Solution Strategies For Misbehavior In High School - The Need Of A Counselor

When a child is ill, he is taken to a doctor when he misbehaves or shows signs of being mentally disturbed, then why not refer him to a psychologist? But parents are not equipped to cope with their child's problem of misbehavior.  Parents grow up with the child and may often be encountering such problems for the first time. Besides they are emotionally involved with the child and may find it difficult to be objective they may either underestimate a problem or magnify it.

The cases of problematic children are generally brought to the notice of the counsellors mostly by teachers.  Problems encompass aggressive behavior, restlessness, lack of concentration, dislike for a particular subject, kleptomania, pinching, and stealing, and sleep walking.  While dealing, such cases were not treated in isolation and even the close relatives of the child were also spoken to.

Once there was a child in high school whose writing and speech were found to be disconnected and incoherent. The girl was obviously in need of counselling.  During play therapy the counsellor gave the girl a kitchen set and a doll family. The girl loved putting the pan on the fire and sometimes put the mother in the pan and got busy with other things. Gentle reminders to remove the mother from the pan were of no avail. This gave the counsellor a clue to the root of the girl’s problems.

So, the child's mother too was counselled and, within a year a marked improvement was noticed in the child's behaviour. Soon, the girl picked up typing and needle work and began participating in elocution.  She also won the leadership prize.

In another case of a boy, who could write but would not.  Talking to him and observing him at play, the counsellor found that the boy used those tactics to tease his mother and distract her attention from younger sibling. This case was also handled by a counsellor with the help of a psychiatrist and today the boy is an average performer.

In diagnosing and treating problem cases the counsellor use the standard techniques of drawing, coloring, sand therapy and story telling. In one of the schools in the corner of the play ground a sand pit. Counsellors make abundant use of this in diagnosing case as sand soothes the nerves, relaxes the child and makes it talk.

The counsellors believed implicitly in telling a child stories, as stories capture the child's imagination, draw him or her out and help to solve problems and take decisions.

Today with the growing tensions both parents and teachers face, a counsellor could help a disturbed to become a well adjusted individual or turn misbehavior into great behavior.