NEDA TOOLKIT for Parents
Why parent-school communications may be difficult:
Regulatory constraints and confidentiality issues
This information is intended to help both parents and school staff understand each other’s perspectives about
communication and the factors that affect their communications.
Parents of children with an eating disorder (diagnosed
or undiagnosed) sometimes express frustration about
what they perceive as a lack of communication about
their child’s behavior from school teachers, coaches,
guidance counselors, and other school administrative
personnel. From the parents’ perspective, feelings have
been expressed that “my child is in school and at
school activities more waking hours a day than they
are home. Why didn’t the school staff notice something
was wrong? Why don’t they contact us about our child
to tell us what they think?”
From a teacher’s perspective, feelings have been
expressed that “my hands are tied by laws and
regulations about what and how we are allowed to
communicate concerns to parents. Also, it’s often the
case that a given teacher sees a student less than an
hour a day in a class full of kids. So no school staff
person is seeing the child for a prolonged period. Kids
are good at hiding things when they want to. “
While rules vary from state to state, the Position
Statement on Confidentiality from The American
School Counselor Association may help both sides
better understand why communications between
family members and school personnel may be difficult
at times. The rationale behind this position is that an
atmosphere of trust is important to the counseling
relationship. In addition, schools may be bound by
strict protocols generated by state regulations about
how teachers and staff are required to channel
observations and concerns. For example, school
districts in a state may be required to have a “student
assistance program” team to handle student
nonacademic issues. Teacher concerns are submitted
on a standard form to the team that then meets to
develop a “student action plan.” Privacy laws can
prohibit a teacher from discussing their concerns with a
student without parent permission.
Teachers explain that sometimes the student considers
the problem to be the parent, so contacting the parent
about a concern can make a student’s problem worse
in the students’ eyes. Conversely, a student can also
prohibit a teacher from talking with parents about the
teachers’ concerns without evidence from direct
observations of behavior.
The following link presents the position statement from
the professional association of school counselors:
http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?pl=325&sl =133&contentid=133. It states the professional
responsibilities of school counselors, emphasizing
rights to privacy, defining the meaning of
confidentiality in a school setting, and describing the
role of the school counselor. The position statement’s
summary is as follows:
“A counseling relationship requires an atmosphere of
trust and confidence between student and counselor. A
student has the right to privacy and confidentiality. The
responsibility to protect confidentiality extends to the
student’s parent or guardian and staff in confidential
relationships. Professional school counselors must
adhere to P.L. 93-380.”
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