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The topic of confidentiality is important because it is a genuine concern affecting educators at every school level.  Counselors, especially, are in a position of trust and the effectiveness of their counseling sessions and interactions with students depends on their ability to safeguard privacy and maintain confidentiality.  Some of the legal and ethical issues mentioned in these two articles related to confidentiality include teen pregnancy and protecting written records of student confidential information.  Some situations in my future work as a counselor that relate to confidentiality include keeping up-to-date with local and state laws, training school staff on the matter, using the ASCA Ethical Decision-Making Model when presented with a difficult dilemma regarding student confidentiality, and following proper school and district confidentiality procedures.

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The article School Counselors and Nurses: Collaborative Best Practices for Maintaining Confidentiality with Pregnant Adolescents highlights the importance of collaboration between school counselors and school nurses to address the issue of confidentiality and teen pregnancy.  School counselors should become familiar with the position statement regarding pregnant students offered by The National Association of Nurses to learn more about the limitations of the school nurse.  Grubbs et al. (2016) explains the teens interviewed in this study defined confidentiality as anything being disclosed in the room stays in the room.  Although this is true, the authors explain there are limitations due to the age of the students and this information should be disclosed to them.  Additionally, counselors must consider the laws of their state regarding sexual behaviors when considering the ages of the persons involved with the pregnancy.

Grubbs et al. (2016) write about the case of a 15-year-old girl who informed the school counselor she was pregnant by her 13-year-old boyfriend.  The school counselor immediately called the school nurse using a previously agreed upon phrase that only the two understood as code for the current situation.  The school nurse was able to prepare with adequate resources before entering the room and becoming a part of the conversation.  She helped answer questions the teen had about her health and the nurse then gave her options about how she would prefer that her parents be informed. The student chose to have her parents be informed in person and for the nurse to break the news to her parents.  Although the counselor was in the room, she was there only for emotional support for the student and parents and therefore, was not the adult violating the confidentiality of the conversation.  Grubbs et al. (2016) suggests using a similar counselor-nurse protocol when faced with similar situations.

Resource

Grubbs, L., Muro, J. H., & Clements, K.  (2016).  School counselors and nurses: Collaborative best practices for maintaining confidentiality with pregnant adolescents.  The Practitioner Scholar: Journal of Counseling and Professional Psychology, (5), 20-31.

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Journal of Counseling and Professional Psychology

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Journal of Counseling and Professional Psychology

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https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=115162657&site=eds-live

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Interview with Adriana Lopez, Counselor at Pace High School in the Brownsville Independent School District

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Interview with Adriana Lopez, Counselor at Pace High School in the Brownsville Independent School District

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#1 Counselors are required to present the following topics to their school staff:

Conflict Resolution, Bullying Prevention, and Handling Outcries by covering proper identification and procedures for reporting incidents.

#2 Counselors stay up to date with current legal issues impacting their field by participating in staff development courses provided by the school district at the beginning and throughout the school year.

#3 In order to stay in compliance with state regulations, academic counselors must review IEPs of students in special education to ensure students are enrolled in the correct classes.

#4 A compliance issue that needs to be regularly monitored is the academic progress of at-risk students.  To help prevent dropout, counselors must monitor student at-risk reports.  These reports include information on academic performance in core areas and other at-risk indicators to help identify and service students who are in danger of not graduating.

#5 As counselors establish relationships with students, the biggest concern is keeping confidentiality as a legal and ethical responsibility.  What worries Adriana is when students confide in her that they are pregnant because although she knows the information should be contained within the student-counselor relationship, she feels the moral responsibility of informing the student’s parents, so the student can get the medical care she needs.

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https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016.pdf

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ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors

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ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors

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The ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors publication addresses a counselor’s responsibility to maintain certain ethical behaviors by explicitly explaining each behavior.  According to the document, its purpose is to define and inform the public of the behavior expectation of school counselors and serve as a go-to guide by providing support for all stakeholders regarding the responsibilities of school counselors (2016).  The publication is broken down into sections regarding the counselor responsibilities to students (A), parents and guardians (B1), responsibilities to the school (B2), and responsibilities to self (B3), along with the school counselor supervisor responsibilities for supporting counselors in their positions (C), field/intern supervisors (D), maintenance of standards (E), and a guide for ethical decision making (F).

