THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090402
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
None of her teachers ever told her that she was in a ``group counseling session'' or that they kept a file on what she said, Lauren Newell, 12, told a crowd of 150 Tuesday night.
And her teachers got mad, she said, when she refused to answer ``personal'' questions, such as whether she believed in God, or what her mom and dad were like and how they disciplined her.
``Even though my mom wrote a letter to supposedly `opt us out' of answering personal information, the teachers asked us anyway,'' Lauren said, adding, ``I shouldn't have to answer these kinds of questions. No one should. It is none of the school's business.''
With that, young Lauren stepped into the middle of an emotional and divisive debate in Virginia over the role of school guidance and counseling programs.
Parents and school officials from throughout Hampton Roads joined Lauren at a public hearing at Lake Taylor High School to speak out about a proposal to overhaul the rules that govern the responsibility of schools and the rights of parents.
The rules, proposed by the Virginia Board of Education, would require schools to inform parents about counseling services and techniques used in group or individual counseling sessions.
Currently, parents who don't want their children involved can ``opt out.'' That system would remain in place, except parental permission would be required for ``personal'' or ``sensitive'' cases, such as counseling a youngster whose parents were getting divorced or were alcoholics.
The board rejected a more conservative plan offered by state schools chief William C. Bosher Jr. to require parental permission for all guidance programs other than those dealing with academics.
Many parents who spoke Tuesday supported Bosher's plan.
``The current guidance regulations, in the name of seemingly irreproachable causes, is a demonstration of the incremental encroachment on parental rights and authority,'' said Christine Broughton, a member of the 16,000-strong Concerned Women for America of Virginia.
Guidance counselors once were viewed as helping students with career and academic choices. But with poverty and broken homes more prevalent, kids are bringing those social problems into the schools, and they must be dealt with, school officials said Tuesday.
``Counselors are the caring adults at school who teach children how to solve their own normal, growing-up problems,'' said Vickie Hendley, president of the Virginia Beach Education Association. ``Unnecessary rules and regulations would prevent counselors from doing their jobs and helping our children succeed in school.''
Many parents insist that schools should be required to get written permission before counseling, at least in elementary schools. But school officials say many needy children would not get help as a result.
``We must not break trust with our most defenseless citizens,'' said Lynn Hundley, a PTA member at Larchmont Elementary in Norfolk. ``We must keep school counselors accessible to every child that needs help.''
Some parents, however, said they were troubled by ``psychotherapeutic techniques'' employed by counselors, such as ``progressive relaxation'' and hypnosis.
The politically charged issue may end up in the General Assembly. Gov. George F. Allen tried unsuccessfully during the last session to pass a plan similar to Bosher's requiring parental permission. by CNB