School Social Work Practice Tools

Each year, millions of high school graduates leave home to start their college education in the United States. This new independence, in addition to demands of college and peer pressure, can be difficult for many young adults to manage, leaving them vulnerable to excessive alcohol consumption.

The suicides of many young people have made national headlines over recent months. In 2007, suicide was the third leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24 (NIMH, 2010). Due to a growing effort to raise awareness and reduce stigma regarding adolescent depression and suicide, more attention has been focused on these mental health issues ranging from local efforts to national agendas. One of the goals of the national initiative, Healthy People 2010, has been to reduce the number of teen suicide attempts. The aim is to reduce the percentage of youth who report suicide attempts requiring medical attention from a twelve-month average of 2.6 percent in 1999, to 1.0 percent by 2010 (Child Trends Databank, 2010). Further information on the attainment of this goal will reveal if these efforts have been successful.

Since 1979, Healthy People has functioned as the public health roadmap for the nation. A comprehensive set of national 10-year health objectives, Healthy People serves as a foundation for prevention and wellness activities for the federal government, states and communities, as well as many public and private sector agencies and organizations throughout the U.S.

Since many bullying incidents occur through personal cell phones and computers, and often after school hours, many school professionals have had a slow response in addressing this behavior. Educators can appear indifferent to parents’ frantic worry and alarm by recent adolescent suicides linked to bullying.

School social workers face a multitude of challenges in their work. One main challenge is access to ongoing, consistent supervision. Supervision is defined as the overseeing of another’s work with sanctioned authority to monitor and direct performance, to ensure satisfactory performance, which includes client safety.

While across America schools are facing severe budget cuts, families with children are facing profound economic hardship, and students are feeling the effects of the downturn in the economy at both school and home. Families from all income brackets are feeling the difference. These changes are affecting the delivery of services to students on different levels, and the role of the school social worker is being greatly affected.