Lee High School

How do School Social Workers Help Students?

School Social Worker

Adriana Loredo-Banda

Mr.Foote

Senior Capstone - Final Draft

17 April, 2019
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Adriana Loredo-Banda

Peter Foote

Senior Capstone

17 April, 2019

Behind The Scenes - A School Social Worker

Children face many obstacles that can cause them to act or perform poorly in their social,

emotional, or academic life. School social workers are trained to work with children who need

this type of support. School social workers are tasks are helping children through some of the

most stressful and challenging times of their lives. ​School social workers help students by

listening to student concerns, managing situations, and referring outside services when

necessary.

“The most important way to help anybody is to listen,” Karen Gallardo, a school social

worker at Lee High school stated. Listening to student concerns is an important practice that

social workers work with. “To listen, you have to understand what the student has to say, or what

their first reaction is or was.” Listening communicates respect and helps build trust. (Gallardo).

Although there could be various reasons why students may be struggling in school, or in general,

sometimes a school social worker can assist with that.“​There is more than just school going on in

their lives, and those things often impact school outcomes” (Capps).​ Most of the time those kids

aren’t being loved unconditionally or supported causing a lot of feelings to get bottled up.

Having someone to talk to will make the individual feel the art of being heard. The students

benefit from the comfort and consolation that the social worker is giving them. According to The
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National Social Work Workforce Study, one of the surveys they conducted mentioned that 21%

out 100 people dealt with mental health issues in 2017. Medical and Psychological are some of

the reasons why children could perform poorly in school. Depression is one of the main reasons

why some students do not try at their full potential. It makes it harder to concentrate on school.

Depression is a serious psychological problem that affects the brain and makes it difficult to

concentrate and motivate the individual. “The negative trend in youth mental-health has

coincided with an equally negative trend in school results.” (Mental-Health and Educational

Achievements). Also, anxiety is one of the main reasons why students behave or perform poorly

at their academics. “I’d say my stomach hurt so I could go home and calm down,” a student at

Burton Middle school who suffers from an anxiety disorder. He did poorly on purpose so he

could get kicked out from his previous school, City High School.

There are a few different ways to support or help a student in need. Helping to manage a

situation is indispensable in the process of a school social worker. To find a solution to their

problem, the student would have to open up, which sometimes it can be difficult if they’re not

able to engage in talking. “If they don’t want to talk, the goal should be letting them know that

there is a safe and confidential space for when they’re ready to talk,” (Gallardo). One major

thing that all social workers need to do is understand is what their clients have to say. According

to “Breaking Night,” a memoir by author Liz Murray, “understanding the effects of a traumatic

and difficult childhood is critical to helping youth in such circumstances.” It demonstrates how

understanding is a key solution to managing a problem; students sometimes just need someone

who understands what they’re going through, not just judging them. Sometimes social workers

can help address challenges going on in students lives that may be happening in-or-outside of
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school with emotions, or stress that could be affecting their academic performance. (Capps). The

social worker can help by creating a plan to help the student follow up to make better changes for

school, and their academic performance. If the problem is based on behavior, the social worker

can address how much of a problem it is, and they can write a referral for therapy. That would

be how a school social worker is managing a situation. School social workers also design and

implement anti-bullying and dropout prevention programs if it’s something an individual might

be dealing with. (Social Workers as Super-heroes, Anna Scheyett).

Providing outside services when necessary is another way school social workers help and

support students. School social workers don’t just work in schools; they have other contacts that

help them provide for their patients. School social workers can assist with crises. They’re part of

the team to plan something out to help students process something sensitive. Depending on

what’s going on, school social workers can provide different kinds of services. If the student is

homeless and needs service, a social worker can refer to a shelter. Also, maybe if the student is

living in an abusive home, the social worker contacts the children or student to protective

services. Those are ways on how they’re able to refer to outside services. “Housing. Welfare.

Income Support,” are a few of the many different ways that social workers help provide outside

services to families, they help the families in need to apply for certain things that will help them.

(Social Work Focus: Winter/Spring 2018 - Volume 3, Issue 3). Another way of referring outside

services, they can refer the child or student to food pantries or food trucks if the they do not have

any money, or don’t have enough food to eat. “School Social Workers help students and their

families to find the resources they need including food, housing, medical, clothing, tutoring,
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substance abuse resources, counseling, domestic abuse support, and others.” (Anne Sullivan

Communication Center).

School social workers have a crucial effect on the lives of students. They listen to their

problems and concerns to help students cope with them. They find various ways on how to

manage complications that those kids face daily. Sometimes it can start by creating a plan to

keep up with their school work, or how to cope with a loss. They also practice a lot of service

work that people do not know of, from referring students to services that will better their lives, to

even referring them to food pantries or food trucks for students who aren’t getting their everyday

meal. Overall, school social workers do as much in their possibility to help out students.
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Works Cited

“Australian Association of Social Workers .” Australian Association of Social Workers,

www.aasw.asn.au/publications/social-work-focus​.

Brännlund, Annica, et al. “Mental-Health and Educational Achievement: The Link between Poor

Mental-Health and Upper Secondary School Completion and Grades.” Journal of Mental

Health, vol. 26, no. 4, Aug. 2017, pp. 318–325. EBSCOhost

doi:10.1080/09638237.2017.1294739.

Capps, April. “Re: Case Manager.” Received by Adriana Loredo-Banda, 14 March 2019.

Gallardo, Karen. Personal Interview. 12 March 2019.

Murray, Liz. ​Breaking Night: a Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from

Homeless to Harvard​. Hachette Books, 2015.

The National Social Work Workforce Study,​ The George Washington University Health

Workforce Institute , Apr. 2018,

Social Workers as Super-Heroes | Anna Scheyett | TEDxColumbiaSC,

youtu.be/A27QjpQ_Ieo?t=184.