<p>Under what circumstances can the school require that a student see a school counselor? </p>
<p>If a child has not broken a school rule or the law, and has no behavioral or academic problems, does a school have the right to make that minor student see a school counselor (of the psychological variety, not guidance counselor) if the student does not want to, and if his parents have not been asked for or given their consent for such a meeting?</p>
<p>For example, suppose the child was a witness to an incident at school involving others. Is he required to meet with authorities and tell what he saw or heard if he doesn’t want to for any reason? What if the child is a victim of bullying–is he required to meet with the bully as part of the bully’s therapy intervention? Do parents need to be informed? And when there is some reasonsble cause indicating the child needs help, such as the child has demonstrated some disruptive behavioral problem, does the school still need to inform the parents and/or obtain their consent before making the child go to sessions?</p>
<p>This came up at our public h.s., and the principal stated that she has the authority to act “in loco parentis” (as the child’s parent) while the student is at school during school hours. I have not researched this at all, so I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but that is what we were told.</p>
<p>Adding: In other words, the principal can consent to, or require the student to meet with a counselor or other authorities about a school matter during school hours, without the child’s parents’ consent.</p>
<p>When one of my sons found himself in a situation like that, he learned to say, “first I want to call my mom or dad” and he has learned to politely refuse to attend any meeting with authority figures at school alone. We learned the lesson vicariously from the experiences of a student a couple of years older.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve told that to my children too. In fact, even though D was taken by surprise, she did politely object. She expressed that she was uncomfrotable with the proposed meeting, and explained several valid reasons why. But the counselor communicated that D would look as though she were the one with the problem if she did not stay to meet with the other student, and then proceeded to bring in the other party (the bully). The worst part was that the meeting was upsetting and completely unproductive.</p>
<p>I informed the school in writing that I do not give permission for my D to participate in any more meetings with the counselor, or the bully. I don’t know if they will comply. But do I have a leg to stand on legally?</p>
<p>I would think that at the point that you go on record that you do not want any further meetings, and that it upsets your child, and in the public school setting, the school does not comply, they risk being accused of the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress, and a legal problem of their own. This assumes that your child was just the innoncent victim. Let the bully get his own anger management training without bothering your child any more. Just my opinion. Remember the legal analysis rests primarily on the facts of the case. If they persist, I would certainly consult a lawyer familiar with this area.</p>
<p>Same as above, when ours was in middle school a group of kids (not him) was questioned by police without a parent or attorney in attendance. DH and I used it as the time to sit down with both our kids and make sure they understood that in any situation with an authority figure while they were under 18 the answer was “I need to call my parents or our lawyer”. Luckily, they never had to deal with this but I always felt better knowing that they knew exactly what to say.</p>
<p>Another excellent resource for parents, teachers and others who are trying to protect kids is a publication from the Office of Civil Rights, Protecting Students from Harassment and Hate Crime: A Guide for Schools. It includes a section on the definition of harassment based on disability and provides step-by-step guidance for developing a district’s written anti-harassment policy.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the information. One problem with our school’s policy that it is clearly designed to prevent hate crimes and therefore primarily addresses harassment based on ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, etc. It does not adequately handle plain old “I don’t like you / I’m jealous of you and want to make your life miserable” kind of bullying, which is what D was experiencing.</p>