Depression, learning difficulties, autism, peer pressure, bullying are all common maladies that children face these days in varying degrees. People are now realising the importance of counselling for students. Although child counselling has been around since a long time and schools have been hiring psychologists and counsellors their scope was limited. They mostly stuck to providing career guidance and conducting aptitude tests. Although this is an important aspect of child psychology, the role of a counsellor is much more than that.
What is the role of a counsellor in a school?
With puberty hitting children earlier and the pressures of the education system mounting higher and higher, the scope of work for a counsellor in a school becomes wider. Recent events of suicides by school children prove how vulnerable our school children are. Today, we expect students to excel in multiple arenas. The motive of having multiple activities in a school is to give scope to each child to express themselves and not to confuse them. Most parents fail to understand this motive and pressurize the child. Plus, the existence of an array of activities outside of school does not make life easier for the child.
A school counsellor can make parents and the students realise to take school and its offerings in the right spirit. The counsellor can conduct sessions with the kids and parents on topics such as emotional intelligence, stress management, personality development, etc.
In St. Mary’s, the best English medium SSC school in Kalyan, we conduct many such workshops for our students and parents under the program – Project Humanitarian. This is a program done ‘for the students and by the students’ making it more effective.
Socio -emotional support for the child?
The recent event of suicide by Dr. Payal Tadvi makes us realise that even though a child, or a person is strong inside, certain outside forces can disturb the person. Hence it is important that a child has a strong and supportive environment even outside the school.
Bullying is the most harmful thing that a child can go through during school years as it leaves a lifelong impact on the child’s personality. Negative peer pressure is next. In both the cases the parent needs to be vigilant.
Some ways to ensure this are-
- Communicate with the child – Have frequent, open, non- judgemental, light conversations with your child. Very often even shy or secretive children open up with parents if they feel less threatened.
- Allow the child to decide – Often parents try to make decisions for their child thinking they are helping them, but this does more damage. They need to make mistakes and learn to make difficult decisions.
- Know their peers – Ensure that the child introduces you to their friends and vice versa. Build that trust with your child
- Be Alert- Watch out for changes in sleeping patterns, behaviours, appetite. Sometimes these are early warning signs when a child is going through an emotional turmoil.
Conclusion-
Even if the child doesn’t go through anything extreme, their changing physical appearances, mounting pressures to create their own identity etc. leave them confused and stressed. They seek attention and understanding. It is the responsibility of teachers, parents and the society to ensure that children are provided with good socio- emotional support to create an emotionally healthy generation.