"About three percent of suicides simply have no reason"

School psychologists - about their work and about the death of adolescents in Pskov

After on November 14, two teenagers who escaped from the house were killed in the village of Strugi in the Pskov region, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets announced the need to reform the psychological assistance service in schools. Reform details are still unknown. Medusa talked with school psychologists about how they help children, and why no one managed to help two schoolchildren from Pskov.

Sergey Logachev

Business trainer, from 1991 to 2006 a psychologist at school No. 6, Perm

The first graduates of the Perm Psychology Faculty graduated from the university in 1990, I released from there in 1991. I can say that until about 1995-1996, psychology at the school remained the lot of individualists - people who tried to understand the subject themselves, to find an approach, the system of psychological service as such.

Then it became fashionable to have a psychologist at the school: schools had money on them. Psychologists began to unite with each other into informal groups. These were all the same amateurs who burned their business and worked not for money, but for the idea, because they were sorry for the children-the 1990s also went seriously on them. In these associations, professionals began to be born, because they constantly solved problems, exchanged experience and formed a profession. Somewhere since 2001, the state began to connect to this trend, it began to create psychological centers, systematically introduce methodologists into the district departments of education, and lower the rules and standards on top. Since 2003, the system has been formed.

The effectiveness of the profession was held on rather illiterate, but enthusiasts. Over time, literacy has become larger, only the enthusiasm has almost disappeared, and the effectiveness remained at the same level, I would appreciate it on Trochka. On the other hand, what a salary, such a result. A professional psychologist at the school will never receive more than 20-30 thousand rubles. Inert people without ambitions go to school, while prone to methodological, systematic work, hardworking and executive.

I think that if there are some changes in the future, then they will affect documentation, registration, and accounting statistics. It is unlikely that something will change, the system works more or less stable, so they will not touch it.

In relation to the Pskov tragedy, I will say that the school psychologist could not affect a similar situation. This is a sociocultural phenomenon - a whole generation of people who did not meet special problems in their lives has grown up and do not know how to cope with problematic situations. They simply do not have such a skill. And any impetus or stress can lead to consequences that are very difficult to warn. The case that occurred in Pskov does not concern the school psychologist, because everything happened outside the school. Of course, they will ask him if he carried out prevention, whether he knew that this situation could happen. But, as I have already said, if society changes, such situations will occur more and more often.

In my school practice there was a case: the student committed suicide. Then I probably did not sleep at night for a month, I studied where suicides come from, how it comes, what signs, raised all his research, all his tests. But, unfortunately, somewhere around three percent of suicides simply do not have a reason. I still sometimes return to this situation, and it happened about twenty years ago. I scroll through all its elements: the boy’s parents had problems with the business, the child was left alone, no one supported him, I tried to double him with other guys, but the whole range of events that were held did not have the right effect. And you still go and think, what else could you do in this situation.

Maria Grechishkina

Psychologist in the gymnasium No. 1567, Moscow

Our gymnasium has not one psychologist, but a whole psychological service: there are three of us, and each is responsible for their link - the initial, middle and senior. Our task is to maintain the psychological health of the child, a psychologically comfortable environment for his development, as well as the support of all participants in the educational process: children, parents and teachers.

Already in the first grade, we conduct a survey of parents, teachers and the guys themselves. And as a result, we determine the risk group: children who have anxiety or neurotic states, but who outwardly do not show this, and parents do not see this due to ignorance or lack of time. We can already at an early stage determine that the child may have difficulties in the educational process or in adaptation, and help him. In these cases, we conduct individual classes or classes in small groups.

Once a week I accept the whole day in my parents' office. There are quite a lot of them. Basically - parents of first -graders, but there are many who need to consult: which profile is better to choose, for example. There are also those who advise, how best to behave with the child in the event of a change in the family situation.

Children also come to me. I get acquainted with the children when they only come to school. From our first meetings, I get to know them with a confidence phone, tell them who the psychologist is, why he is needed.

Adult children also know about this space, they know that this is the space of secrets, that everything can be said here. You can even complain about the teachers, throw out the negative. They come when it is simply difficult for them or there is an acute conflict situation and they do not know what to do.

Once I ran into a bullying: the whole class was negative about one child. A number of events were held with this child, and with the family of the child, and, of course, with the rest of the guys, because it is a collective, school phenomenon. And the story has long been forgotten - the child was re -accepted into the team.

I heard that in the work of a school psychologist they want to strengthen the professional beginning. I suspect that all these amplifiers will be directly related to the increase in paperwork. I personally were lucky: I spend most of my working time with children, not with papers. But colleagues in other schools have a completely different situation.

