Guidance and Counseling for Students: Addressing Needs
Guidance and Counseling for Students
Q: Discuss the guidance needs of students in relation to home-centered problems.
Ans: There are various types of problems related to home life which require guidance. These include:
- Formation of bad habits: Some children develop bad habits in the company of parents, family members, friends, and classmates. Consequently, these children may indulge in various forms of indiscipline.
- Effect of poverty: Children from poor families suffer from a lack of books, stationery, fees, and other essentials for their education. They remain worried and sometimes react in an undisciplined manner out of desperation.
- Effect of rejection by parents: Sometimes, parents show indifference or reject their children who are mentally handicapped or physically imperfect. Such children may develop feelings of revolt and revenge towards society in general, leading to indiscipline at home and elsewhere.
- Effect of favoritism by parents: Sometimes, parents show a discriminatory attitude towards their children. The favored ones may develop a sense of egotism and snobbery towards those who are less cared for. Children in both groups may show indiscipline in different ways, according to their feelings of hatred and revolt.
- Effect of high ideals of parents: Some parents are authoritarian and dedicated to absolute ideals, forcing their children to follow those ideals against their wishes. Such compulsion can generate mental complexes that may lead to indiscipline.
Children who face these kinds of problems at home need guidance services.
Q: Discuss the guidance programs for children with special needs.
Ans: The following types of guidance programs can be implemented for children with special needs:
- Family counseling programs should be arranged to prepare parents to cope with the situation. Acceptance of children with special needs is necessary for the success of any social training and rehabilitation program.
- Provide individual instruction tailored to their specific needs.
- Acceleration programs may be conducted by providing double promotion or grade skipping for gifted children.
- Special schools and special classes may be started for gifted children.
- Provide educational and career guidance to creative children, giving them enough freedom to explore their interests.
- Help children identify and analyze the causes of their poor performance.
- Prepare these children for appropriate readiness programs.
- School counselors should help these children with their personal adjustment.
- Teach them adjustment techniques and provide adjustment training to help them cope in critical situations.
- Behavior modification workshops may be organized, incorporating sensitivity training and re-education techniques.
The Importance of Counseling
Q: Needs of counseling.
Ans: Counseling is needed in the following situations:
- When a student requires not only reliable information but also an interpretation of that information to solve personal difficulties.
- When a student needs an intelligent listener with more experience to whom they can express their difficulties and seek suggestions for a plan of action.
- When a student has a problem but is unaware of it and its impact on their development, counseling can help them become aware.
- When a student is aware of a problem and the difficulties it creates but struggles to define and understand it, i.e., when the student recognizes the problem but is unable to face it due to temporary tension and distraction.
- When a student suffers from a maladjustment problem or handicap that is temporary and requires careful, long-term diagnosis by an expert.