Guidance counselors are invaluable assets to school districts, operating at the elementary, middle and high school levels. A school guidance counselor usually has a Master’s degree, and most states require counselors to be licensed.

Guidance counselors have to balance multiple roles when relating to students. They are a primary advocate for students, in both the students personal and academic lives.

Preparing students for the future:

It’s important for counselors to be able to make regular assessments of each student’s academic progress, so that they can be familiar with individual needs and goals. Advising a student on which classes to take and how to prepare for their academic and career futures is a cornerstone of a guidance counselor’s function. Giving out assessment tests, consulting with students regarding career goals and reminding them about scholarship and application deadlines are all regular duties for high school guidance counselors in particular.

Helping students with the present:

One of the hardest and most rewarding aspects of being a guidance counselor is helping students today. Whether it’s giving them the confidence they need to sign up for a particular class, or helping them through a troubled period in their lives, guidance counselors are important. Children coping with family issues, such as divorce, or social issues, such as peer pressure or bullying, often turn to their guidance counselor for advice. Even more importantly, a guidance counselor should be attuned enough to their students that they notice shifts in behavior or attitude even before the student brings it up!

But for somebody who is interested in helping others, who can really listen and wants to help guide children and young adults – for that person, a career as a guidance counselor can be a wonderful and rewarding occupation.

High school students are looking for more assistance with college planning. According to a recent survey by Grand Canyon University, many students now rely less on parents and teachers. They are turning to guidance counselors for help with one of the biggest decisions of their lives.

The GCU study, conducted via forums and electronic surveys of area public high school guidance counselors, showed some surprising results. A record number of students are seeking help to decide what to do after high school.

While colleges and universities are investing heavily to recruit students, the demands on high school students are escalating as well. Students are pressured to decide on an area of study before even entering college. A majority of counselors said that less than half of their students had decided on a major or direction of study for college.

Couple that pressure with the stress to select a college or university. As a result, students are increasingly seeking out guidance counselors to help with the critical decision-making process. Students are coming to counselors for assistance with college applications, financial aid and scholarship information.

Many of the counselors also reported that they need better training to assist students with the application process.

Sidebar:
Among the guidance counselors surveyed by Grand Canyon University, most responded that students had also sought assistance for something other than college planning. The most frequent reasons students asked for help were:

• Grief and bereavement – 76% of counselors
• Suicide issues – 68% of counselors
• Drug and alcohol issues – 65% of counselors

For many highschoolers, prom is one of the most important and anticipated events. Prom is a special night to look forward to and fantasize about for months beforehand. However, for some teens, the prom can seem like just another reason to worry and feel stressed out. Here are some strategies for overcoming the prom stress from the article Keeping Your Cool Under Prom Pressure. (more…)

Strategies to Improve Motivation
Many students with disabilities lack motivation. The lacking motivation often stems from a low self-esteem or confidence level. As teachers and parents, there’s a lot that can be done to improve the motivational level. One needs to remember, these students are often fragile mentally and require a great deal of confidence boosting before the following techniques will work. The goal is often to help develop a ‘can do’ attitude, one that sets the child up for success.
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High school can be a difficult time for both teens and parents. Students are changing both emotionally and physically as they become young adults. As a parent, keep in mind that counselors can be a valuable resource for you and your son or daughter.

Counselors are readily available to advise students throughout the school year. Learn about a few of the areas that a high school guidance counselor can help.
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Story by TeensHealth

Overwhelmed by classwork? Scared because your parents are splitting up? Worried about a friend? Feel like you don’t fit in?

Sometimes it’s just not possible to sort through tough times alone. Problems can build up and you may lose sleep, find you can’t concentrate on homework, or even become depressed. When you need to talk to someone, your school counselor (sometimes called a guidance counselor) can be a great place to start. (more…)

Maggie started off her junior year of high school with great energy. She had no trouble keeping up with her schoolwork and was involved in several after-school activities. But after the Thanksgiving break, she began to have difficulty getting through her assigned reading and had to work harder to apply herself. She couldn’t concentrate in class, and after school all she wanted to do was sleep.

Maggie’s grades began to drop and she rarely felt like socializing. Even though Maggie was always punctual before, she began to have trouble getting up on time and was absent or late from school many days during the winter.

At first, Maggie’s parents thought she was slacking off. They were upset with her, but figured it was just a phase especially since her energy finally seemed to return in the spring. But when the same thing happened the following November, they took Maggie to the doctor, who diagnosed her with a type of depression called seasonal affective disorder. (more…)

As a senior in high school or freshman in college, you may not have even heard of helicopter parents but you have almost certainly felt the wind from their rotating wings. A helicopter parent, as defined recently by the media, is a parent who hovers too closely over a child, mapping out their activities, decisions and lives from birth into adulthood. You probably have a friend whose mother picked out her daughter’s top ten colleges and practically wrote her resumé. Or a buddy whose mom calls him every morning in his dorm room to wake him up for class. Or maybe … your dad is the one known for yelling at teachers when you get a bad grade.

If you are the child of a helicopter parent, you probably feel loved and protected. You are probably very involved in your school and community, and the next stage of your life always looks bright. However, although you no doubt appreciate all that Mom and Dad do for you, you need to realize that being too closely guided by your parents can become a hindrance as you reach adulthood. You need to have the room to grow and develop as an individual, especially when you leave for college. (more…)

As Amy Shaunette and Cooper Gango contemplated college, they considered an issue beyond the SAT and GPAs: their love life. The pair started dating as juniors at Lake Oswego High in Oregon. As college loomed, they weren’t sure whether—or how—to continue their relationship after graduation. To keep their options open, they applied to some of the same schools. But last spring, Shaunette and Gango got into their first choices. Shaunette would go to Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., and Gango would attend Columbia College in Chicago. Did committing to schools 400 miles apart mean they should break up? (more…)

For the last few years, high school guidance counselors have been asked to address the self-abusing practice of cutting. Mostly believed to be a behavior displayed in disturbed or troubled teens, many colleges and universities are now reporting a culture of cutting on their campuses.

Cnn.com reports that, “nearly 1 in 5 students at two Ivy League schools say they have purposely injured themselves by cutting, burning or other methods, a disturbing phenomenon that psychologists say they are hearing about more often.”

Guidance counselors have been reporting increased numbers of cutting in colleges, high schools and middle schools across the nation.
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