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GC&E Reflection: Unjust Practices

Em Franklin

Child and Youth Care, Centennial College

CYCP 115 - 001: Strength-Based Practices

Greg Coombs

February 11, 2021

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GC&E Reflection: Unjust Practices

There are many expectations in school systems, all of which are thought thoroughly

about, to ensure the ethicality, comfort, and privacy of the students and staff in the school. Quite

often, these expectations are not followed, compromising the students, class, school, and

education system as a whole. In my experience, one of the most common unjust practices that

took place was a lack of confidentiality and privacy. Especially when it came to mental health,

teachers were often not very cautious about what conversations they had with students, and who

was around when these conversations took place.

I constantly experienced this lack of privacy, as I was often one of the students who went

to see the guidance counsellor or the social worker during class time. The teachers very often

made this obvious by telling us across the entire class that the counsellor/social worker wanted to

see us, or they would come and tell us, but not be very discreet about it. As well, I had a teacher

ask me about self-harm and make a self-harm gesture in the middle of the hallway while other

students were walking by. 

Personally, these situations made me feel as though my conversations with my teachers

were not private, and caused me to not feel safe in my school environment; it felt like everybody

knew what was happening in my life. This made me dread going to school because I knew

that other people knew these private things about me. Not only did this impact me, but it also

impact my classmates, as they would always notice that the guidance counsellor needed to talk to

me, that teachers were talking to me about in the hallway, and that I was always being taken out

of class. These disruptions often distracted them from their classwork and made them even more

curious about what was going on. This also went on to affect me again, because I would often get

bullied and called names once students figured out what was going on.
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These events affected the school because it meant that other students were most likely

experiencing the same lack of privacy that I was receiving. This increased the chance of bullying

because people would make fun of the students who were going to see the guidance counsellor

and would also put a bad name on some of the teachers and the school if parents were to find out.

Regarding the education system and school board, it would definitely have impacted the way my

school boars was seen by parents and other school boards. School staff and school boards are in

charge of making sure that confidentiality and privacy of student issues are kept confidential

from other students. By not actually following their duties and ensuring that these expectations

are being followed in all schools, makes it seem as though they do not care for the privacy of the

students in their schools. 

From my experience, not many solutions took place in order for students to feel more

comfortable and safe in their school environment. It was hard to express these concerns to my

guidance counsellor, social worker, and teachers because I didn’t exactly understand how wrong

this lack of privacy was until I got older. Looking back on the situation, there were many ways

that the school could have easily fixed this type of unjust practice. One suggestion that I have to

keep things more private would be for the student, teacher, and guidance counsellor/social

worker to organize a time that the student can silently leave class without disruption, to meet

with their counsellor/social worker. Another way these personal issues and conversations could

have been kept private as they were supposed to be, would be to take the student into a

classroom or another private place where other students and staff are not around. This would

keep the conversation completely confidential and would make the student feel a lot safer,

comfortable, and less worried about everyone else knowing what was going on. 
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In the end, a lot of expectations are made in the school system, and a lot of these

expectations are not followed as they should be. Students are not given the privacy and

confidentiality that they are supposed to, which can negatively affect their education and their

mental health even further. It also affects other students such as their class, their school, and the

education system as a whole.