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Upon completion of my Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling and School Counselor certification, I hope to obtain a position as an elementary school counselor.

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*According to Jessica Trahan, School Counselor

1.  Confidentiality
2.  Texas counseling laws, ex. House Bill 5 and college readiness
3.  CPS Reporting & Documentation
4.  Crisis Intervention
5.  Case notes vs. education type files

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A new law in Pennsylvania requires secondary and post-secondary institutions to put into place anti-hazing reporting policies and procedures. Also added is the use of a felony charge if serious injury or death results.

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Dive Brief:

Pennsylvania on Friday became the 45th U.S. state with anti-hazing laws on the books when Governor Tom Wolf signed into law a bill requiring secondary and post-secondary institutions to have anti-hazing and reporting policies and procedures in place, CNN reported.

The Timothy J. Piazza Anti Hazing Law is named for a Penn State University student who died in 2017 as a result of injuries sustained from falls after drinking excessively at a fraternity pledge event. The law strengthens penalties that could include fines, withholding diplomas and expulsion.

The law also adds a felony charge for aggravated hazing if serious injury or death result, making the state one of 12 to do so. Since 2005, there have been more than 77 deaths related to fraternity activities nationwide.

Dive Insight:

There also has been some movement apart from legal remedies to reform behavior at fraternity events.

The Piazza family is among the parents of hazing victims who are working together on the issue. The families of 16 students who died in fraternity hazing incidents gathered in February to provide each other support and initiate a national anti-hazing campaign that began this fall.

In addition, presidents of the three universities where deaths occurred last year are collaborating to make Greek life safer, including through the creation of a national scorecard to evaluate conduct among these groups. They discussed the scorecard concept in April at a conference on the topic that brought together leaders from 31 colleges and universities.

The presidents agree on the viability of Greek life on campus, but realized many college leaders need guidance on how to improve issues such as behavior, accountability and communication, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

At least two organizations specifically address the issue in higher education. HazingPrevention.org is a nonprofit tracking state legislation on hazing that provides a variety of related resources, including an interactive map showing what states have hazing laws. Stop Hazing Now offers data about incidents and trends and provides educational material.

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Pennsylvania becomes 45th state with an anti-hazing law

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Pennsylvania on Friday became the 45th U.S. state with anti-hazing laws on the books when Governor Tom Wolf signed into law a bill requiring secondary and post-secondary institutions to have anti-hazing and reporting policies and procedures in place, CNN reported. The Timothy J.

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Education Dive: Harvard University Goes to Trial  

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Education Dive: Harvard University Goes to Trial  

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Harvard University goes to trial to determine whether it discriminates against Asian Americans.  It has been alleged that the university set quotas for acceptance of Asian Americans.

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Dive Brief:

Harvard University's holistic admissions policies will go under the microscope beginning today in Boston as a trial to determine whether it discriminates against Asian-American students gets underway .

Plaintiffs allege the university set quotas for Asian-American students and ranked them lower on personal criteria, despite having higher test scores. They are seeking to ban consideration of race in Harvard's admissions, which the university says would nearly halve the number of students from underrepresented minority groups, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The case will likely reach the Supreme Court, which has upheld affirmative action in higher education in a series of landmark decisions since 1978. It is expected to draw back the curtain on other factors, too, such as student-athlete and legacy admissions.

Dive Insight:

The lawsuit against Harvard is brought by the same conservative strategist who queued up the last Supreme Court challenge against affirmative action in higher education. (The group, Students for Fair Admissions, is also behind an affirmative action lawsuit against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)

In 2016, the court again heard the case of Abigail Fisher, a white woman challenging her rejection from the University of Texas at Austin, which used race-conscious admissions for students not admitted via the state's Top Ten Percent Plan. The court ruled in favor of UT at Austin, saying the university proved racial diversity was imperative to the educational experience and that other race-neutral alternatives weren't sufficient.

Harvard will face similar scrutiny, but at a time when the federal government wants to get rid of the policy. This summer, the Trump administration rolled back Obama-era guidance encouraging the use of race in admissions, with the required scrutiny. Several colleges have pushed back on the move. The administration is also reviewing claims of discrimination against Asian-American students by Harvard, which the Obama administration previously dismissed, and is investigating similar allegations against Yale University. Plus, with Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh now on the bench, the Supreme Court has a conservative majority that's likely to accept a challenge to affirmative action.

In August, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in support of plaintiffs in the Harvard case, saying the university hasn't done enough to explain how and why it is considering race. Meanwhile, several top university presidents and scholars and social scientists have filed briefs with the court on behalf of Harvard.

A significant share of highly selective colleges and universities consider race as part of their admissions criteria. In 2015, the American Council on Education (ACE) polled 338 nonprofit four-year colleges and found that six in 10 colleges admitting fewer than 40 percent of applicants consider race as a factor in admissions. With the case against Harvard underway and others like it in the pipeline, those colleges should document their processes and be ready to explain, legal scholars say.

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Harvard affirmative action trial begins today in Boston

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Harvard University's holistic admissions policies will go under the microscope beginning today in Boston as a trial to determine whether it discriminates against Asian-American students gets underway . Plaintiffs allege the university set quotas for Asian-American students and ranked them lower on personal criteria, despite having higher test scores.

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Confidentiality is crucially important to school counselors because it helps to ensure trust between the students and the counselors.  It is important to form relationships with the students, as the students will not open up with the counselor if they do not trust them.  However, there are some exceptions to confidentiality in a school setting, and it is vital that a school counselor know the legal and ethical guidelines in which they need to operate.

