A school is a place where the holistic development of a child is looked after, and since ancient times teachers have been responsible for the growth of the child. Teachers have the onus of helping and guiding their wards in all ways. Guidance is counseling in a broader sense of the word.
Counseling is provided to a child at many levels. It begins at home and percolates from school too. In these modern times when there is a multitude of problems that affect children additional support should be made available in the form of professional counseling in school. It will be fair to say that counseling services should be an integral part of the school services.
After all, school is where a child spends one-third of his/her life in the formative years and it is the responsibility of the school to facilitate the growth of the student in every way possible. The counselor can be the person that will ensure academic, emotional, social, mental, and behavioral growth in a comprehensive way.
What is Counseling?
Counseling is not just passing on advice but touching the lives of the counselee at many levels in multiple ways. Counseling can be a path to achieve a sense of well-being, self-confidence, self-realization, and self-direction. A counselor is a trained individual who lends an ear to the issues that plague the child, gives insightful opinions, and help him/her achieve their true potential. The aim is to make the child self-reliant and help in the independent functioning and decision-making process. The process is face to face and needs personal attention. However, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a tremendous surge in online school counseling programs.
The counselor can motivate, help in bringing about a didactic change in attitude, resolve anger and abandonment issues, and help in self-improvement in general. Personality development is also a by-product of counseling. The traits that have been obscured by problems can be polished and brought to the forefront, leading to wholesome growth in the student.
Why students need counseling?
A good counselor can incorporate valuable life lessons and skills to cope with the child’s life. There is a need to address emotional and mental conflict and also career guidance as and when needed. It is imperative that children should be able to cope with their problems and get guidance that will prepare them for life after school. A one-on-one session is important to build trust and provide a secure haven for children to unburden their angst away from the classroom. Many children that face problems in adjusting to their peer group, are subjected to bullying and feel isolated from their mates. These issues need to be sorted in privacy and confidentiality. This is only possible when the counselor is present in the school.
- Psychological issues can impact academic growth in children. Students can be imparted problem-solving skills and coping mechanisms to help them mitigate these issues and deal with them in a constructive way.
- Counseling can help build perspective in students as behavior patterns can be shaped and molded positively by effective communication.
- Children can face issues with effective communication skills and the counselor can be of immense help in helping children relate and bond with peers and family alike.
- The counselor can instill good behavioral patterns and discipline in the student and help them stick to a plan.
- The counselor’s office is the place where children can unburden their personal problems, whether emanating from school or home in privacy. Some issues the child faces cannot be discussed freely with parents or teachers due to fear of ridicule or punishment. The only safe haven is the counselor’s offices where the child can speak his/her mind without the fear of negative consequences.
- Goal setting is integral to success. Sadly, for many children, it is a learned skill. The counselor can step in, help the child to set small, mid, and long term goals, and also help in charting out a path to help achieve them in a pre-determined time frame.
- Many children face peer pressure and can resort to wrong ways to try and fit in with the peer community. Counseling can help the student face this pressure and take the right steps to make informed choices that will be constructive and save from self-harm.
- Children often have unresolved problems that can be the reason for drug or alcohol abuse. The counselor is often the only person who can fathom what the child is facing and help in finding a solution through proper guidance.
- Career counselors in school can be the guide for channeling the potential of the child. The right and informed choice of careers to pursue after school can be the way to a happy and balanced life. Aptitude testing can be the bridge between a bad career choice and a reaching of full potential for the student. A full-time school counselor is key to ensure that every child can maximize the potential to reach optimal growth.
- Last but not the least, the mounting incidence of teen suicides can be stemmed if children can be diagnosed and given counseling in cases of depression and anxiety in time. The pressure of competition can beget stress, depression, and a host of anxiety disorders that need to be diagnosed and treated in their entirety to help children overcome trauma and the propensity to self-harm. Only an experienced counselor can spot the signs and provide help as they are trained to do so.
Why counselors are integral to modern education systems?
In the fiercely competitive modern world, individual attention is lacking from most schools as the system is over-burdened. There is a dearth of teachers who can focus on the personal growth of children as the syllabus has become too vast and the burden of expectations to do well at academics and secure a good career is omnipresent in the classroom.
Counselors can be the bridge that connects teachers and parents to the child’s emotional and mental needs. The counselor can foster trust and mould and redirect the child towards a sustainable expectation. The counselor can help the child feel “heard”. This is very important today, as children often feel lonely and isolated in the home and in school. Low self-esteem, issues at home, and poor academic performance may be the culprit. If the child is allowed to safely place an opinion in front of an adult, the feeling of being valued is fortified and has far-reaching positive consequences.
As schools move online in these tough times of the Covid 19 pandemic, counseling has become even more important. The school counselor can be in touch with the student online and through video sessions to mitigate stress and the feeling of social isolation. The same sense of security can be imparted through online sessions as face-to-face interaction can be made possible.
There are many qualities that are needed to succeed. Not every student has an inherent interpersonal skill. The counselor is the medium through which the child can be vocal about his/her opinions and also incorporate behavioral patterns that can foster confidence. Modern study techniques can be taught that help the student maximize the learning provided in classrooms.
Counseling can facilitate effective communication, comprehensive learning, and personality development. Society still, unfortunately, regards counseling in a negative aspect and many parents lack the understanding that their child may need help to cope with feelings and stress arising from various reasons discussed above. The school hence has a duty to provide this facility for the overall betterment of every student and ensure that they grow to their true potential with adequate trained help.
Counseling can be the ladder to self-growth, career opportunities, and help the child understand how to reach goals by themselves. The presence of counselors in school is important as the child has a continuity of trust and comfort through the formative years. The student‘s past history and the case are familiar to the counselor and he/she can help the child optimally as they have been interacting for a long time. This brings a feeling of security and safety to the child and she/he can form a constructive bond beyond barriers of family and the classroom.
Conclusion
Counseling has become as important as teaching in modern schools. A majority of students who are churned out of the school system are unemployable as they do not possess the life skills necessary to survive and flourish in the world beyond the structured school years. It is imperative that schools take remedial action and make counselors accessible to students so that their mental and emotional health is taken care of.
A student is more ready to face the real world if he/she grows into adulthood with a sense of balance and stability and a high EQ. This can only be achieved if both parents and schools look beyond academics and ensure holistic growth for the child. A dedicated school counselor can facilitate this and help with career guidance to help the student reach their optimal potential growth.
