Make it "normal" to need help
One student said that schools should announce every week that there are
counsellors available to discuss personal issues such as violence. But as I write
this I wonder how many schools do have counsellors available. Students also
suggested that counsellors employed by the school board may not be the best
to address students' personal concerns. During my first focus group session at
an alternative school I asked what might support learning for students who
have been through violence. All the students who had spent time in one school
that has a full-time counsellor employed by a youth services organization said
we had to talk to that counsellor because he was what every school needs.
When we interviewed this counsellor we learned a lot about why this model
was judged so valuable by students:
...you'll find that they like the program that we offer here because it's
full-time. It's very high-profile, very high-accessible, and the
relationship the other programs or services have with the other schools
seem much more fragmented... (Dale R. Callender)
A full-time counsellor in each school would make an enormous difference to
students. The counsellor spoke about some of the specifics of how he works:
...[in] the traditional model of service you wait for the kids to come to
you, and you get out your paper and pad and "what's the problem,
how can I best help you?" And I don't think it's [necessarily the best
place to start] because before they actually get here, you have to create
an environment... the feeling that it's okay to go there. And I think
that was the main push of myself is taking that stigmatization away
from a counsellor or the role of seeking support. So part of the things
that I do is I involve myself in the school culture. I think that's critical.
Because I think when you're a counsellor but also play the other roles
that you're involved in, in terms of school, it also [puts] you in your
natural environment, where kids see you being non-judgmental, and
being - not yelling at them, you're not part of the school system. And
so as I'm involving myself in other activities they can also see that
because I'm the same person I am as a counsellor here as I am in one of
those things as the football coach. So they can see that and say... I feel
like this is going to be a safe place. (Dale R. Callender)
Students had a chance to get to know Dale Callender before they needed to go
to him as a counsellor. That he was already known and trusted seemed very
important to the students who spoke to me.
Just as students need supports, teachers also need counselling and other
supports. We must recognize that violence doesn't only happen to students and
may still be a present reality for teachers. The experience of violence may shape
how teachers respond. It is also important for teachers to have the opportunity to learn more about the strategies students use and the ways students have
learned to act through surviving violence. For example, one student talked
about how she had learned to lie instantly when she feels she is in trouble:
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