Voices of Youth: Is student confidentiality maintained by school counsellors?

After the recent unfortunate incident that happened at River Valley High School, more light has been shed on the issue of mental health.

Most students in Singapore have been taught that their problems can be shared with school counsellors. However, there remain students who do not seek help from these counsellors.

If schools want to support better mental health, they should pay attention to student confidentiality.

My friends and I have heard stories of students who visited the school counsellor. Not only did they return to class with their problems unsolved, but they also later found out that their teachers knew the full details of what they had shared with the counsellor.

This leads me to wonder if confidentiality is maintained when students confide in school counsellors.

Although the ministries guarantee confidentiality, some of these counsellors seem to proactively keep their schools updated, which causes students to distrust them.

Enrico Tan, 15

Secondary 3 student

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