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My Professional Perspective as Future High School Counselor

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My Professional Perspective as Future High School Counselor

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Upon completion of a Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling this upcoming spring semester 2019, I plan to become a public high school counselor.  I chose this career because I would like to help students complete all required courses for graduation, show them the tools they will need to continue with their education after high school, increase college and career readiness, and to provide emotional guidance and support whenever they need.

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Exploration Option 1 – Top Five Legal and Ethical Issues Impacting High School Counselors

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Exploration Option 1 – Top Five Legal and Ethical Issues Impacting High School Counselors

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I talked to Mrs. Irene Perez, Mercedes High School head counselor about the current legal and ethical issues impacting her role of high school counselor.

1. Confidentiality and Limits of Confidentiality:  School counselors are required to keep students’ conversations confidential as part of their ethical standards.  On the other hand, school counselors have confidentiality limits whenever the student’s life is in danger, or when the student plans to hurt another student.  Confidentiality and its limits is something the counselors struggle with because in many cases teachers and staff want the school counselor to share specific information that would violate the students’ confidentiality rights.

2. Bullying:  School counselors’ role is to promote a positive school environment, but bullying prevention continues to be a challenge for school counselors, because many times staff and students do not report acts of bullying.  Schools are responsible for a prompt response to prevent acts of bullying.

3. Counseling Biases:  Counselors are in a continuous struggle to counsel students whose ideas and values are different from the counselor’s beliefs.

4. Child abuse: By law, school counselors must report child abuse to Child Protective Services within a 48 hours frame.  In occasions, the staff is unsure of proper procedures and let administration know, thinking that it is the responsibility of administration to report child abuse.  Counselors are in a continuous process to educate school’s staff by informing their responsibilities.

5. FERPA:  Counselors and school staff struggle maintaining the Family Education and Privacy Act.  In many cases, counselors and staff fail to follow the FERPA act by disclosing student’s information in emails, or by sharing student’s information for non-educational purposes.

(I. Perez, personal communication, October 22, 2018).

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Exploration Option 4 – The Educator’s Guide to Texas School Law (Walsh, Kemere, Maniotis, 2014)

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Exploration Option 4 – The Educator’s Guide to Texas School Law (Walsh, Kemere, Maniotis, 2014)

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The book “The Educator’s Guide to Texas School Law” explores different topics addressing laws affecting public school districts.  One of the legal issues addressed in the book is confidentiality.  The book mentions how counselors are required by law to share student’s counseling records to parents, leading to the ethical dilemma of confidentiality.  The book also mentions the Family Education and Privacy Act, which refer to disclosing student’s confidential information to other people other than the student’s parents.  Under the FERPA, school counselors may share information to administration and staff only for educational interest.  The book also mentions that school counselors may be sued for not disclosing student’s information in certain situations (Walsh, Kemere, Maniotis, 2014).

The second legal issue addressed in the “The Educator’s Guide to Texas School Law” book is child abuse.  The book explains how anyone that suspects that a child is being abuse has the responsibility to report it, but certain professionals must make the report within 48 hours.  According to the Texas Family Code, the term “professional” includes anyone licensed or certified by the state, including certified teachers, counselors, and administrators.  If a professional fails to report child abuse, they may face criminal liability (Walsh, Kemere, Maniotis, 2014).

References

Walsh, J., Kemerer, F. R., & Maniotis, L. (2014). The educators guide to Texas school law (8th ed.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

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Legal and Ethical Issue that Interest me is: Bullying

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Legal and Ethical Issue that Interest me is: Bullying

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After exploring different legal and ethical issues in the field of guidance and counseling, the topic that interested me the most was bullying.  Counselors have the responsibility to establish a positive school culture including a prompt response to bullying.  Unfortunately, school bullying is increasing every year, and in many cases victims do not reach out for help.  I choose this topic because as a future counselor it will be my ethical and legal responsibility to stop bullying, and I would like to learn more about this issue affecting every school in the U.S.

