Pros And Cons Of Professional School Counseling

Rationale for Standard 4

The pupil services professional understands and represents professional ethics and social behaviors appropriate for school and community.

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Professional school counselors have a unique role within their schools. They are advocates for student, parents, colleagues, and communities. Professional school counselors are also seen as leaders, collaborators, and consultants within their school and their community. It is the school counselor’s ethical responsibility to know, understand, and implement the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) ethical standards no matter what capacity they are active in.

School counselors also need be able to effectively articulate these ethical and legal standards. Confidentiality,

privileged communication, privacy, and duty to warn and duty to protect are all terms that counselors should discuss with students, parents, teachers, and school community. When working in a school environment the counselor should consider each case individually, balance the obligation of the parent rights along with the students need for autonomy.
When working with students, the school counselor is obligated to treat each student with dignity and respect as unique individuals. Multi-cultural issues are becoming more and more common as our population diversity increases. To practice ethically, consultants need to demonstrate a sensitivity to and respect cultural differences of their student and community population. School counselors need to be aware of their own personal values and not impose their personal values onto their students or their families.
School counselors are obligated to maintain a high level of ethical and professional responsibility. Knowing specific ethics codes and being aware of potential ethical and legal issues is one way that school counselors can maintain a high level of professional standards.