Blog 11

I really enjoyed the Ethics quizzes this week as this is an area I want to learn more about for many reasons. The three ethical dilemmas I chose to process all came from "An ethics quiz for school counselors - Special issue: legal and ethical issues in school counseling" by Theodore P. Remley, Jr.  I chose them because when I first read them I disagreed with the answer Remley gave.

The first one is #6 about a high school student who wrote a paper about "ending it all and taking my tormentors with me". I agreed with the actions taken by the school counselor. I came to this decision because of the following reasons:
1) The counselor took the matter seriously and talked to the student
2) The counselor, through consultations, is affirmed by two other counselor colleagues that she is doing the right thing
3) The counselor informed the principal immediately

The quiz mentioned that it would be wise to inform the student of potential actions. I looked at ASCA section A.7 and ACA section B.1.f.(which I could not find) and I don't see where they specifically talked about this. I guess what I was thinking is that an English paper that was turned into a teacher is not a confidential document. I do like the part about the counselor and principal meeting together with the student.

The next scenario is #11 where a middle school counselor is seeing a shy student and his mother calls and asks how she can be helpful. I agreed that the counselor acted in an ethical manner in this case because the counselor has been trying to help the student with his issues and the counselor explained about confidentiality to the mother. ASCA section B.2.b talks about collaborating with parents to the extent possible. I understand that but I what is challenging to me is what you can disclose and what you should not disclose to parents. It seems like such a fine line. I am a talker and know that I will need to watch myself so I do not get too overzealous in my desire to help a student that I compromise confidentiality. I like the suggestions that are given about scheduling a joint session with the student and mother, providing more general information to her etc. I know that as a concerned parent, I would like as much information as possible about my child.

The final scenario I looked at was #12. This was about a middle school counselor who is seeing a 6th grader regularly as her parents are going through a tough divorce. The student's English teacher asks the counselor about the student. I agreed that this counselor acted ethically as the counselor kept all information confidential. When I read the answer, I changed my mind but this is still a situation where I don't know if I would know what to do. I would want to help and share pertinent information but I wouldn't want to break confidentiality. I think this skill will be honed as I get more practice working in a school but it seems like such a fine lines sometimes and the line is blurred at times for me.  ASCA C.2.b says to "Provide professional personnel with accurate, objective, concise and meaningful data necessary to adequately evaluate, counsel and assist the student."  I understand this more and would hope to explain this to the student as well so they would give their consent for me to share some information. This underlines the need for the counselor to have strong and professional relationships with the teaching staff where everyone is ultimately looking out for the student's welfare.