School counselors give troubled teens a safe place to talk about their problems

By Staff Writer

As many schools in the U.S. are forced to eliminate certain child service programs due to budget cuts, officials in Indiana are advocating for in-school counselors.

The Lafayette Journal Courier reports that one Indiana high school recently received the Department of Education's Gold Star School Counseling Award, as well as American School Counselor Association's RAMP designation. The same school district recently had to cut guidance counselors at the elementary school level, which left two professionals for its 10 early education schools.

One of the counselors at the high school told the news source that these positions are extremely important because kids need to know they can talk to someone that they can trust. Because of confidentiality rules, the information and data collected in counseling sessions are not available to the public, so many people do not understand the vast impact of the sessions.

The counselor said that her office deals with a wide range of student problems, including teenagers who experience suicidal thoughts, a child whose parent is dying from cancer and a student who continues to attend school despite being homeless.

The National Institute of Mental Health reports that 8 percent of teenagers ages 13 to 18 are severely impaired by one type of anxiety disorder.