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My professional perspective is to become a school counselor on a middle school campus. I am currently working towards that goal by completely my Master's Degree in Guidance and Counseling and earning my school counselor certification.

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Exploration Option #1                                                 Interview with a professional 

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Exploration Option #1                                                 Interview with a professional 

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I had the privilege of interviewing our school counselor, Angela Bivins, and acquire insight about her current role.

#1 A counselor must ensure student confidentiality at all times by following Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Health Insurance Policy and Privacy Act (HIPPA) at all times.

#2 Under the FERPA law, parents have access to the written notes you keep when counseling with their students. You have 45 days from the receipt to provide information to the parent, but our district recommends 10 days.

#3 If the counselor or other professionals determine there is a significant threat to the health and safety of a student or other individuals, they may disclose a student's educational records to any person necessary who's position is to protect the health and safety of the student.

#4 A counselor must be aware of their own personal bias and follow the domains in the American School Counseling Model to benefit the student.

#5 A school counselor is responsible for providing resources to students and staff on preventing bullying on campus' as well as staying current on laws such as House Bill 1942 and the David's Law.

(A. Bivins, personal communication, January 14, 2019)

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Exploration Option #2 School Counselor Legal and Ethical Issues

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Exploration Option #2 School Counselor Legal and Ethical Issues

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School Counselor
After reviewing the school counselor website, I noticed some discussion abut the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act. This bill focuses on providing funding to states so the states can hire more counselors to lower the ratio between students and mental health care professionals.

The school counselor is calling on congress to put in place school safety policies that will ensure the student's well being, emotionally and academically, By promoting safe schools, students will have access to mental health care services.

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/school-counselors-members/legislative-affairs

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Exploration Option #2 NEA Webiste Issues and Actions

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Exploration Option #2 NEA Webiste Issues and Actions

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NEA
This website provides information on how to teach children coming from a trauma or living in a poverty environment. Students are coming to school experiencing trauma. Educators need to be aware of these students and acquire the proper training and resources to better service these students (NEA, 2018).

NEA also provides an article identifying clarification to what bullying is and what bullying is not. It clearly defines bullying, cyberbullying, sexting, and sexual harassment. It gives the reader information on where bullying most commonly occurs and targeted populations. It also provides the reader with district policies and state laws that prohibit bullying from occurring on school campuses (NEA, 2018).

http://www.nea.org/home/AchievementGaps.html

http://www.nea.org/home/53359.htm

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Legal and Ethical Issues of Interest to Me - Laws to protect students from bullying

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Legal and Ethical Issues of Interest to Me - Laws to protect students from bullying

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After exploring numerous laws and ethical issues, the topic that interest me the most is bullying. This is interesting to me because students can not learn and thrive emotionally and academically when a student is constantly being picked on at school. A former student on our campus took her own life last year due to being a victim of cyber-bullying.

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What I learned from House Bill 1942 and How to Prevent Bullying On School Campuses

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What I learned from House Bill 1942 and How to Prevent Bullying On School Campuses

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After researching House Bill 42 and reading TEA's website, I learned that Texas did not have any policies concerning bullying prevention until 2012. Texas House Bill 1942 requires school districts to put policies into place requiring the school district to inform faculty about bully, how to investigate a situation, how to notify parents and explaining their parental responsibilities, and disciplinary actions needed (Kelly, 2016).

TEA has a page on their website identifying bullying. It clearly states the definition of bullying and what is not considered bullying. Chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code requires each school district to have their own policies that prohibit bullying from occurring on their school campuses. Chapter 25 of the Texas Education code offers parents the opportunity to transfer their child to another school campus in the district if determined their child is a victim of bullying (TEA. 2019).

By researching House Bill 1942 and Knowing the Texas Education codes, I will be able to help support my district in their zero tolerance to bullying policy. I will be able to inform students and faculty of actions needed to take place in the event that bullying occurs.

Although our school district has a zero tolerance to bullying on campuses, this behavior is still occurring between students. With the use of social media, students are being bullied on line as well as on campus.

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Researching bullying on the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) website efforts to stop bullying on school campuses

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Researching bullying on the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) website efforts to stop bullying on school campuses

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TEA provides definitions of bullying and harassment, while stating the responsibilities each school district is responsible in preventing and stopping bullying from occurring on school campus. TEA states that each school district is responsible for stating and implementing policies to protect students from bullying, harassment, and creating hit lists (TEA, 2019).

Texas Education code, Chapter 37 Section 37.001 states that school districts are responsible for establishing policies that prohibit bullying on their campus. This includes requiring staff to enforce these policies. These policies must be grade level appropriate and provide options for classroom management, discipline, and when to intervene in a student dispute. Parents also have the right to transfer their child to another school if proven they are being bullied under Texas Education Code 25, Section 25.0342 (TEA, 2019).

TEA advises that if your child is being bullied, speak to the campus principal immediately.

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Researching bullying from the Angelo State Library. Actions to take against bullying. House Bill 1942.

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Researching bullying from the Angelo State Library. Actions to take against bullying. House Bill 1942.

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In 2011, Governor Perry signed the first house bill to in efforts to prevent bullying in our schools and online. Throughout history bullying has been a prevalent issue due to the competitive nature of our culture to succeed. According to the center for disease control 19.1 percent of individuals being bullied occurs on school campuses. In addition, 13.1 percent of individuals are victims of online bulling. (Kelly, 2016).

House Bill 1942 is put into Texas legislation in efforts to prevent bulling on school campuses by putting policies in place beginning at the start of the 2012-2013 school year. These policies include proper training to professionals defining bulling, actions and investigations to take when an incident occurs, parental notification along with their responsibilities, and disciplinary actions. This bill is used to guide school districts to take necessary actions when bulling occurs and possible prevention. Although HB 1942 may need amendments added to it to make improvements to the anti-bulling movement, it is a starting point for school districts to implement to prevent bulling on their campuses. (Kelly, 2016).

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Kelly, D. R. (2016). Stop the bully: An analysis of Texas House Bill 1942. Children & Schools, 38(3), 163. https://doi-org.easydb.angelo.edu/10.1093/cs/cdw024
Texas Education Agency. (2019). Coordinated school health-bullying and cyber-bullying. Retrieved from https://tea.texas.gov/Texas_Schools/Safe_and_Healthy_Schools/Coordinated_School_Health/Coordinated_School_Health_-_Bullying_and_Cyber-bullying/