Assistance offered for school counselling

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Supreme Counselling for Personal Development Shawn Clarke says his organisation is willing, ready and able to assist the Ministry of Education with counselling students who are battling personal issues that lead to deviant behaviour.

In light of Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw’s announcement last week that Government will be placing seven additional guidance counselors in some of the island’s secondary schools, Clarke told Barbados TODAY that the 10-year-old organisation was equipped with psychologists specializing in all areas of psychology, including clinical and educational.

“Supreme Counselling is in a position to assist the Ministry of Education whenever we are called upon to help do the work to try to save our country’s youth,” Clarke said.

He noted that research has shown that a lot of the problems facing schools started in the home. He said some children were living in homes where their parents were not there to guide them.

The CEO further explained that some children are finding it difficult to cope with their parents constantly quarrelling and fighting.

“They are not feeling at home, at home. We have situations where when a number of our children were tested, they are ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder] and the like. You have a number of children in the school system suffering from some psychological deficiency and a lot of them are not tested, so they go through the school system basically on autopilot.

“A lot of them are restless; a lot of them are
impulsive. And then we have a number of contributing factors happening outside of the home, within the community, that are affecting the schools because the problems are not readily taken care of, or addressed,” Clarke said.

Speaking to members of the media at her office at the Ministry’s Constitution Road, St Michael, headquarters, last Friday, Minister Bradshaw said the seven additional guidance counselors will be assigned to the schools deemed at risk. Social workers will also be entering primary schools for the first time to address issues of violence and deviance from an early age.