Social Skills Training in Schools

Counseling and Human Development, Oct 2003 by Cook, Mary N

When children experience emotional or behavior problems in school, school counselors are typically the first line of defense. Frequently teachers and parents initially bring their concerns about students to the counselors. The task of screening for emotional problems and assessing for the need for a referral to a pediatrie mental health provider often rests with school counselors.

A significant body of research demonstrates that anxiety and depressive disorders in children, especially, are significantly under-recognized and under-treated. In his December 9 1999 Report on Children's Mental Health, the U.S. Surgeon General estimated that one in 10 children and adolescents suffers from a mental illness severe enough to cause some level of impairment. In any given year, however, only one in five of these affected youth receives specialty mental health services. Most children attend school, so it presents a ripe opportunity for early identification, referral, and intervention with children at risk.

I worked full-time in a school-based clinic in an overseas location to provide mental health services to children with emotional and behavioral problems. I aligned myself with a number of school counselors, who frequently were tapped to work with children who were struggling emotionally or behaviorally. Children who go on to qualify for special education on the basis of emotional impairment often require mental health specialty services outside of school, but, nonetheless, school counselors often find themselves continuing to work with these kids and their families in the school setting. The school counselors, I found, typically were devoted to the children and eager to assist, but many expressed that they felt ill-equipped or at a loss at to how to intervene with special-needs children. Some counselors related that they simply didn't know how or where to begin, and some doubted whether they were adequately qualified to intervene with emotionally disturbed children at all.

The interventions in this article are geared toward elementary school children, ages 5-12, but could be easily adapted for work with adolescents. The strategies apply to working with kids both individually and in groups and often require the participation and cooperation of parents, peers, teachers, and school administrators. These strategies are intended to serve as beginning building blocks for school counselors, upon which they can develop their own programs based on their own context and experiences. These strategies are not intended as a substitute for pediatrie mental health services offered in a medical setting.

The focus here is on social skills training, a service of great value to children with emotional and behavioral problems, who typically are social misfits, subject to much rejection and teasing. The school is clearly among the best venues to provide social skills training, a place where counselors can gather a captive peer group together. Groups work especially well as a medium for social skills training as counselors can strategically employ a few role models of social competence who can mingle and model socially adept behavior for socially impaired students. Groups also provide an opportunity for experiential learning and social-skills practice, in addition to providing an outlet for emotional expression and an avenue for garnering emotional support and acceptance from peers.

THE SOCIALLY IMPAIRED CHILD

Most kids seem to acquire social skills naturally, although many social skills probably are taught or modeled by parents, siblings, peers, and others. Most kids seem to sense intuitively how close is too close, how rough is too rough, when is the best time to join in or start a conversation. They can sense how others feel and respond appropriately and sensitively.

If you ask kids whether they like school or what they like best about school, a distinctive pattern emerges. Children who are well liked and have adequate friends generally like school, regardless of their academic standing. Further, they will tell you that their favorite part of school is "chasing the boys" or "playing with my best friend Courtney." Rarely will children answer that what they like best about school is science or learning. If they did answer in that way, most of us would suspect that they're being phony and acting like Eddie Haskell from the old sitcom, "Leave It To Beaver."

Conversely, kids who struggle socially generally dislike school. They often do everything in their power to avoid attending school, such as engaging in tantrums or feigning sickness, or even ditching classes. They tell you that they hate school because no one likes them and they have no, friends. Again, you rarely hear mention of academic struggles as the most prominent reason for aversion to school, although many socially impaired children also struggle academically.

INTERVENTIONS

We all know kids who just don't get it. They play too rough, their sense of humor needs explaining, and they constantly offend and annoy others. What to do? Most of these kids can be taught some basic social skills, either individually or, ideally, in a group setting, to help them get along in the world. The following strategies are offered as a starting point and are best delivered in the setting of a small group of fairly homogeneous kids: