The significant challenges Essay Example for Free

The significant challenges Essay The article of Gerler outlines the significant challenges of counseling in middle schools. He provides ideas and situations of concern that surrounds middle school students. Since this is the phase wherein changes begin to manifest among individuals as they transition towards adolescent level, issues such as relationships, drug and alcohol abuse, stress and experimentation comes into the picture (Gerler, 1991). Under these facets the document outlines significant areas of interest and the setbacks in the implementation of adequate policies towards change. In the end, Gerler argues the redefinition and alignment of new programs seeking to improve and facilitate effective avenues for middle school students to cope with the environment. Reacting to this, I believe that it has always been the goal of every educational counselor to find ways to provide students for active motivation and involvement in the learning process. Though it can be observed that Gerler study seems to be outdated, the challenges and trends continue to be exhibited by today’s youth. Seeing this, it is essential that careful considerations must be made on policies that will actively guide middle school students towards achieving their relevant and respective goals. Also, reflecting on the idea of bias in the research design, the document seems to connote only an analogy of setbacks faced by counselors. There was no clear indication of significant developments that had happened in the realm of middle school counseling. Seeing this, the document may seem to connote limited ability to provide information as far as its scope and ability convey the totality of the profession is concerned. With all of these, I still feel that this article is beneficial in my future profession because it gives out significant information of continuing needs of adolescents in middle school through the years. It may have been that the trends and policies implemented are changing however the essential facets and needs of these students remain the same and therefore needs attention. Understanding the conditions for the prevalence of autism in the infantile stage as well as its associated risk factors was discussed by Hultman et. al in their study. In here, they highlighted the relevant elements that surrounded the occurrence of autism. They sought to understand the relationship between areas such as maternal pregnancy and infant characteristics to the likelihood acquiring infantile autism (Hultman et. al. 2002). The methods used sought to compare the instances and medical records of pregnant women in Sweden for a time period. The results provided significant results that showed that this incidence has been related with both genetics and the environment (such as the prevalence of risk factors among pregnant women) (Hultman et. al. , 2002). Reflecting on the article presented, it clearly offers readers a good insight about the associated foundations for the formation of infantile autism and what elements constitute strong manifestations of these changes. Their ability to denote environmental and physiological makeup also gives strength in their claim that there are numerous factors to consider in studying this prevalence. Such can give future researchers and the epidemiological community areas to further study and analyze. On the other hand, there seems to be bias in the way the discussion is presented. It only highlighted the effect of smoking in generating varied responses that is then manifested as infantile autism. The complications gained in the process such as hypoxia are the stimulus that paves the way for the development of the condition. The researchers did not address some other factors present in the date they provided and mainly discussed the impact of smoking in general. With these ideas, I feel that it can help my profession because it can widen and expand my scope in understanding the areas that contribute to autism. Since this condition happens in different stages of growth, having a background in every level together with its associated implications and causes can help generate the appropriate approaches in handling individuals who have such circumstance. Reference Gerler, E. R. Jr. (1991) The Challenges of Counseling in Middle Schools in ERIC Digest. [online] Retrieved July 8, 2009 from, http://www. ericdigests. org/pre-9219/middle. htm Hultman, C. M. , Sparen, P. and Cnattingius, S. (2002) Perinatal Risk Factors for Infantile Autism in Epidemiology. 13 (4). Retrieved July 8, 2009. 417-423