GUIDANCE counsellors at high schools say they are currently being overworked, and have been trying to find solutions for emotional disturbance, rising levels of anti social behaviour and violence coming from students.

The issue was raised by Tracyann Taffe-Thompson, president of the Jamaica Association of Guidance Counsellors in Education, who told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday that many children were exposed to sexual and emotional abuse while at home throughout the novel coronavirus pandemic and consequently, since the resumption of face-to-face classes, the students have been exhibiting negative and violent behaviours. She added that based on reports from her guidance counsellors, more boys have been seeking counselling and have been breaking down emotionally and crying during these sessions.

“The counsellors may be overworked, but they know that the school is a safe space for the children. We have been encouraging extra-curricular activities as much as possible and getting, especially the high schools, involved in social groups. The association is trying to reach the children on an emotional level. The primary school children are just happy to see their friends. They spend their time socialising more than anything else. The older ones are more aggressive. It could be because of their stage of development, in addition to losses during the pandemic, including death, financial benefits or privileges, loss of a parent due to separation and it could also be just the loss of their homes.

“They are no longer in their familiar space but they are with relatives and that can be a challenge to adjust. Some will act out in order to go back home. To deal with the anti social behaviours, counsellors have tailored psychosocial programmes. Within the programme you will find anger management sessions, group counselling and more individual counselling. You have counsellors who share that they are seeing more boys coming in for counselling and actually breaking down.

“One counsellor shared that there was one grade seven boy who was being a bully, even roughing up teachers. She spoke to him and he expressed that he lost a grand aunt or a grandmother during the pandemic and evidently, no one spoke to him about it in terms of how he felt about the loss. That was just his way of dealing with it. Counsellors now have to spend a lot of one-on-one time with the students at the high school level,” she said.

The nation has been gripped by numerous incidents of stabbing and other forms of violence involving schoolchildren recently. One in particular, on March 21, led to the death of Khamal Hall, the daCosta Cup goalkeeper for William Knibb High School in Trelawny. Numerous other conflicts have left schoolchildren wounded, including the stabbing of a student at Excelsior High in St Andrew on March 23. Just Wednesday, one female student used a knife to stab another at Petersfield High School in Westmoreland.

Sustainable development professor at The University of the West Indies Anthony Clayton pointed out that what schools are now experiencing could be the beginning of the problems associated with the learning and socialisation loss due to the pandemic. He said there needs to be an understanding that the problem could last a while as children seem to have forgotten how to socialise in a school setting. He recommended a large-scale remedial programme be introduced to target children showing signs of behavioural problems.

Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon-Harrison, however, said her office has been carrying out targeted interventions with students and schools to get an understanding of particular challenges institutions face, and to explore the best responses. She encouraged students being bullied or experiencing other problems to call or text SafeSpot, the 24-hour, seven days per week national child and teen helpline.

“[It] is free of cost to youngsters and is staffed by dedicated individuals who are properly trained to deal with providing support of any kind to children who need it. If children want to discuss a problem that they don’t know how to challenge, they can call SafeSpot.

“If children just want advice about an instance of bullying they are exposed to or something that could escalate because they are being provoked and they don’t know how they would respond, they can call SafeSpot. We will hold their hands and walk them through that particular challenge and give them the support they need in real time. We consider this a national priority, and an opportunity, now that we are back in the face-to-face environment, to reach our students through their institutions,” said Gordon-Harrison.