that are happening to our kids, friends, neighbors and the such will not stop. We need to stop making EXCUSES for people behaving badly and start holding them accountable. Then hold ourselves accountable for letting it happen by not being parents, guardians, and friends to these people and not calling them out for bad behavior. There is a reason why 30 or 40 years ago these problems didn't exist to the extent they do now. WE as a society didn't allow it, plain and simple.
ReplyDelete