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I have been an educator for the past eighteen years. I have worked as a World Geography and Spanish teacher, an ESL teacher, and currently as a senior English teacher and Credit Retrieval Specialist working with At-Risk students. I will graduate from Angelo State University earning my MEd in the Guidance and Counseling program in the Spring of 2019. I will seek a school counselor position at the secondary level. I sincerely hope to guide graduating seniors toward a more attainable path to self-sustainability with ease, providing resources and support for them.

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Top 5 Legal and Ethical Discussion Topics in High School Counseling

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Top 5 Legal and Ethical Discussion Topics in High School Counseling

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I have a close rapport with my high school campus counseling department as we work closely together to support our At-Risk population and they provided a wealth of support during my practicum last Spring semester. With so many tasks to complete with all four class levels, and recommendation letters to write before scholar- ship deadlines, I asked each of my colleagues one of the 8 questions.
#1 High school counselor Mrs. Holder shared a situation where a student had an abortion without her parents' knowledge who happen to be Vietnamese and very conservative. She feared for her life if her parents found out and the student's sister went to court to file for a document allowing the student to get an abortion without her parents' knowledge. Mrs. Holder had to consult with her Head Counselor and call the district central office. The  district's attorney reviewed the documents and confirmed in this particular case, the counselor did not have to notify the parents that their underage daughter had an abortion. The student did not miss a day of school and the day she had the abortion was very hard physically for the student (K. Holder, October 26, 2018, personal communication).
#2 Ms. Ramos explicitly stated Texas Professional School Counselors are governed by the ASCA and TCA Code of Ethics. Therefore, she shares how infrequently schools counselors are faced with any legal or ethical dilemmas when following her services within these guidelines. Any time there's a sense of doubt or pondering between legal or ethical implications, the best practice is to CONSULT, CONSULT, CONSULT with colleagues, supervisor and district personnel. She shared a situation about a student with suicidal ideations over a same-sex relationship that ended. Being caught between the legal duty of reporting harm to self and ethical implications of possibly outing the student's sexual preference to their parents, Ms. Ramos said one side went with the other. Upon consulting quickly with colleagues and the district's guidance team, Ms. Ramos carried out her duty to alert parents of their child's desire to harm self and call them in allowing student to come forth about their sexual preference on their own with a counselor present. School counselors know that working with minor confidentiality is limited but their duty is to to also work to preserve the student/ parent/counselor relationship (L. Ramos, October 24, 2018, personal communication).
#3 According to Mr. Matta, with Texas recently passing David's Law, it has created a change in how school systems address student conflict and has also created change in district policies and procedures. School counselors must serve as impartial, non-reporting resources for interpersonal conflicts and discord involving two or more students, including accusations and bullying (O. Matta, October 25, 2018, personal communication).
#4 Mrs. Appleby shared how school counselors must maintain compliance and monitor regularly the FERPA laws and Limits of Confidentiality regarding what needs to be shared with parents , other helping professionals and/or school officials. Additionally, situations involving harm to self/ others, sexual contact/ pregnancy, threats to school safety, and any information requested by a valid subpoena, must be attended to (J.Appleby, personal communication, October 26,2018).
#5 According to Mr. Clarke, the constant need for mindful regard for students' rights via FERPA and other confidential information when consulting with other school personnel or informing others on a need-to-know basis. Often times confidential information is important for others to know and use in their decision- making and planning, but cannot be shared, or shared on a very limited basis-which limits educational stakeholders' ability to completely serve a student in a comprehensive fashion (D. Clarke, personal communication, October 26, 2018).

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National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) 2 Legal and Ethical Issues

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National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) 2 Legal and Ethical Issues

