Changing Lives, Building Futures

The Expanded Role of School Counselors

FACT SHEET

The role of school counselors is expanding.  Today, counselors are spending more time addressing students’ personal and social issues, which can become barriers to learning.  Studies show that school counselors can effectively help combat these barriers to ensure students’ academic success and personal growth.

In addition to the drive to make good grades, students today face a host of social and personal challenges.  These challenges can often become barriers to a student’s learning and academic achievement.

·        Research shows nearly one in three girls and one in four boys report being highly stressed.[1]

·        Over 70 percent of high school professionals surveyed identified alcohol and illegal drugs on campus as a problem.[2]

·        More than half of sixth graders report peer pressure to drink beer, wine or liquor.  One of every three sixth graders say they feel pressured to use marijuana.[3]

·        In 2003, one-third (33 percent) of high school students reported getting into one or more physical fights, and approximately one out of six (17.1 percent) high school students had carried a weapon in the past month.[4]

·        Suicides among young people nationwide have increased dramatically in recent years. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-to-24-year-olds, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5-to-14-year-olds.[5]

·        Studies show that between 15 to 25 percent of students are bullied with some to moderate frequency.[6]  Stress of being bullied can interfere with students’ engagement and learning in school.[7]

·        A national survey shows that among students nationwide, 5.4 percent had not gone to school on one or more days in the past month because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school.[8]

·        Among children ages 9 to 12, close to a third (31 percent) reported that they are generally “worried a lot” and 47 percent had insomnia.[9]

·        Studies indicate that 15 to 43 percent of girls and 14 to 43 percent of boys have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime.  Of those children and adolescents who have experienced a trauma, 3 to 15 percent of girls and 1 to 6 percent of boys could be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.[10]

School Counselors are spending more time addressing students’ issues beyond the classroom.  Research shows school counselors or school counseling programs are effective in helping students achieve overall.

·        School counselors spend more than half of their time addressing students’ mental health issues.[11]

·        Studies on high school attrition indicate that preventive counseling, occurring before students are in crisis, reduces the risk of these students dropping out later.[12]

·        Children who are experiencing family problems report being helped by school counselors.  Research shows that school counselors’ programs of role playing, drawing, peer discussions, and other activities had a positive effect on adolescents from divorced families self-concept and locus of control. [13]

·        Research indicates that school counselors have proven effective in preventing students from committing suicide.[14]

·        Studies show that school counseling programs can use their intervention strategies to teach children to behave in less aggressive and hostile ways.[15]

·        School counselors were effective in reducing victimization by assisting victimized children, reducing bullying behaviors and modifying the school climate and structure.[16]

·        In grades 3 through 5, all students who had worked on relaxation techniques with the school counselor reported decreased feelings of test anxiety and reported less stress and worry about future testing situations. [17]

Parents can help ensure their child’s success and well-being by communicating with the school counselor regularly.  The American School Counselor Association encourages parents to contact the counselor at least three times every school year.

·        Almost 30 percent of parents reported initiating two to four contacts with their child’s school counselor during the previous school year.  However, a quarter of surveyed parents reported having no contact and 13 percent reported initiating only one contact during the same period.[18]

·        School counselors can help connect the family as a whole to the educational process.[19]

·        More than two-third (68 percent) of parents surveyed “completely agreed” or “agreed” that the school counselor has an important role to play in their children’s school experience.[20]