Should Remote School Counseling be Instituted Permanently?
My experience working as a remote school counselor intern has been beyond rewarding. I have learned so much about the services counseling programs have to offer and about the pros and cons of being remote versus physically in a school for students. From both my personal experience and from speaking with the full time school counselors I work with, I feel that offering school counseling in a virtual setting for students is far more beneficial than in person.
For my internship, I work through an organization called Say Yes to Education Buffalo. This organization works to improve guidance, access and financial assistance for those wanting to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities to help them succeed. So as a school counselor intern, I get to work with low income, first generation students who have limited resources, to help them overcome what needs to be done to get on track to achieve their dreams.
I have learned through my job training and experience that not only in Buffalo, but all over the world, there are a majority of students who do not have the proper access or guidance/counseling they need to succeed. This in turn results in lower high school graduation rates, increased poverty, mental health issues, etc. among these students. I have had the opportunity to help so many students virtually through texting, phone calls, virtual meeting on multiple platforms, and emails that otherwise would not see a school counselor in person.
There are many reasons students do not make use of in person resources that school counselors have to offer and many parents even struggle to connect to school counselors in there child’s school as well. The increase in convivence, variation of access and increased privacy that remote school counseling offers has made things so much easier on students and their families. I strongly urge that school counseling continues to stay remote permanently, even if in addition to in person school counseling.
Story & Mission — Say Yes to Education. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://sayyesbuffalo.org/about/story-mission/
