Guidance counselors should be known as the friendly faces who help students. You can see most of them roaming the halls, greeting students, and sitting in their offices. We’ve all had experiences with them, good or bad. While some counselors are helpful and supportive, I believe there are too many who aren’t. Perhaps this is due to sub-par training or some other circumstance, but either way, it is an issue that should be addressed.

Some guidance counselors do an astounding job at going above and beyond to help students. They are supportive, caring, will listen to what you have to say, and are extremely considerate to anyone who approaches them. 

When I needed help with course selections and brought it up with my counselor, she happily responded with all the possible options for courses and kept in touch with me about courses. 

Unfortunately, there are other guidance counselors that do nothing about problems you take the time to express, which tarnishes the reputation of guidance counselors as a whole. 

For example, a friend of mine reported a serious issue that should have warranted action to a guidance counselor at their school. The guidance counselor brushed them off, saying, “If there’s no proof, there’s nothing that can be done.”  Eventually, the friend did find help, but if the guidance counselor had at least made an attempt to console and help them, the problem could have been resolved faster. Another friend of mine had a different guidance counselor who they reported a threat to. The guidance counselor apparently did nothing. 

It is important to recognize counseling issues so that future guidance counselors can be better trained to help students, resulting in more trust from student to counselor. Issues that aren’t brought up lead to ignorance, and by educating others on this issue, something can be done. Also, if we experience these problems, maybe we can help future generations by improving guidance counseling. 

This article is meant to educate on the room for improvement in school counseling departments. This does not mean all guidance counselors are bad. Please do not form an opinion of a guidance counselor until getting to know them or assume all guidance counselors do nothing about problems. This article does not mean to call out or target guidance counselors. All testimonies from friends are real and are kept anonymous in order to protect identity.

 

written by Prajanya Prabakaran

 

Image Credits: [Photograph]. University of Denver. https://morgridge.du.edu/mean-school-counselor/