To Tell Or Not To Tell?

Why it is important to reassure children, young people and adults about confidentiality and why it may need to be breached.

Matters related to confidentiality and disclosures are legal issues, both adult and children have the right to confidentiality, in some situations it is not possible to maintain it. In some circumstances confidentiality has to be broken, if there is a concern of an individual wellbeing or aware of a crime, that must be reported to the necessary authority. A normal code of conduct process must be abided by when breaking confidentiality.

Another dilemma would be when to break confidentiality and share information. If you have any concerns about a child or feel they are at risk you need to share them and report it, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

This paper is a response to a video discussing the issues of confidentiality, privilege, reporting, and duty to warn. This paper looks at these issues and their explanations in the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics as well as the Georgia State Board of Professional Counselor’s ethical guidelines and provides a commentary on the laws. It was found that these issues are not always black and white, but there is some debate on these issues. Confidentiality is both an ethical and a legal responsibility yet there are often times when the ethical demands clash with the legal demands. This paper explores some of those crashes and explains what I have learned from the video and the professional and stage guidelines concerning confidentiality and its implications and how I will apply what I have learned into future practice.

In the book the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls The advice that the Dad gives his children could get them in trouble.One quote that supports this is “Dad had always said that self-defense was a justifiable reason for shooting someone.” This quote is interesting to me because this is a girl that is barely eight years old and is being questioned by the police about neighbors hearing gunshots, and she said it was in self defense. But she didn’t need to shoot the gun at all, first off Billy was shooting them with a BB Gun, and three of them were safe undercover behind a table, and the fourth child made it upstairs, they could have waited for him to get tired of shooting or run out of BB’s. But the way their father brought them up, gave them the

Describe and analyse the potential tension between maintaining an individual’s confidentiality and disclosing concerns. (e.g. where abuse of a child or young person is suspected, when it is suspected that a crime has been/may be committed)

If a child/pupil discloses information to an adult in school that is of a serious nature, then the child should be made aware that the information given will need to be shared to protect them. If the school believes a child/pupil is at risk of serious harm then the confidential information will need to be shared with external professionals, such as police, social services, and other

Therapists get legally allowed to warn others of potential dangers. This article should expound on how this can be done, and when the need should be identified by clinician. An ethical decision has to be made by an individual when they decide to exercise their duty to warn. Duty to warn allows the counselors, and psychological therapists to breach confidentiality when a person endangers life of another. The clinical therapists cannot be prosecuted for warning a third party of imminent danger or if they unreasonably suspect the patient might harm themselves. Initially, the therapist had no right to disclose the content of their discussions to another party until Tarasoff got killed.

Young children are defenseless. They do not have the body size to defend against an adult attacker, nor do they have the maturity to deal with such a stressful situation. Therefore, children ages three to thirteen should be given the most focus when it comes to protection since they are the most vulnerable and defenseless if attacked. While those above thirteen should also be trained for the situation of a shooter, events like the Sandy Hook shooting reinforce the need for the younger population to learn to deal with the situation. In 2015 alone, there were 64 incidents of school shootings, and hundreds of innocent lives are

From past experience, I believe the words once said by Maggie Kuhn: “Speak the truth even if your voice shakes” are important words to live by. What she says is important to me because sometimes if you don’t speak people will get away with doing terrible things they’ve done in the past and continue doing them to other people. I should’ve spoken when the chance was given to me. Because I didn’t, I have to deal with daily guilt. I hope by sharing my story people will stick up for themselves and others if they’re scared.

The huge increases in juvenile homicides and suicides between 1987 and 1993 were due largely to easier access by juveniles to firearms (Redding & Shalf 2001). As a general conclusion, the risk of crime, delinquency, and violent behavior is greater in inner-cities as opposed to suburban and rural areas. An evaluation of school violence and gun possession in these areas is important to understand in order to draw significant solutions. According to Redding and Shalf (2001), inner-city youth most often carry guns to school because they are scared. Surveying students in ten inner-city high schools in four states, they found that 15% of the high school students surveyed owned a gun; 70% of them reported doing so for protection. Twenty-eight percent of students surveyed bought a handgun because they felt their “enemies” had guns; only 13% of the students bought a gun “to get someone”; and twenty percent reported having been threatened with a gun. These statistics draw upon the conclusion that students bring a gun for their own protection; however, this does not assume that the students will not use the gun in a violent manner. Twenty-eight percent of the students agreed that it is “okay to shoot someone who

The author of I Can’t See the Azaleas did a great job in getting her point across, being that no one is exempt from being a victim of crime. Most people believe they live in a world that is safe and secure, but as Sargent Dianna Thomas showed that is not the case. Women and children need to be aware that danger lurks around every corner, and if they are not paying attention to their surroundings they make themselves an easy target. Also people who want to want harm others is not always a stranger that he or she passes on the street, but the person with whom we share our homes and lives with. Be aware of the company that you keep.

A study conducted with 201 parents and an equal number of their children found that 33 percent of the children knew the location of the guns in the house, while 22 percent even handled the weapons, despite their parent's contrary (Boodman). This study showed that even though parents think their children do not know the locations of the firearms stored in the house, it is not the case. Miller says, "Age was not a factor in whether children had handled weapons." Five-year-olds are just as likely to do what 14-year-olds do. Even "teaching kids to be safe around guns doesn't work," declared Jon Vernick, "This is probably the first time I've heard that education is a bad thing and not effective." (qtd. in Boodman) The issue of gun accessibility in homes widened on May 8, 2006, when a delusional 18-year-old, Matthew Kennedy, shot two Fairfax police officers to death. He was armed with seven guns, including an AK-47 style assault rifle. Authorities said to have found 15 other guns propped up against walls, and two others were loaded. The risks of guns being in the hands of youths are being simply underestimated (Boodman). Two other incidents include a 10-year-old who unintentionally shot himself dead while attempting to find his soccer ball - and a 13-year-old who shot himself with a semi-automatic pistol. Miller states that parents should make their

If one of Brett's friends would have spoke up, he would not have died. When someone else's life is in danger and you are too scared to tell because if you do you would get in trouble. You should still tell because if you do not it could cost that person their life. Also by not telling you would live knowing that you could have saved your friend's life. Although there are some readers of ¨To Tell or Not to Tell¨ by Mary Kate Frank that have argued that you should not tell because if you do you could be viewed as a tattletale or a snitch, closer examination shows that you should tell because you can save lives by telling an adult about a life threatening situation.

This Information is subjective, that suicides and deaths are from guns that are in the household. No citations on the information and one study from the UW for the entire state of Washington. The percentage of people committing suicide using poisons and the amount using guns has no data backing it with the exception of one editor of the American Journal of public health. A telephone heath survey performed is the other source of data for credibility. Basic logic to understand, and after the reader can cross reference with data and eliminate or remove other ideas on the subject. Basic safety is addressed and hits the topic for reasoning. There are logical fallacies and emotional attachment based on two opinions of correction. These can both be counter argued and with data, may be proven