COUNSELING LESSONS:

Counseling lessons are provided to all students at Haw Creek and work to develop skills that better strengthen life skills. 

One life skill lesson students learn and review each year is the DEBUG system. This system is a series of problem solving steps used to increase self advocacy and Independence. Children learn to be responsible for their own behavior and practice self-control. It also defines the adult’s role as one of helping children after they have tried to solve the problem.

The five steps of the DEBUG system are simple. The children have been taught that if someone is “bugging” them, they are to do the following:

  Decide to ignore…………    if that doesn’t work, then
  Exit. Move Away……………if that doesn’t work, then
  Be Friendly…………………if that doesn’t work, then
  Use Firm Words…………(I feel _________, when you _________. Please stop.) If that doesn’t work, then
  Get Adult Help…………...........................................

In the event that your child(ren) feels bullied, scared, unsafe and/or hurt, your child(ren) is taught to use ONLY the following two DEBUG steps to ensure his/her safety.

         1.     EXIT. MOVE AWAY and GET ADULT HELP IMMEDIATELY.

SMALL GROUPS:

Small groups are offered based on the needs of the students. While not all students experiencing a particular issue require a small group, there are times when revisiting and practicing skills in a small group setting allows the child to strengthen and apply these essential skills among peers. Small groups are 5 to 8 students and meet for 4 to 8 weeks.  

PEER MEDIATION:

Peer Mediators work for peace throughout the school. With help from the counselors, they assist students with solving problems. They participate in comprehensive training during August that helps them understand the nature of conflict and how to work toward peaceful resolutions. This is our first year implementing Peer Mediation and we are so excited to see our leaders model conflict resolution for their peers. (We are unable to train Peer Mediators at this time.)

INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING:

School Counselors are trained to provide short term individual counseling. Individual counseling is an extra support provided to students who need more attention in a specific area. Some examples could include, problem solving, anxiety, family transitions, death of a loved one. 

                                                        We become involved with students for individual counseling by:

• Teacher Referrals/Requests
• Parent Referrals/Requests
• Student Referrals/Requests
• Administrative Referrals/Requests