David McCord

I wear a walkie talkie at work. I’m not alone in this as a school counselor. From my understanding many of us school counselors are just moments away from being called from one thing to another. What typically awaits me on the other end of that radio call is usually an upset child who has “shut down” somewhere in the school or a kid who is not wanting to come to or be at school. I drop whatever it is I am doing, and quickly go to the scene. Sometimes you are going to a classroom or the front office when you see your client. The child may be sitting on the floor with their head down or holding on to Mom’s leg for dear life crying. Once I get there the expectation is that I can fix it, no matter what is wrong. After all, I am the counselor right. Now what do I do?

We have all heard of him, that mythological creature… the school yard bully. He wanders across the playground stealing lunch money, beating kids up, and tossing anyone in his path into the trash can. Does this classic version of bullying still exist? I think the answer is yes and no. Which begs the question what is a bully and how can schools prevent bullying?

As I read through the various blogs on the ACA website, I started to think about how school counselors are different from and alike with other mental health professionals. We both share the hope of being able to help people. We all work to help people with their personal and interpersonal needs. However, we work in very different settings, with different expectations of how we do our work. How can we learn from each other's differences and similarities to benefit our clients?