Essay on Legal and Ethical Issues in School Counseling

The topic of this paper focuses on the battles school counselors face as the law and ethical standards collide. School counselors face a number of legal and ethical issues and recognizing a clear decision isn’t always easy. School counselors have to work with a large number of students, parents, and administrators while conforming to ethical codes, state laws, and school board guidelines. This topic is of great relevance to me as I will be going into the school counseling profession. It is also a meaningful topic to me because life-changing decisions are made every day in reference to legal and ethical issues. Researching this topic has shed some light on the difficulty for school counselors to fulfill both legal and ethical†¦show more content†¦N.W. eventually resigned and filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court stating that the administrations actions resulted in her forced resignation, violating her First Amendment right. After a two year process of legal proceedings, N.W. lost the case in the Supreme Court. The ruling was â€Å"First Amendment freedom of expression does not protect statements that public employees make pursuant to their official duties, as compared with those they make as citizens on matters of public concern† (Stone, Zirkel 2010). N.W. was excluded from First Amendment protection due to the court concluding that she was performing the duties she was paid to perform while reporting her concerns. This particular case illustrates a court trend in favor of school districts when involving educational litigation against professional educators, including school counselors (Stone, Zirkel 2010). This trend suggests that school counselors should think carefully before exercising their personal or professional beliefs, unless they estimate no employment discipline by their superiors. The point is that there is a very fine line between performing your duties without legal ramifications. On a more ethical standpoint, when should a school counselor break confidentiality? There is much debate and ambiguity concerning the issue of confidentiality. The 2010 ASCA ethical code, states that school counselors are to keep information confidential (ASCA Sec.Show MoreRelatedBecoming An Addictions Counselor Is Not Easy1215 Words   |  5 Pagesclients within your scope of practice can present its challenges as well as the ultimate goal of the helping profession to do no harm. There are requirements to developing a helping professional, key legal and ethical issues in counseling, and the role of the counselor in developing and maintaining ethical boundaries in clinical relationships. 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