New Impressions on School Counselors

The information that I was able to obtain from the readings gave me a little shake up. I really believed that the primary and most important part of the school counselor was to guide students in their course choices and future plans. According to the chart on the department of education site, about 70% of the counselors time is to be spent on non curriculum activity. If you look at the course work required by both UGA and GSU, this trend will continue. Many of the required classes deal with support, counseling, and developmental issues. Social issues that permeate today's society have a direct impact on the students ability to perform, thus making the counselor's job more layered. As I read through the history of counseling, I can see how my impressions of the counselors role were related to the times that I have had dealings with them. In the last several years more emphasis has been placed on the counseling effort. But who is guiding the children in post secondary choices? My guess from the readings is that left unaddressed the social issues will overtake the educational necessities. This is the job of the school counselor- to help keep these issues in balance, for a positive outcome.