In the nation 7% of teens report having one or more suicide attempts, that number goes up to 12% in the state of Texas. In Texas they know there’s a problem so they met with students, school and mental health professionals, and lawmakers to address it. A common theme in their discussion-- the need for more counselors to help with mental health issues.
Not an uncommon theme even outside of Texas. But an interesting comment came from a 14 year old student: "If I had mentioned the (school) counselors to one of my friends at my school, as a freshman, they would have immediately thought schedule changes, course selection or anything like that. Most of the time nobody goes to the counselor for those (mental health) problems because the counselors are caught up with paperwork and schedule changes.”
Ouch. The truth hurts our students and our profession. We were all trained in counseling theory, practiced the skills, expected to help students sort out emotional problems. But most of our day is caught up with paperwork, and schedules, and random duties.
Also concerning-- providing students with mental health support is being turned over to mental health professionals who have been welcomed into our buildings to fill this gap. While school-based mental health provides a much needed service for many of our students, there’s also a risk these services will be seen as outside of our expertise. If that happens then our profession will be relegated to only paperwork, scheduling, and random duties.
Full article: Students on suicide prevention: We need more counselors
Not an uncommon theme even outside of Texas. But an interesting comment came from a 14 year old student: "If I had mentioned the (school) counselors to one of my friends at my school, as a freshman, they would have immediately thought schedule changes, course selection or anything like that. Most of the time nobody goes to the counselor for those (mental health) problems because the counselors are caught up with paperwork and schedule changes.”
Ouch. The truth hurts our students and our profession. We were all trained in counseling theory, practiced the skills, expected to help students sort out emotional problems. But most of our day is caught up with paperwork, and schedules, and random duties.
Also concerning-- providing students with mental health support is being turned over to mental health professionals who have been welcomed into our buildings to fill this gap. While school-based mental health provides a much needed service for many of our students, there’s also a risk these services will be seen as outside of our expertise. If that happens then our profession will be relegated to only paperwork, scheduling, and random duties.
Full article: Students on suicide prevention: We need more counselors
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