Children at risk are Definition, identification, work plan, support

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

One of the specific activities of any educational institution is individual work with children at risk, that is, children and adolescents who, due to difficult life situations, are more exposed to stress and threats from the world around them. How can and should the school help such children?

In organizing activities to support children from the "risk group" at school, one way or another, a class teacher and subject teachers, a psychologist, a social teacher, deputy directors for educational and educational work, a director are involved.

Portrait of a "at risk" teenager

Long exposure to a dysfunctional situation in a certain way affects the development of the individual in all its aspects.

The emotional spectrum is determined by the development of protective reactions to stimuli. For a teenager becomecharacterized by irascibility, aggression and cruelty, instability of the emotional background. Many develop isolation associated with a loss of trust in others. The consequence of incomplete emotional development is often superficiality in the perception of feelings, the inability to show empathy.

Moral norms teenager "at risk" does not accept and does not consider important. In his behavior, he is either guided by alternative moral values accepted in the environment of his upbringing, or is extremely inconsistent.

Physical development often does not correspond to real age. Moreover, a teenager can both lag behind his age norm and surpass it. The same can be said about sexual behavior. There is hypersexuality, swagger.

Almost all children with difficulties in social adaptation have bad habits and addictions. Many have tried some of the banned substances.

Usually, the lag behind peers in the development of intellect becomes very noticeable: children of families of the "risk group" more than others face academic failure and lack of motivation for learning, narrowness of outlook. Speech is often poor, illiterate, replete with parasitic words.

Sometimes teenagers from the "risk group" do not have parents or they do not communicate with them. Most of them grow up in dysfunctional families. The absence of significant adults leads to a search for authorities, which often ends up in "bad" company, that is, in a circle of asocial people who have problems with the law.

For teenagerscharacterized by a large number of casual short-term contacts without deep emotional involvement in communication. Almost all children have a tendency to conflict.

Identification of adolescents at risk in secondary school

From the information presented above, we can conclude that many of the characteristics of a "risk" child are subjective and can individually manifest as characteristic of the "difficult" age of any teenager.

There are also objective features that, when they are first discovered, should alert teachers (primarily the class teacher).

One cause for concern is poor academic performance. This is a systematic underachievement due to a lack of ability and motivation.

Regular neglect of school discipline is even more dangerous: absenteeism, fights, failure to do homework, non-recognition of the teacher's authority and inadequate reaction to comments.

Behavior at breaks and building relationships with other children, an observant class teacher can draw the right conclusion. It is worth paying attention to the initiator of bullying a weaker classmate or a student who differs in appearance (skin color, fullness, etc.). The "risk group" may also include a child who has taken the niche of an outsider in the classroom and is regularly ridiculed or beaten.

It is clear that the class teacher is not obliged and does not have to control the behavior of children outside the school wallscapabilities. However, if he became aware of the child drinking alcohol, smoking, committing offenses or crimes, then it makes sense to consider including such a child in the "risk group".

The task of school staff

Identification of children of the "risk group" is the first task of a psychologist and a class teacher. It is solved by observing the behavior of students in the classroom and breaks, personal communication with students. Most children in the "teaching risk group" can be detected by a psychologist during diagnostic tests.

The next step is the most detailed clarification of the child's living conditions. A social educator and a psychologist can join this work. The class teacher in working with children of the "risk group" studies, first of all, the social situation of the child - the psychological climate in the family, the level of material prosperity. The psychologist, in individual communication with the child and parents, identifies possible problems: lack of parental attention, anxieties and fears, low self-esteem, etc.

Next, a student's psychological and pedagogical card is drawn up.

A psychologist advises the class teacher and parents about what psychological characteristics of the child should be taken into account when conducting educational work, and about what methods of behavior correction will give the best result.

Taking into account the advice of a psychologist, the class teacher draws up a plan for individual work with children at risk for a certain period, for example, for an academic semester. The plan can contain both individual and group activities. After the expiration of the period, if there are no changes in the student's behavior, they consider registering him or contacting a narrower specialist to solve a specific problem for the child.

Psychological and pedagogical map

To draw up a map, you need to study in detail the characteristics of the student's character, behavior, academic performance, communication with peers and parents. Ideally, a psychological and pedagogical map should be a systematized information that was collected about the child.

As for information about studies, it is important to find out not only about the progress of a teenager, but also about his interest in gaining knowledge, about whether he has plans for the future related to any school subjects. You can learn more about the circle of interests by finding out what the student reads (except for the compulsory program in literature).

Among the behavioral features, such characteristics as stubbornness, the presence or absence of a tendency to violate discipline, to incite conflicts (both with peers and with teachers) are revealed. A psychologist conducts tests to detect aggression and hyperactivity.

In communication with classmates, which is studied by direct observation and with the help of diagnostic work and conversations, openness, responsiveness, the ability to empathize, the ability to arouse sympathy are revealed.

Communicative competence and interest in communication can be easily determined by the numberfriends and detractors within the class. It may be that the child would like to be popular and have friends, but does not have a sufficient degree of interaction with peers.

It is much more difficult to correctly assess the situation in the family without direct contact with the parents. Although the refusal of parents or guardians to cooperate with the school is a sufficient sign of family problems.

Other obvious circumstances that automatically create a difficult situation for a child include the absence of a parent, alcoholism in one or both parents, he alth problems or a disability in a family member.