Roman v. Appleby, a suit in 1983, brought parents against a school counselor, proving that the constitutional rights of parents, children, teachers, and administrators all compete (Isaacs, 1999).  School counselors struggle with “the challenge of balancing the rights of minor clients for confidentiality with the legitimate rights and concerns of others and a counselor’s responsibility to act in a minor child’s best interest” (Isaacs, 1999, para. 2).  School counselors are ethically required to break confidentiality if the student engages in behavior that may put him or others in danger.  Additionally, they can break confidentiality if they are subpoenaed by the court to participate in legal proceedings (Confidentiality guidelines for school counselors, n.d.).

While confidentiality is one of the main ethical concerns for school counselors, it is not legal privilege.  Legal privilege is given to licensed counselors, but since school counselors are certified, legal privilege does not apply.  Confidentiality is an ethical term, which is regarded as a promise to respect clients’ privacy (Confidentiality guidelines for school counselors, n.d.).

There are multiple scenarios that may emerge in which a future school counselor will have to choose whether or not to break confidentiality.  Counselors might view such instances as serious drug use, abortion, suicide intent, robbery, rape, self-harm, sex with multiple partners as occasions when confidentiality should be broken.  With younger children, suspicion of abuse (physical, mental, sexual), theft, and threat to others would warrant a confidentiality breach (Isaacs, 1999).

References

Isaacs, M. L. (1999). School
counselors and confidentiality:
Factors affecting professional
choices. Professional School
Counseling,2(4).

Confidentiality guidelines for school
counselors. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.school-counseling-
zone.com/confidentiality.html

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I chose the topic of confidentiality because it is such a vital part of a school counselor's responsibility. Following confidentiality guidelines is essential to maintaining ethical practices.

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School counselors and confidentiality:  Factors affecting professional choices

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School counselors and confidentiality:  Factors affecting professional choices

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academic resource:

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internet resource:

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Confidentiality Guidelines

Confidentiality is one of the main ethical considerations for school counselors. How do we maintain students' trust, but still do what we can to keep students safe and parents informed? How do laws and ethics co-exist? Here are some basic questions and answers on this topic for school counselors.

1. What exactly is confidentiality, and how is it different from legal privilege?

I like the definition given in a 2002 article in the Journal of Professional School Counseling:

"Confidentiality is a professional's promise or contract to respect clients' privacy by not disclosing anything revealed during counseling, except under agreed upon conditions."

Legal privilege is different. While confidentiality in school counseling is an ethical term, legal privilege is (obviously) a legal term. Whenever there's a struggle between ethics and the law, the law always prevails. Legal privilege is given to attorneys, doctors, and licensed professional counselors, among others. But in many states, school counselors are certified rather than licensed, so legal privilege doesn't apply.

2. Does that mean there's really no such thing as confidentiality for minor students? How does this differ for minors, parents of minors, and adults in general?

3. So a school counselor can't see a minor student without parental consent?

4. Who is actually the school counselor's "client?" The minor student, or the parents?

Even with the legal issues involved, from an ethical standpoint, the school counselor's client is the student. This is one of the first things discussed in the Ethical Standards for School Counselors (2004). The parents' needs are considered, but the needs of the students come first, above all others.

Here's another excerpt from the same JPSC article: "In attempting to weigh their legal and ethical obligations, it is helpful for school counselors to clearly identify those they consider to be "clients."

5. What are the limits of confidentiality for school counselors?

Ethically, school counselors are required to take appropriate action if students engage in behavior that presents clear and imminent danger to themselves and others. Legally, they're required to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect, and they're also required to respond to subpoenas and participate in other legal proceedings dictated by the courts.

6. How can I be proactive and prevent problems with confidentiality?

The best way to prevent problems is to provide the student and the parents with information about confidentiality before the school year begins, and keep the information visible and available at all times.

7. How do I prepare a student if I need to reveal information?

When you do encounter a situation where you need to notify a parent, CPS, your administrator, or someone else, here are some suggestions, and things to keep in mind:

- If you feel it necessary to share confidential information, let the student know ahead of time that you plan to do it, and what you plan to say.

- Sometimes it's easier than you think it will be. If the issue is something borderline, meaning that you may need to call a parent, but you aren't sure yet, ask the student, "Do you mind if I talk with one of your parents about that?" Sometimes students don't mind at all, and will say, "Go ahead - it's fine with me."

- Assure parents from the beginning, whether in writing or directly, that you will let them know if their students are in harm's way. Most often, that's what parents really want to know.

- If you need to reveal information to parents, encourage the student to make the call from your office (you dial, and be sure you're actually talking with the parent, then hand the phone over to the student or put the call on speaker phone), to be present for the call, or to meet with you and the parents together.

- If you're still unsure about what to do, consult, consult, and consult. Then take the action you think is best, and document everything, including your consultation conversations and conversations with parents.

8. What does a school counseling confidentiality policy look like?

Click on the PDF version of this article below to find samples of:

- A signature sheet you could have students sign when they meet you individually for the first time, or a statement that could be put into a student handbook, or on the guidance web page for your school (minus the signature lines on the web page).

Here's the link for the PDF version of this article, Confidentiality Guidelines For School Counselors, and here's the link to the longer version, which includes the very detailed (and helpful) article from the Journal of Professional School Counseling, Confidentiality Guidelines For School Counselors -- Longer Version.

Hope these are helpful!

Go to the next page, "Documentation Tips and Guidelines."

Return to the School Counseling Zone Home Page

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Confidentiality Guidelines For School Counselors

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Confidentiality is one of the main ethical considerations for school counselors. How do we maintain students' trust, but still do what we can to keep students safe and parents informed? How do laws and ethics co-exist? Here are some basic questions and answers on this topic for school counselors. 1.