Resource
ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors.  (2016).  Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016.pdf

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Part of a school counselor’s obligation to students includes abiding by the proper identification and reporting procedures for students who are victims of bullying, harassment, and child abuse.  Most importantly, counselors must be knowledgeable and keep up to date with state laws and local procedures for reporting child abuse.  Also, counselors must become experts at identifying potential victims of abuse by being attentive to warning signs and train school staff at recognizing these signs and reporting procedures.  Counselors have the legal responsibility of reporting suspected incidents of child abuse and neglect to the authorities while protecting the privacy of the student.  Finally, counselors must guide or provide intervention services for victims of abuse and neglect.

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Section A, which covers school counselors’ obligations to students, addresses the topic of confidentiality (A.2).  Counselors must promote awareness of student confidentiality and properly train school staff on the proper protocol for disclosing student information.  When providing counseling services, counselors must inform students of the conditions they are being serviced under and provide informed consent about the limits of confidentiality.  In cases where informed consent is not possible, counselors can made decisions on behalf of students if it’s in the best interest of the student.  Although the school counselor’s primary obligation for keeping confidentiality is to the students, they must balance this understanding with a parent’s legal rights.

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Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

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Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

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http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104147/chapters/Student-Threats-and-Violence-in-Schools.aspx

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Chapter 6. Student Threats and Violence in Schools

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Chapter 6. Student Threats and Violence in Schools

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This page provided a review of Chapter 6 from the book Bullying and Harassment: A Legal Guide for Educators.  Chapter 6 focuses on student threats and violence in schools and identifies the different types of threats as well as the legal responsibilities of school stakeholders in addressing these behaviors.

Resource
Conn, K.  (2004).  Chapter 6.  student threats and harassment in schools.  Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104147/chapters/Student-Threats-and-Violence-in-Schools.aspx

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Only a few states have properly defined a school counselor’s responsibility regarding reporting suspected student suicides.  However, the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) recognizes the ethical and moral obligation of school counselors is to report students who are suspected of harming themselves or others to parents/guardians, administrators, and/or the authorities.

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One of the topics discussed in this page is violent threats made by students and delivered in different forms such as through email, song lyrics, poetry, and art and explores the legal and ethical responsibilities of school counselors by presenting a variety of court cases.  In all of these court cases, the plaintiffs, which are usually the parents or guardians of the victims, have sued either counselors or other school administrators for negligence and failing to report incidents where students have threatened to hurt others or themselves.

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Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

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Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

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http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_197604_deblassie.pdf

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DeBLASSIE, R. R. (1976).  The counselor, privileged communication, and the law.  Educational Leadership, 522-524

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Although the Privileged Communication article was published in 1976 and laws and regulations are constantly changing, it provides a detailed description of confidentiality in counseling.  DeBLASSIE (1976) suggests the effectiveness of counseling depends on both maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of students and recording information during counseling sessions. However, recording private information raises the issue of keeping confidential documents safe.  Counselors are responsible for safeguarding all types of information regarding conversations with counselees and should not promise confidentiality if they are not certain they can provide it.  According to DeBLASSIE (1976), school counselors do not have privileged communication and are subject to legal action if they disclose information damaging in nature.  DeBLASSIE (1976) refers to privileged communication as “the right of clients to prevent professional persons from revealing in legal proceedings any information given in confidence as a result of the professional relationship” (p.523).  Students should not be expected to confide in counselors without being assured that their confidentiality is being kept safe, and before counselors give students a promise of confidentiality, they should become aware of the confidentiality and privileged communication laws in their state (DeBLASSIE, 1976).
Resource
DeBLASSIE, R. R. (1976).  The counselor, privileged communication, and the law.  Educational Leadership, 522-524

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Grubbs, L., Muro, J. H., & Clements, K.  (2016).  School counselors and nurses: Collaborative best practices for maintaining confidentiality with pregnant adolescents.  The Practitioner Scholar: Journal of Counseling and Professional Psychology, ( 5), 20-31.

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After reading about several legal and ethical issues impacting the role of the school counselor, I selected the topic of student confidentiality.  In speaking with Adriana, the high school counselor I interviewed for Exploration Option 1, student confidentiality is a topic counselors struggle with regularly and find difficulty balancing when information should be disclosed and when it should be contained.  Also, I found most of the legal and ethical issues I learned about in Exploration Option 2, are somehow connected to student confidentiality.

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After completing a Master's Degree in Guidance and Counseling, I plan to serve students as a high counselor in our local school district. I anticipate graduating in the Spring of 2020.

Image retrieved from ccisd.net