choices for helping the student. Self-injury is used as a coping skill and not an intentional harmful act on themselves. If a counselor can see the actions are being used to help the student in their view to deal with stress, then the counselor can help identify the behaviors better and help reduce the stress for the student and the school staff as well. However, unless the school staff an faulty alters their views on these types of behaviors by students, then a healthy environment will be hard to acquire due to the stigma that students will see who are doing such negative behaviors. Faculty and staff both need to be trained with how they can identify behaviors and how best to work with them (McAllister (2003). The need for attention is not what children who have addictions and …show more content…
Ways of deciding what to do are consulting with experienced counselors who have had similar student issues, researching the appropriate state laws, and make sure all discussions are kept private and recorded, all while knowing what your school district has in their policy when dealing with parents (Froeschle & Moyer, 2004). If all else, the counselor can consult with the school’s lawyer or the district attorney of the area before choosing to disclose information to parents. With forms of self-injury possibly leading to potential hospital visits or accidental deaths, school counselors act appropriately when considering a referring for a mental health evaluation, and only if the counselor feels the student is a danger to themselves or others. Counselors should always review the school protocol when needed (ASCA, 2008) and include the parents only when allowed by policy and