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Angelo State University’s Academic Resource about Bullying

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Angelo State University’s Academic Resource about Bullying

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An academic resource I found on the ASU Library website was an article by Austin, Reynolds, and Barnes (2016) published by the Reading Improvement Journal.  This article focuses on the implementation of intervention programs to address bullying in schools.

References

Austin, S. M., Reynolds, G. P., & Barnes, S. L. (2016). School leadership and counselors
working together towards address bullying. Reading Improvement, 53(4), 188-194. Retrieved from https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=120237576&site=eds-live

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Angelo State University - Library Online Resources

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Unauthorized use is prohibited; Usage may be subject to security testing and monitoring; Misuse is subject to criminal prosecution; No expectation of privacy except as otherwise provided by applicable privacy laws.

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Summary and Legal and Ethical Implications of Bullying

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Summary and Legal and Ethical Implications of Bullying

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Bullying in schools is a serious problem that is rapidly increasing in the U.S.  School counselors play an important role by helping promote a positive school culture with zero tolerance to bullying.  The publication by Austin, Reynolds, and Barnes (2016) mentions that approximately one third of high school students are physically bullied, while over one half of high school students are verbally bullied.  School bullying is a critical topic affecting schools because reports of deaths resulting from bullying are rapidly increasing.  Federal, state, and local laws have been implemented to address bullying in schools (Austin et al., 2016).  The American School Counselor Association Ethical Standards for School Counselors state that counselors are responsible for reporting all acts of bullying to administration as federal, state, and school policies require school personnel to intervene and prevent bullying behaviors in schools (ASCA, 2016).

School counselor’s role is vital to identify and address student bullying and harassment behaviors.  By law and by ethical standards, school counselors have the responsibility to promptly investigate and take action towards bullying; furthermore, school counselors and school personnel should create intervention strategies to promote a positive school culture.  If a school does not address bullying that was known or that school personnel should have known, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights can deny federal funds (Austin et al., 2016).  According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2018) bullying can be prevented if students understand the seriousness of bullying.  Schools should implement campaigns against bullying by informing and encouraging students to participate in activities they love to do.  School personnel should model how to treat others by showing kindness and respect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018).

School counselors face with many bullying scenarios such as when new students have trouble fitting in and other students make fun of them.  Another example is when students make fun of other students because of their race, religion, gender, national origin, or disabilities.  In this case the bullying behavior is based on unlawful discrimination and schools can be held liable if they do not take action to prevent discrimination (Austin et al., 2016).  Repeated unwanted and aggressive behavior that attacks physically, verbally, and emotionally students is considered bullying (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018).  School counselors are responsible by law and the ethics of their profession to create intervention plans to address bullying in schools.  As a future counselor, I will work vigilantly with school administration, teachers, and staff to help promote a positive school environment by educating students about bullying and the consequences of bullying, by providing professional development to staff to help them understand the seriousness of bullying in schools across the U.S., and by providing responsive counseling services for all students.

References

American School Counselor Association. (2016). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/

Austin, S. M., Reynolds, G. P., & Barnes, S. L. (2016). School leadership and counselors
working together towards address bullying. Reading Improvement, 53(4), 188-194.  Retrieved from https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=120237576&site=eds-live

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). Stop bullying. Retrieved from https://www.stopbullying.gov

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An online resource I found was the Stop Bullying website, which offers different resources and prevention procedures to address bullying.  The Stop Bullying website includes vital information necessary to prevent bullying in schools.

References

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). Stop bullying. Retrieved from https://www.stopbullying.gov

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Stop Bullying on the Spot

When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying behavior they send the message that it is not acceptable. Research shows this can stop bullying behavior over time.

Parents, school staff, and other adults in the community can help kids prevent bullying by talking about it, building a safe school environment, and creating a community-wide bullying prevention strategy.

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StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on bullying, cyberbullying, prevention and response.