Members of the school community commit themselves to maintaining professional tact and discretion with regard to any confidential information they receive.  The guiding principle for extending a student’s or another faculty member’s confidence is where there is concern about an individual’s ability to function academically, emotionally, physically, and/or morally within the school environment. 

Confidentiality with Minors

The constitutional right to privacy is a very important personal right, but it is not absolute.  There may be compelling reasons for the right to privacy to be invaded.  Students have a moral right to privacy, but the law does not enforce this moral right.  The privacy rights of minors belong legally to parents or guardians.  Counselors, as well as other adults in the school, have legal responsibilities to the parents or guardians of the minor students that they counsel or teach.

Confidentiality is the general legal and ethical obligation of professional counselors to maintain secrets revealed to them by students.  Confidentiality is important to the counseling relationship: In order to maintain an atmosphere of trust, students should be able to disclose their thoughts, feelings, and actions to counselors without fear of disclosure, except, of course, in cases in which the welfare of the student may be at risk.

Under this “danger to self or others” rule, exceptions to or extensions of the confidentiality obligation must be made by counselors to disclose information to parents and or other adults.  These limits of confidentiality should be articulated to students through the group process at the beginning of each school year.  The guiding principle for this disclosure is always the welfare of the student and her ability to function physically, cognitively, emotionally and morally within the school.  Students and parents should know in advance that whenever a student’s ability to function academically, physically, or psycho-socially may be in jeopardy, extension of confidentiality through consultation with the Headmaster, Division Head, Dean of Students, and/or the parent is warranted.

Faculty and staff are cautioned about entering into confidential relationships with students, including the use of journals.  Students should be informed by teachers that information revealed to them either verbally or through a written process which raises concerns about their health or well being cannot be held in confidence and will be shared with a Counselor, the Division Head, and Dean of Students. 

Privilege is the right of an individual to refuse to release or prevent a counselor from releasing information to a court concerning matters discussed within the counseling relationship.  Board certified and licensed counselors are immune from disclosing in any civil or criminal court proceeding without the written consent of the minor counselee and her parent.