Thank you for this article.
As a retired counselor we have done the things mentioned in the article, and more, for years. I have worked in the low-income neighborhoods as well as affluent areas during my career. Many of the student’s problems are the same and some are relative to their neighborhood. There are split families everywhere, abuse everywhere, drugs and alcohol issues everywhere, academic issues everywhere, and budget cuts everywhere.
Many counselors spend at least a half hour and some 1 1/2 hours doing lunch supervision as a result of budget, under the auspices that talking to kids at lunch is counseling; it is not. Students of all ages are at times fragile and need supports of all kinds. Only counselors are trained to do the multitude of tasks we do on a daily basis. Counselors are needed to support the students, parents, and teachers at all sites. The school authorities need to free them up to do their job. We need more not less.
Thanks for making some people aware.