Guidance counsellors concerned about maladaptive behaviours in students

 

The Jamaica Association of Guidance Counsellors in Education says it has observed several changes in the types of maladaptive behaviour students are displaying in school since the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The association's president, Rochina Anderson, says there is a shift in bullying at schools where students are now using social media to intimidate and ridicule their classmates.

 

She also says students are engaged in gangs and gambling.

 

Ms. Anderson pointed out that many of these maladaptive bahaviours are a result of different negative circumstances affecting students, causing them to be angry and act out. 

 

Among these challenges, she noted, are students having to deal with sexual harassment in their homes. 

 

"We hear students complaining about neglect, which is lack of supervision at home. Most of the time when they go home, they are by themselves, because whether the parents are not there or they are out at some bar gambling or something. We hear them complain about the sexual harassment because of the household. So we are having cousins and uncles and whoever coming in and the sharing of space. Children will tell you, 'Oh, miss, it's just a curtain that part my bed from that person bed.' So they complain about the harassment, the lack of supervision, financial need," she outlined. 

 

She wants schools to be resourced with a therapeutic room equipped with, among other things, calming music and a punching bag. 

 

"There are boys who come in who witness domestic violence at home and they can't punch the stepfather. But guess what? When they come in with all that level of anger, [we can give] them a punching bag and say, hey, just go over there and let it out. They punch it out. But they're punching it out in a positive way, releasing the energy positively. And that is why we're asking for the therapeutic rooms. When you enter the space of the guidance counsellor, it should bring about a different feeling," said Ms. Anderson. 

 

She was speaking on TVJ's Smile Jamaica on Wednesday morning.