ASK “DR.” JONES

Expanding the Role of School Psychology

By Christopher C. Jones, NCSP

La Mesa Junior High School, Santa Clarita

            I’m not a doctor, but I play one on Video Announcements. Once a week I tape a segment for La Mesa Junior High School as part of my assignment for the past four years in the William S. Hart Union High School District in Santa Clarita. The students at La Mesa have the opportunity to submit questions to me about anything, knowing that on Fridays their questions may be answered on the air. I have been asked everything from “How do I tell a girl that I like her?” to “My dad hits me when he is angry. What should I do?”

            This idea was generated as a means to get students to come into the office and speak with either their counselor or myself, in a confidential setting. “Why me?” you ask. “Why not?” Actually, these types of activities remind me why I signed up for this job in the first place; to help kids.

My training took place at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. There it was beaten into my head that we as school psychologists are more then just people who come in with our testing kits, see a student for a few hours and then leave, only to return to an IEP meeting with a 10-page report and recommendations, then leave again. We are actually experts in many facets of the educational process, and can act as catalysts for positive change, all for the betterment of

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