I want them focusing on core academics and passing on knowledge. Katherine Campbell, a Fairfax County parent active in the letter-writing campaign, says the counselors inadvertently scare children by introducing them to subjects like child abuse at too early an age. One time, she says, her daughter came home from second grade in tears after being sent to a counselor to discuss the death of the girl's grandfather. Five years later, Campbell says, another counselor showed a videotape on friendship. She says it noted that in junior high, friendships between girls may become strained as boys enter the picture.
Counselors say there are other reasons they focus less on academics than on psychology.
Kids come to school with an incredible range of emotional issues. Brenda Robey, a counselor at Lacey Spring Elementary near rural Mauzy, Va., notes that less than 1 percent of parents exercise their option of removing their kids from counseling sessions. She argues that lessons on conflict resolution, decision making, study skills, and anger management reinforce positive values, not subvert them. In a recent survey at her school, parents rated the counseling program at 8.7 on a scale of 1 to 10. The board will vote on whether to leave things alone or give localities the option of replacing counselors with reading specialists or eliminating them altogether.