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Issue 1
Founder and president of eReadia, Will Delamater, wrote an article  regarding the eReadia organization partnering up with NASPA to share how an app was created in response to several states passing laws,  responding to high profile suicide cases on college campuses. The app is called Just In Case. Family members and legislators gave the attention to the suicide crisis which now requires all educational stakeholders and students to have mental health support at their fingertips. "The Just in Case app is designed to support all of these legislative initiatives by providing campus-specific mental health crisis support information and action steps to students on their smartphones. Because each Just in Case app is campus-specific, mandates for publication of resources available to students can be met through the app. The app can be adapted to provide support for faculty and staff, as well, by reinforcing training sessions and providing guidelines for responding to students that users can access when away from office or computer" (Delamater 2015). The ethical implications are great in that middle and high school campuses could customize the app to their district mandates all the while provide a support resource at the fingertips of students and personnel to act immediately.
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Issue 2
Is it the ethical obligation of school counselors to step in and provide additional support for low-income students to receive more guidance in post-secondary preparation than their affluent counterparts? In the article, Balancing Work and Learning: Implications for Low-Income Students, authors Anthony P. Carnevale and Nicole Smith, point out that stronger connections between community employers and K-12 student populations to ensure an informed future labor force. Offering financial education to grades as early as middle school grades may prevent individuals from low-income backgrounds to accrue so much debt and student loans when pursuing a college education. Finally, strengthening connections between education and work can better prepare student and the future labor force (Carnevale and Smith, 2018). The implications ethically are great and an issue that deserves attention. Educational professionals are the at the forefront with those students who are most at-risk and often least likely to succeed. It is a civic duty to guide our future labor force in an informed and  responsible fashion.

References
Carnevale, A. and Smith, N. (2018)Balancing work and learning: implications for low- income students. Center on Education and the Workforce. Georgetown University. Retrieved from https://1gyhoq479ufd3yna29x7ubjn-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/Low-Income-Working-Learners-FR.pdf
Delamater, W. (November 2015). Just in Case App helps colleges respond to legislative mandates for suicide prevention outreach. Retrieved from https://www.naspa.org/about/blog/just-in-case-app-helps-colleges-respond-to-legislative-mandates-for-suicide

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Article 1
When clerical and administrative tasks take over an already isolated position, many counselors face burnout  and risk failing to make time for keeping abreast on legal and ethical topics among the laws. Dealing adequately with confidentiality, abuse, suicide ideation, threats, bullying, among other serious scenarios, can take over daily dynamics.Strong clinical skills and knowledgeable awareness of legal and ethical outcomes for any actions taken or not taken are critical. The article points to areas in counseling where counselors, especially in supervisor roles, must be aware of legal and ethical topics and stay updated on the law. The article provides at the end, an anecdotal list of nine points to keep in mind for counselors to stay in compliance (Herlihy, Gray,and McCollum, 2002).
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Article 2
Counselors are faced with ethical and legal dilemmas daily pertaining to confidentiality, parent rights, establishing trust, all the while complying with the law. The topic of confidentiality can be a gray area not clearly defined for minors with counselors. Confidentiality is necessary when establishing counselor-student relationships, but support, good will and cooperation are also needed from support systems which include the student's family (Bodenhorn, 2016). Therefore, a delicate balance hangs in the air for school counselors when juggling issues of confidentiality and what's in the best interest of parental rights and maintaining trust with the student. Consulting colleagues when in doubt is essential to avoid making any legal mistakes that would cost them their license.

References
Bodenhorn, N. (December 2016). Exploratory study of common and challenging ethical dilemmas
experienced by professional
school counselors. Professional School Counseling. ASCA. 195-202.
Herlihy, B. and Gray, N. and McCollum, V. (2002). Legal and Ethical Issues in School Counselor Supervision. Professional School Counseling. vol 6. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234714178_Legal_and_Ethical_Issues_in_School_Counselor_Supervision

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Training on legal and ethical topics is one of those compliance issues that seem to be a must for school counselors. Continuing education, professional development, and training are ongoing compliance tasks counselors must stay up-to-date on. Nowadays, so many lawsuits seem to get filed based on confidentiality or measures failed to be taken in situations where parents become desperate to look for who is at fault when their child has faltered. More and more often, issues seem to arise regarding gender identity, same sex relationships, and mental health, including anxiety disorders, and  oppositional defiance disorder. Many of these issues would not even be found nor addressed in older editions of school law and educational compliance books. Maintaining regular trainings and staff development annually and throughout the school year is critical to the present-day school counselor.

Student rights, confidentiality, parent rights and maintaining a foundation of trust are a balance of interpersonal relationships a school counselor must maintain. I am finding how important it is to consult with colleagues and employ the advice from district counseling staff. Just as I learned from discussions with my campus' counseling staff, consult, research, discern, and use discretion often. There's nothing more important in the safety and best interest of students than to stay updated on the law and serve with intention