Schools increasingly require more counsellors as children come with problems that need psychologists’ intervention, said principals.
From senior children seeking help on their own to parents referring their children, school counsellors have a busy time.
There has been a significant increase in the number of children seeking help in the last couple of years.
Calcutta International School said that the percentage of students going to a counsellor has gone up by almost 30 per cent in the last two years.
At Sushila Birla Girls’ School, a few students would go in a week. Now, that number stands at five or more a day.
Children lacking resilience, marital discords between parents sometimes leading to violence at home, separated parents, pressures of competition, body shaming and bullying — the problems are diverse, said teachers.
Some children also get panic attacks.
“Children are facing pressure and intense competition, which lead to stress. It turns into anxiety, which triggers depression in some,” said Tina Servaia, senior school principal, Calcutta International School.
Children are seeking help from a younger age now, teachers said.
“It is no longer students in senior classes alone but those in primary, too, who are going to a counsellor,” said Seema Sapru, principal, The Heritage School.
“With the breakdown of joint families, children are growing up alone. They do not have uncles, aunts, grandparents or cousins to talk to. Earlier, a sibling was the counsellor but now there is no one to talk to,” said Sapru.
“An adolescent or a teenager would have another child almost the same age who had gone through similar experiences but that doesn’t happen anymore. Children feel alienated,” she said.
Many children return to empty homes and they are increasingly becoming mentally fragile, said a teacher.
The Heritage School has seven counsellors.
Calcutta International School has three — one of them was added after the pandemic.
Sushila Birla Girls’ School has three counsellors, one was added in the new academic session this year.
Servaia said for many children, the counsellor is like a “sounding board” to talk to.
“Students are more willing to seek help. Earlier, even if the concerns were the same there was suppression. But now, even if they feel low on a day they go to the counsellor,” said Servaia.
The counsellor’s role is not confined to their office. They sit at the back of the classroom or hand around in the corridors during breaks to observe children to understand who might be struggling.
In some schools, teachers are also trained to identify red flags.
“The mental health of our students is a priority. The school’s role does not end at teaching textbooks but helping children share their problems and resolve them,” said Koeli Dey, principal, Sushila Birla Girls’ School.
St Augustine’s Day School Shyamnagar principal Rodney Borneo said counsellors are hard-pressed for time.
A section of children are becoming mentally fragile and parents cry helplessness, sometimes fearing that chastising might cause them to self-harm, said a principal.
“’What if they hurt themselves?’ is a refrain we hear from parents regularly,” said Amita Prasad, director, Indus Valley World School.
