Zizi Sparks: School guidance counsellors important but wider help needed for kids

Guidance counsellors are available in high schools but not primary schools. Photo / Getty

COMMENT

A local principal has made an urgent call for guidance counsellors at the primary school level.

He says the social impacts of Covid-19 and associated lockdowns have left primary school children feeling stressed, anxious and uncertain and guidance counsellors in primary schools would address these problems before they fester.

It's a call supported by principals around the region in today's Bay of Plenty Times Weekend and Rotorua Daily Post Weekend.

But should dealing with these social issues fall on guidance counsellors? In my view, everyone has a wider responsibility to provide a network of support to young people.

Counsellors are a valuable resource and they have their place but supporting friends, colleagues and school-aged kids shouldn't just be their responsibility.

It falls on everyone to look out for each other's mental health.

As an adult, if a friend or colleague was having a tough time with stress, anxiety or other problems, in most cases I would try and help them myself.

I would lend a listening ear, try to understand and if I couldn't they may prefer to speak to a professional.

There is a time and a place for professional help but we also need to be there for each other if a friend doesn't want to take it that far.

In my view, we all have a responsibility to look out for and support each other.

For school-aged children, that responsibility falls on parents, teachers and peers, sports coaches, siblings and family friends.

Currently, pupils generally don't have access to school guidance counsellors until they reach high school. One counsellor said only having guidance counsellors on staff at high school was like having "an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff".

But in my view, with the support of all of the above people, we shouldn't get close to the cliff edge.

I would wholly support the funding of school guidance counsellors at primary schools. They would be beneficial for those who would prefer to speak to a professional and for when that is the only option.

But we can't rely on kids to refer themselves to a professional and it shouldn't fall on them to seek help themselves.

Kids' mental health is the responsibility of everyone in their lives and they should all play a part before it gets to the point where a counsellor is needed.

As the well-known saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child."

That village isn't just made up of school guidance counsellors.