Working with parents can be stressful. Although many parents are supportive of the efforts of school counselors and schools, others may not understand or trust these efforts. Of course, continuously trying to build positive working relationships with parents to best serve students is important for school counselors. Whether a positive or strained relationship exists between the school and parents, it is essential for school counselors to understand the legal and ethical guidelines regarding relationships with parents.
According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) ethical standards, school counselors are to balance keeping information students share confidential while also recognizing and honoring the important role parents play in their children’s lives. School counselors must work to let parents know that confidentiality is a cornerstone of good counseling because it allows students to trust and share important information and, if a serious and foreseeable danger exists or abuse or neglect are suspected, parents and or the appropriate authorities will be notified because student safety is a top priority. Gaining parental trust that school counselors have their child’s best interest at heart and allowing us to maintain their student’s confidence is fine balance. Parents legally hold the privacy rights of their children and have a large say in what services their child receives.
In a related issue, children’s right to access support from school counselors unless a parent requests otherwise is a generally accepted practice. If a parent requests a student not be visited by the school counselor, then Carolyn Stone, the ASCA Ethics Chair, advises that we honor those wishes. However, if we suspect the request is due to an attempt to hide an abuse or neglect situation or we feel the child’s safety is a risk, school counselors are still bound to work with the student to ensure their safety and contact the appropriate authorities if a report is mandated.
Also important for school counselors is being mindful of the legal concept of “in loco parentis.” This refers to the idea that school counselors and educators act in place of the parents to a limited and temporary degree while students are at school. School professionals have an ethical obligation to provide students with a safe and positive learning environment and have the authority to regulate student behavior in an appropriate way to maintain decorum. A number of court cases have reviewed the nature of “in loco parentis” when disagreement over a school professional’s authority has been called into question. In general, school counselors should work to provide all students in their charge with a safe and supportive environment necessary for learning and can work with students to address choices that may interfere with this.
Another important ethical consideration is that of considering a student’s developmental level when providing school counseling services. A high school junior’s understanding of what counseling and confidentiality mean can be very different from a second grader’s understanding. In general, the more mature the student, the more important it is to protect their privacy rights because the negative impact of betraying a student’s confidence is often higher. Confidentiality is important for all students but development is an important ethical consideration.
Similar reasoning applies to providing informed consent. How school counselors explain to students the nature of school counseling must involve a developmentally sensitive understanding of the student’s ability to comprehend what they are agreeing to participate in. Helping parents understand the nature of school counseling work as compared to counseling in a clinical setting is also important. School counselors in general are not set up to provide in-depth and long-term mental health therapy for students, but more short-term counseling to address common developmental issues. If a student is experiencing significant mental health difficulties, the school counselor has a duty to help parents understand the importance of getting them the outside help they need.
Staying current on professional guidelines will help school counselors provide the best services possible for all students.
Bill Lepkowski, Ph.D., is the school counseling program coordinator at St. Cloud State University and MSCA Ethics chair.