Learning to Refer Students

When issues like substance abuse, violence and HIV/AIDS are incorporated into the curriculum students who confront these problems in their families and neighborhoods may confide in their teachers. Teachers should listen and empathize. But few teachers are trained as counseling professionals. When encountering students who they believe are in need of professional support (for example students coping with family substance abuse or violence) it is important that the teacher know to whom the student will be referred. Before the Real Life CI is taught, appropriate sources for possible referrals - for example, the school social worker or counselor - should be identified.