In the words of Julia Michaels "I got issues, but you got 'em too." Students across grade levels have different issues they are dealing with. As a licensed Math Teacher for grades six through twelve, I was used you to the typical issues that came with this age group. When I began my internship in my second placement at an elementary school, I was floored by the different cognitive, emotional, and social issues we dealt with.
Elementary Issues: The video that is linked in the following title, comes from a counselor for children. She talks about some of the issues that face elementary students. The issues she lists are as follows: parental abuse, poor social skills, rejection, learning disabilities, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. She goes into how these different issues affect the different students in the school setting. In the elementary school, counselors might help teachers deal with more behavioral issues because the students are not just going to school they learning how to go to school. An example of this is how kids at this age level have trouble leaving their parents and being dropped off.
This is an age group as a whole that I am less familiar with in hands on experience. However, I am looking forward to my second internship placement which is in an elementary school. In this placement I hope see how this age group experiences different issues and how a school counselor is meant to approach them.
Middle School Issues: The author in the article linked to this section lists the issues most middle schoolers deal with as the following: self-esteem, academic pressure, drama, temptation, depression, and rejection. This article when talking about temptation is referring to this age being where most students encounter the opportunity for drugs, alcohol, smoking and other dangerous behaviors. When we look at Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Development Stages and this period for adolescents, we can see that it is normal for the issues students face during this time in their life to revolve around their social sphere. They are trying to find their identity and role in their environment which is why self-esteem, drama, temptation, and rejection are such common issues.
As a counselor for this age group is would be so important to teach them the importance of healthy communities and friendships. In individual counseling and classroom guidance it is necessary to teach on knowing your worth and what are a fair expectations to have in a relationship. If these students do not understand what is healthy, how can we expect them to choose it?
High School Issues: In the article linked, the author lists the following as the most common and major challenges that high school students face: sleep deprivation, disorganization, feeling overwhelmed, unhealthy relationships, bullying, anxiety, and depression. High school students also fall in Erikson's stage where identity and role in their environment is vital. This is why unhealthy relationships and bullying is featured as issues in this age group.
In high school, a lot of students begin to experience more independence in regards to their schedule and involvements. This is where sleep deprivation, disorganization, and feeling overwhelmed may play a part. As students gain more electronic access, I saw time and time again where a student would fall asleep in class because they were up late. When I would ask "why," the most common answer was there were just on their phone or out with their friends. At this age students are more impulsive, so their decisions tend to be more immediately gratifying. And when faced with schoolwork or anything else, anything else can seem easier.
As a counselor it is key to at this stage to teach students how to cope and make good decisions. Counseling and teaching your students about cause-effect and future consequence can be really impactful in their decision making. Also informing you students as to the effects of copious technology use (anxiety and depression) can help them make more informed decisions.
It is important to understand and know the issues that effect each age group as a counselor. This helps us create more informed and impactful school-wide programs and interventions. Each age group comes with a different set of needs and it is our job to identify them and help the students with them!
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