School counselors' perceptions of biracial children: a pilot study

Professional School Counseling, Dec, 2002 by Henry L. Harris

DISCUSSION

This pilot study exploring school counselors' perceptions of biracial children generated some intriguing results. Similar to Nishimura and Bol's (1997) findings, biracial individuals were represented in nearly all of the schools, which demonstrates to some degree they are a more recognized population. Even though biracial individuals are more recognized today, this does not amount to societal acceptance. School counselors validated this perspective as they strongly supported the position that biracial children were not genuinely accepted by society. Schools in many aspects are a microcosm of society, and if biracial children are not genuinely accepted by society, then how genuinely are they accepted in the schools? School counselors' perceptions, to some degree, suggest that biracial children, because of the manner in which society perceives their family environment, may still face additional stressors that other children do not necessarily encounter.

Elementary school counselors who perceived biracial children having more behavioral problems than middle or high school counselors may be linked to the cognitive/emotional stage of development these children are experiencing. Elementary children in general are not as guarded in expressing their true feelings, yet as they grow older and mature, certain emotions once openly expressed may be internalized and seen as immature. Elementary school counselors may also see more behavioral problems because they are likely to spend more time providing counseling-related services to children at this age than do middle or high school counselors. The Tennyson, Miller, Skovholt, and Williams (1989) study supported this view because they found in their survey that secondary school counselors reported that, as a group, they were involved in scheduling more often than in any other activity, including providing counseling-related services to students. Elementary school counselors, according to Morse and Russel (1988), preferred to conduct more group work with students focusing on enhancing their self-concept, developing problem-solving skills, and learning appropriate social skills. Finally, it must be taken into consideration that biracial students may choose not to see counselors as often in middle or high schools because of the stigma associated with seeing a school counselor.

Male school counselors as compared to female school counselors perceived biracial children experiencing more academic problems, and one has to question the impact of gender role socialization upon this perspective. When females reach adulthood, they often become more caring, supportive, and empathetic, while males become more independent, self-reliant, and unexpressive. Males in general, are also more likely to show anger toward strangers, especially other males, when they feel they have been challenged (Santrock, 1997).

Another important finding of this study indicated that school counselors who worked in school environments that actively promoted cultural diversity and awareness programs held more accurate perceptions of biracial children. For example, they did not believe that biracial children should identify most with the minority parent nor did they perceive minorities more accepting of biracial children than nonminorities. School counselors should not automatically assume that minorities are always more accepting of biracial children than nonminorities. This sometimes is a controversial issue for both the minority and majority communities (Buttery, 1987).