If we talk about Pskov adolescents, then, as I understood, these were outwardly prosperous children who did not demonstrate any internal aggression. But it is precisely because of such cases that the work of a psychologist with a class teacher should be well organized. If the psychologist is one at 500-600, and sometimes 1000 children, he simply cannot keep track of everyone. But the class teacher, who has 25 people in the class, may and should see some changes in the behavior of the child and share his doubts with the psychologist. Most likely, these teenagers were deprived of love, attention, understanding. Children of the ever -employed parents are very missing affection.

Elena Gergova

Psychologist in the educational complex "School 362", Moscow

Adolescents in transition is a separate topic. By the way, Pubertat has decreased today, it happens that the manifestations of this crisis are visible at ten years. The guys have questions of self -determination: find their place in society among peers. Study is fading into the background, self -esteem falls, problems appear in relations with parents who, as children, do not understand them. Most often, what are your parents on -duty questions: "How are you at school, what did you eat, ate?" - And all. Teenagers simply have no one to go to discuss their problems. At this moment, a school psychologist is just the person who does not read notations, does not give assessments, you can simply talk to him about what is important.

In order for the children to come to me with their problems, I spend a fairly large job, we have known many of them from the first grade. I regularly visit class hours, school events.

At one time, schoolchildren were told that a psychologist is a “doctor who is digging in our brain, and if you behave badly, then the teacher will take you to him.” It took a lot of effort and time that children are accustomed to the idea that a psychologist is a friend who respects the problems of students and does not tell parents and teachers without their resolution. It is very important not to lose their trust.

In our educational complex, I am the only psychologist on three kindergartens and school. Of course, I alone cannot accompany each child, here I really need the help of teachers who often ask me to pay attention to some students.

Separately, it must be said about the amount of paper work that lies with school psychologists. She takes a lot of time. This is the filling of all kinds of magazines: a magazine of group work, in which it is necessary to indicate who was present, what was dedicated to, what we did on it; individual magazine; Consulting Journal if my parents or teacher came to me for a consultation; A diagnostic magazine in which I write what diagnostics I conducted with a specific child. And there are also seminars, parent club, compilation of characteristics.

I would very much like to have more than one psychologist in schools, but a psychological service in which the work will be distributed between two or three specialists. Then we will be able to go deeper to all problems deeper, we will not miss a single baby. I wanted to have less paper work. We are still psychologists, not secretaries, and I want to spend more time with children. A lot of work with teachers who should also believe in us should also be done.

There are always children at school who need more than the rest, so in my graphics a special time is allocated for them. Now a child with very low self -esteem goes to me, even at first he had suicidal statements. His teacher told me about him, then we met with my mother, took measures in time, now the case went in the way.

To recognize that Pskov adolescents had something wrong, I think it was possible. But for this, not only the school psychologist, but also the teacher should carefully treat children. After all, the most terrible and offensive when the school is full of adults and everything happens before their eyes, but no one notices and does not see anything, and then they only wonder how this could happen.

Ekaterina Korovkin

Children's psychologist, worked in the educational complex "Vorobyovy Gory", Moscow

It so happened that I came to school, where there was no systemic work of psychologists before me. The task was to have the task that children, teachers, my parents find out that there is such a person who can be addressed if there are any difficulties if there are questions.

I started by advertising myself, I tried to inform everyone around that I exist. And here a lot depends on contact with teachers. After all, they are the most important people at school. If the teacher does not want to let you into their space, into class, then parents and students will also resist.

Positive shifts help in building trusting relationships when it is possible to help a child or a whole class. The students “settled” my office in just a month. I organized a large table there, moving my desks, brought board games, but I had to do everything on my enthusiasm and at my own expense.

At large changes, whole classes began to come to me to play. After lessons, some of these children came separately.

Once I found a girl who systematically cut her veins. Later it turned out that she had a clinical depression. I managed to identify this through the general diagnosis that I spent in all classes. I realized that the child in a personal profile is very different, asked the class teacher to chat with the girl, so we managed to help her.

School psychologists have a separate diagnosis of suicidal risks, which appeared not so long ago: all the guys, somewhere starting from the 7th grade, are diagnosed on signs of depression, and self-processing. When a school psychologist reveals such inclinations from someone, he must transfer such a child to a special service. The school psychologist himself should not work with such guys: he will not have enough qualifications.

I have great doubts that there was a psychologist in the Pskov school where the dead teenagers studied. And if it was, I will not be surprised that it was at least 500 students. This is a very large emotional load, in each class there is one or two children who require individual work and assistance-at the level of systemic work.

It seems to me that it is necessary to revise the volume of work of school psychologists: five hundred children per specialist is not realistic.

Sasha Sulim

Moscow