Counselling psychology in schools : Why schools need counsellors
- Part 2 -

Nguljathang Haokip *

An Admission Counselling for admission at Ram Lal Paul Higher Secondary School, Imphal in June 2012 :: Pix - MSAD

Why School Children Need Counselling

Schools are places where there are trained young lives full of unfathomable potentials and in whose hands will rest the sceptre of our civilizations. With this knowledge in mind, schools ought to take seriously the nobility of their existence and therefore make available every possible tool for students' optimum all-round development.

It would be faulty to focus solely on academic and career growth without considering the personal, physical and emotional aspects of students' development because disruption of the slightest measure in any of these areas will inevitably affect academic performance. Counselling is one such vital tool from which both the school and school children can benefit tremendously.

Most parents today are limited only to the extent that they send their children to school, pay their fees and provide them with stationeries. Teachers can, to the farthest extend, deliver students with information from books and impart conventional knowledge. Physical instructors, if the school has one, can at best assist students to keep healthy and stay fit. School administrators at best keep students at bay within the bound of set rules and regulations. Religious mentors deal with the spiritual development of the students and see that they conduct themselves with healthy ethical and moral principles.

But what about the emotional and psychological needs of students? Do parents, teachers, physical instructors and religious mentors really have the intention, even time and motivation, to dig deep into the underlying causes of students? behaviour, say for instance, when a student withdraws from groups, stays isolated, is disinterested, and performs badly in exams? Or more importantly, do they possess the necessary skills to address such issues even when identifying the presence of a problem?

Issues School Children Face

Hidden deep inside and far away from the knowledge of others, a child may be going through a lot of tussle with the self. These struggles are for the most part internal and often escape the detection radar of most parents and teachers. Even the always-cheerful student may be troubled deep inside emotionally and in fact employing the smile? to conceal the hurt within. Unless the issues are let out and resolved early, they could obstruct the child?s development as he/she grows up.

School children are faced with issues ranging from emotional, behavioural, physical and psychological all which can hinder learning and obstruct their personal development. These areas are interrelated such that a problem in one sphere can affect the others. Whereas the behavioural and physical issues are more easily observed, the inner psychological and emotional problems remains for the most part undetected.

In due course, these inner conflicts do find their release and expressions in the form of behavioural glitches. The sad part in this is that we fail to imagine the possibility of our children going through inner struggles, and so we chastise them and exhort them to improve these outward expressions albeit with little effects. The result: Our actions pile upon them adding more pressure to their already troubled minds.

From the first time a child begins schooling, there is opened the gate to an entirely new world. The child has left the comfort and security of the home. For most children, this step could be a scary one and thus face trouble adapting. School can be very boring place for many. Hence, skipping school at the pretence of illness or other trivial excuses is commonly witnessed amongst many children.

A student may struggle getting along with teachers, friends and the school environment. Doing homework might be a dreadful exercise for many children. Whereas for some children the workloads at school could be too burdensome there could also be cases where a student does not feel challenged enough to perform better.

Some children peculiarly do not mingle with others. One can witness a child at school exhibiting no interest in activities; or for that matter, staying forlorn. Although this aspect of behaviour could be attributed to the child's introverted personality, withdrawal from friends and activities may not solely be due to the child's introversion as opposed to the more extroverted children. It could have deeper causes such as the child's low self-esteem or conflicts in the family. It could also be caused by a traumatic experience the child has gone through, such as abuse (physically, verbally or sexually) and death of a loved one. Or perhaps, the child could be facing bullies and therefore resorting to shy away from interactions.

Ragging and bullying are common occurrences in educational institutions. There are children who bully others without realizing the hurt they cause. Teachers could treat such behaviour with severe chastisements which could only incite further aggressive reactions. Again, in this case, the child's conduct could be triggered by often unnoticed causes.

These could include over-controlling parents or violence at home, or sibling rivalry; or perhaps, it could also be a result of over-indulging parents. Poor academic performance aggravated by dislike for subjects and activities, even teachers, could also find expressions in the form of physical assaults on others.

There may be a teenager who has failed in romance and therefore unable to pay attention to studies. Though this may appear to be very immature and irrational from an adult's perspective, it might seem like the world's end for young boys and girls. Often students facing such struggle will not find avenues to express their problem. It would seem as no one understands them. It could be made worse by the insensitive reactions of parents and teachers. This could be one of the causes why many teenagers resort to destructive conducts including intoxications to overcome their emotional problem.

Having said that, drug abuse and alcoholism among youth remains an ever-growing menace to our society. Schools are often the introductory level for children to become acquainted to such destructive elements. Children are introduced to drugs and alcohol mostly through peer pressure, curiosity and emotional disturbances. Many school hostels are avenues for learning the art of self-indulgence.

Pornography and unhealthy sex education often flood into the lives of children residing in hostels. A child's personality gets seriously tainted due to this. It also leads to the lack of essential social skills. Academic performance deteriorates and an entire future is held at stake by sensuous and self-indulgent fixations.

Career counselling is another important aspect of school counselling. Choosing one's career carefully remains increasingly important due to the widened scope in education. Many students are left groping in the dark, confused over what career to pursue after graduating from school. A notable percentage of students fall prey to parental coercion and teachers or peer influences in choosing their career.

Hence, it is not surprising to witness many youth announcing their decisions to change course of study after unsuccessful attempts at something they had previously pursued fervently. This is where career counselling becomes much necessary.

Students need to be informed about the vast career options available to them today. Career counselling can greatly benefit students by helping them identify their areas of interests early on with the available options and thereby pursue the same. This will leave very little room for disillusionments with their careers later.

Conclusion: A Pragmatic Appraisal

There is an innate longing to be listened to. People crave for more intimate level of interactions, one in which deeper issues of life are discussed, issues confronted with tenderness and unconditional acceptance, and where one's strength is brought out to triumph over life's problems. School children require as much of all these as does anybody. Their struggles must not be discounted at any cost no matter how immature and absurd they may appear. They need to be listened to and talked to in a non-judgmental discussion. Concealed issues must be brought out to surface and handled tactfully. Their behaviours require vigilant probing for underlying causes and motivations.

School teachers are neither trained nor qualified to handle many of the issues faced by children, and so are parents. The need is therefore called for a trained counsellor who must be also a qualified psychologist. With this in mind, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made it mandatory for schools under its directive to appoint a qualified counsellor.

Together with help from teachers and parents, a counsellor works with students exhibiting signs of emotional, psychological, physical and behavioural discrepancies. Wherever required, the counsellor makes necessary recommendations to teachers and parents concerning a child's all-round well-being which includes improved academic performance, enhanced personality and social skills, healthier relationships with peers, teachers and family, clarity of interests and goals, and decreased tendencies to drop out of school.

It would require us a great deal of deliberation to attain a level of awakening concerning the espousal of making counselling available in our schools. This article is a meagre attempt at that. It might still be a long way down the road to see our schools start employing student counsellors, but I hold the belief that every school truly committed to a noble purpose such as building the future, and not just mere business-oriented, profit-driven, will consider seriously the engagement of a counsellor under its management.

For now, a workable way in our context before we begin to see full- time school counsellors could be to educate teachers on the fundamental things about counselling psychology through seminars and training programmes so as to equip them with essential skills to deal more efficiently with students.

Concluded....