It is more difficult to identify no less significant problems of alienated relationships in the family, beatings, conflicting relations between parents and the child or with each other, insufficient or excessive control over the actions of the child. Such situations are usually hidden from prying eyes, and only a professional will be able to identify them during a consultation.

Goals and working methods

A common difficulty faced by children at risk is the inability to exist in society. Therefore, the main goal of working with them is to help in adaptation. Students are explained what requirements and for what reason are imposed on them by society, and what specific actions can be taken to facilitate interaction with people around them.

Many teenagers suffer from the fact that they do not know how to correctly express emotions and feelings - this problem is also solved in the framework of psychological counseling.

An important role is played by the introduction of the concept ofresponsibility, including responsibility for one's actions.

For students with low or high self-esteem, psychological techniques are used to help restore an adequate view of themselves.

The possibilities of self-realization after graduation are discussed with teenagers, they are provided with assistance in professional orientation.

Other significant goals of social work with children at risk, which can be partially achieved at group seminars, are the prevention of delinquency, depression, addictions.

If parents are ready to cooperate with the school, then great attention is paid to establishing he althy relationships in the family.

Work program

The duty to draw up an official plan for working with children at risk falls on the shoulders of the class teacher. However, if you do not approach this need formally, then a well-designed program will help to best structure future activities to help the child.

The program includes the following actions of a psychologist: individual psychological consultations, identification of psychological and behavioral problems, identification of their causes and assistance in overcoming them. The school psychologist can work with the child on their own or recommend another specialist.

The class teacher takes control over the child's progress and attendance. It provides timely notification of parents about the current situation. Cool as possiblethe leader can promote the involvement of the child in the social life of the class and in the activities of various circles, conduct individual conversations or class hours on topics that are important for the adaptation of children at risk.

The class teacher helps establish communication between parents and subject teachers.

The leadership of the school is involved in the work as needed.

Principles of accompanying children at risk

• Confidential atmosphere. It doesn’t matter who conducts the conversation: a social pedagogue, psychologist or head teacher for educational work, first of all, this is an adult who seeks to liberate the child, help him understand his actions and give them an objective assessment. In a conversation, a teacher not only considers a specific situation, but also helps to overcome fear of responsibility and of society.
• Interaction of all teaching staff working with children at risk at school. First, the problems of children in this group require a comprehensive solution, which can only be provided together. Secondly, if a child finds logical contradictions in the educational system applied to him, it loses its meaning for him, and the adults who imposed it lose their authority.
• Close cooperation with parents. The school cannot and should not take full responsibility for the upbringing of the child. Even if teachers do everything possible to form a psychologically he althy and adapted personality, their efforts are not enough without the participation offamily.

"Risk group" by discipline

There is a special "risk group" - these are children who regularly neglect discipline. Such children can be brought up in prosperous families and not have great difficulties in their studies. However, they constantly violate school rules, do not obey adults, both teachers and parents, and can enter into conflicts and fights.

A possible reason for this behavior, which is important to detect in a timely manner, is congenital hyperactivity. In addition to lack of discipline, such children are highly mobile from early childhood and may have difficulty concentrating for long periods of time.

The main advice of psychologists in this case is the constant involvement of the child in constructive activity: sports, wrestling, participation in outdoor games. In other words, the child's energy must be channeled into a peaceful direction. If parents are interested in the process of education, then with age, hyperactivity will take forms acceptable for life in society. In some professions, it can even be an advantage.

If a child from a prosperous family began to neglect discipline in adolescence, then, probably, this is how he shows that the time has come for parents to reduce the level of control and begin to take into account the interests of the child, provide more freedom.

"At risk group" by performance

It happens that children do not have difficulties in social adaptation, but regularly show a lag behind their peers in academic performance.

WhenIn solving this problem, it is extremely important to correctly identify the cause of poor grades.

Problems in elementary school may mean that parents should increase daily control over the implementation of tasks and the assimilation of subjects, help the child organize their learning activities, "join" it. At the initial stage of education, family supervision is mandatory.

If a child is not sufficiently motivated to study, it is important to have a conversation with him and explain in an accessible form the significance of the educational process for his future life. If parents show interest in the success of their child's education, then finding the right words and raising the child's motivation to an acceptable level is usually possible.

It can be extremely difficult for children to "catch up" with their peers, so when adults help him learn the missing knowledge, the first successes in themselves become a good motivation for learning activities.

Finally, it happens that adults need to moderate their ambitions for a child and transfer the child to another school with slightly lower requirements. There are many cases when a diligent child gradually lost motivation, faced with too much study material and homework for him.

After changing the place of study, such children most often complete their studies successfully and enter secondary specialized or higher educational institutions.

"Risk groups" for communication

If a child with good learning abilities develops poorlycommunication skills, it is necessary to communicate with parents. Possible reasons for a child's communication problems are stress or poor family relationships.

If communicative illiteracy is explained by innate character traits, then a psychologist needs to work with children at risk, a specialist will help identify and correct mistakes in establishing contact with classmates.

Often the child himself does not go for rapprochement with peers. Perhaps this is due to the cardinal differences in interests. As soon as he finds "his" company, communication will improve.

Do not forget that the line between "prosperous" children and children of the "risk group" is a convention. All children and adolescents go through hard times and sometimes need the help of a significant adult.