A school counselor will work at the school level to support the students to improve their productivity and guide the students in their future development. He can also resolve problems related to their emotional life.
One day morning I came to the bus stop. I was in a hurry to go somewhere. It was about 11am. I saw a boy with uniform sitting on the rail at that bus stand. His face showed his disappointment. I gently went near by him. He seemed to be thinking something. I inquired about the reason of his disappointment, firstly he just slipped out from my question then he slowly said a word, I am useless. I patted his back and asked him that ‘who told you are useless’, he replied me that ‘everyone is telling’ and he extended his words ‘my brother is smarter than me, he studies well, he is perfect in everything, others used to tell me that I am becoming a shame to my family’.
As a reader, what is your opinion about this, the boy wants to be corrected or the environment need to be changed. At this time I remember a proverb which is in my mother tongue “Mullappoo podi ettukidakkum kallinumundakum sourabhyam”. Mulla means jasmine, podi means dust/pollen, kidakkkum means lying, kallu means stone, sourabhyam means smelly. As a whole it means that ‘If a jasmine is near by a stone it will automatically get the smell of it. If we take it in another sense ‘what ever surrounds you, you will get the effect from that thing surrounds you’. From where the boy got the feeling of useless, it is from his nearest surrounding. If surroundings will change, it will automatically enhance his mind.
After saying about his feelings, I asked him that ‘whether you like stories’ he said yes I like but not now. Then I just asked him to give 5 minutes to explain something, he agreed to that. I started telling a story of a monkey and elephant. The story was like this- One day a monkey and an elephant went for a small journey. They were in an argue that who is stronger and useful. In the midway of the journey there was a big tree fell in their route. The elephant took that tree and put aside and told the monkey that “ I am strongest and useful than you” . The monkey agreed to that and they continued the journey. After some time they saw some tasty fruits at the top of a tree. It was too high elephant couldn’t reach that, suddenly the monkey climbed that tree and took a handful of fruits. Then monkey told that now I became the strongest. For lifting the tree elephant was useful. For pricking fruit from the top of the tree monkey was useful. Now they realized that both of them have qualities, but it is in different ways.
Then I asked the boy that whether you got any sense from the story. The boy replied ‘yes’, everyone have their own qualities. Then I just corrected it with a small thing. Everyone has their own qualities, but the adventure of life is to discover it. Then I said that ‘Your brother found his quality and he is trying to develop that’, ‘but you didn’t find that till now, that is the only difference. He became happy and returned to home. This is what happens in everyone's life. We need to find our quality.
Here I want to say that he realized his situation only when I put a light in his way. It all happened in a bus stop. If there was a counselor or anyone to support him at his school, he couldn’t be that much suffered. I helped only one, there are so many like this, they are still searching for someone to support them. The ratio of suicide among children is increasing day by day. So it had become a necessity to have a counselor in every school.
Councilors will try to help the student overcome their difficult faces of life in their school period. He will do this by conducting individual or group counseling session. His duty also incorporates improved skills among students. This is because nowadays the employment is not only based on the educational achievements but also on the skills that a candidate have.
So I want to conclude that counselor is very necessary for a school environment. This is not only for the optimization of the student’s capability but also for a healthy and harmonious environment of the school.
