Tackling Dreaded Realities So Kids Can Learn

Concerns That Narrow Focus on Academics Limit Educational Opportunity

School social workers from four of the five boroughs met at the NYC-NASW office on March 29, 2004 in a 2 1/2 hour focus group addressing their contribution to education in the New York City public schools.  

At one point, the group members zeroed in on what happens when kids experience, as they often do, the dreaded realities of society and human existence.   They had been talking about the frequency of domestic violence, crime, and death, and how these experiences affect the lives of the children they see.

When kids are distressed, the social workers expressed in unison, they get shaken, but often a bit more than adults.   In many instances, a kid can become too upset to learn.   Work productivity, in the class and at home, can suffer.   Reading and math scores can go down.   Absenteeism can increase.   Teachers may witness an increase in acting out behaviors, but they may or may not see that a child has become depressed.   Some children have asthma attacks.

The point for these school social workers was that the New York City Department of Education seems to be almost exclusively focused on the child only in terms of quantifiable outcomes like reading and math, test scores.   

In the experience of these social workers, too little attention is paid by the higher levels of the educational system, to the factors that interfere with a child's education.   It is as if these realities do not exist.   The outcome is that the Department's best efforts can very well be undermined by what they ignore.

School social workers see lost opportunities to engage with school children as more complete human beings.   They are missing opportunities to foster a child's resilience to difficult life situations, which would enhance the learning environment.

These lost opportunities can have consequences for whether children reach their potential as adults, and become full productive members of society, or whether they become persistent and chronic problems for the greater community.

The Challenge of Gang Violence-

When the Program is Part of the Problem

One school social worker talked about addressing gang violence.   He said that it is possible to work with kids in gangs, but it is very difficult.   Progress is measured in degrees.   For example, one kid's parents had been in a gang, and were now dead.   The child felt that he needed to be a gang member.   The social worker helped this child become aware of his loss and to be able to mourn, even cry.

The social worker talked about teaching kids listening, and decision-making skills, and skills in mediating conflicts with peers. He said that he experienced progress in these efforts.   His frustration is that the program where he works was more effective four years ago; there have been subsequent staff reductions and he anticipates that the program will soon end.  

He said that what is incredible to him is that gang activity has been increasing in his school's community, but there are fewer resources available to support these kids.

A School Wounded at its Core

In one school recently, staff and children alike were thrown into turmoil by a teacher's suicide.   The children were initially told that the teacher died of a heart attack; but the real reason quickly surfaced.   Reactions of adults and children alike ranged from crying to anger, even rage, at the teacher.   The school was "wounded at its core", according to the school social worker.

The social worker talked about helping both adults and children become more aware of their emotions, including feelings of guilt.   She worked with children in groups and joined a teacher to lead a class.   Soon the children began to talk of missing the teacher, and it finally became possible to move on.   Education had not been possible during the episode.

Eyewitness to Murder -

When a Parent Kills a Parent

It is an enormous tragedy in the life of any child when a parent dies.   One school social worker runs a group for just such children in the South Bronx, and raised the question:   How does one characterize a child's experience when the child actually witnesses one parent murder the other?   This is not an uncommon occurrence in some communities in New York City.  

The school social worker said that kids can go years without ever discussing what happened, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are common.

In her group work experience with such kids, she described how one child formed some degree of trust, and then decided to bring in a photo of his mother.   Other kids then felt comfortable bringing in photos of their deceased parent.   This deepened the bond these children felt for each other in the group, and enabled them to talk about their feelings, including embarrassment that other kids would find out how their parent died.

One of the other things the social worker does is work with a child who has been contacted by the surviving parent, who is often in prison.

The social worker said that she did not think that other school personnel would be able to run this type of group.

Saving The Life of a Sexually Abused Child

Another school social worker told about being asked to assess a 7 th grade girl who was quite depressed.   She determined that the child was seriously at risk of suicide.  

She said that the child had reported being sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend.   As follow-up to the report, the special crimes unit of the Police Department interrogated the child to determine whether she was telling the truth.   They ultimately arrested the man.

Despite the trauma for the child, her mother would not put the child into counseling.   The social worker contacted the Administration for Children's Services and they had the child hospitalized.   The social worker subsequently helped the child adjust to living with a foster family, and to further discuss the experience of her molestation.  

The social worker said that there is now hope for this child.

Identifying Why Children Are Reading Below Grade Level

In one school the social worker has been responsible for addressing why children are two or more years below grade reading level.   She said that she often finds that parents are not aware of how to be effective with their children.   For example, some parents will hit their children to get them to learn.  

She said that she would work with a parent to help them understand alternatives for communicating with his or her child.   She said that sometimes a parent needs to slow down and give more time to the child.   The social worker also said that some children are living in step families and issues relating to level of adjustment to this situation, on the stepparent's part as well as the child's, needs to be addressed.

The social worker said these are the types of issues that often underlie a teacher's assessment that a child "does not take directions well".

When Parents Are Told: “Your Child Has a Disability”

The members of the focus group described the reactions that parents have when their child is given an assessment and referred to Special Education.   Reaction range from desperation to strong disagreement.   They described mothers in tears, wounded by the news.

The social workers said that the parents need an opportunity to fully understand the information that they are receiving.   This might include understanding what having a disability could mean for their child's future, including prospects for attending college and future employment, and for eventually having their own family.   It can also mean understanding the resources that might be available, including educational and service options that exist.  

Understanding also includes knowing that as a parent, one has legal rights, including disputing the findings if they should choose to do so.

The school social workers emphasized that one of their major responsibilities is to assure that parents are given these opportunities for understanding.   They said that far too often parents are informed about their child's disability and no one is available to help them, and there is even pressure not to spend time with the parents at all.

They said that when parents are not given support in such circumstances, it could have significant consequences in the life of the child and for the family as a whole.

Given that the Department of Education is making parental involvement a priority, the experience of parents not being supported appears to these school social workers as a serious contradiction.   They said that they do no believe that parents are adequately valued, and there is too little interest in assuring that parents' rights are supported.  

Challenges

During the discussion, the school social workers were asked about what challenges they face in doing their work.   In addition to their experience that working with parents is not valued, they emphasized that how children are seen is too narrow.   The almost exclusive emphasis on math and reading, they said, results in not really seeing the child as a full person. This includes ignoring the fact that a child may have many, complex social and emotional issues to contend with.   Schools tend to act as though such problems just do not exist.

They said that at a minimum school social workers are needed in every school; currently, many are serving in several schools at once.   They are spread too thin.  

Beyond that, there needs to be a recognition that social workers can contribute in more effective ways, and their jobs should be designed to better reflect this.   The school social workers believe that each one is more or less having to figure out for themselves how to do their jobs.

This reflects that school social workers work very much in isolation from their colleagues, there is almost no professional supervision available from more seasoned social workers, and there is no mechanism for convening social workers to address how to maximize their performance under varying circumstances.

Back to School Social Work Page                                                     Back to Home Page