In late July, national attention was drawn to school counseling through social media, as a series of online attacks began to surface.

Stemming from increased political polarization, over the past year there has been an increase in attacks on educators, and specifically school counselors as noted in reporting by Salon and Mother Jones, respectively. The attacks emerged on the national stage from Chaya Raichik (“Libs of Tik Tok”) and later picked up by activist group “Moms4Liberty” and other users. The “calls to action” encouraged parents not to let students meet with counselors without parents being present, as counselors were accused of driving a “transgender cult” and promoting “anti-American” values. Individual counselors were also attacked on social media being called “pedophiles, groomers, and criminals.”

As school counselors, our jobs carry both primary and secondary trauma from our work with students. Supporting students through challenging times is often what draws us to the profession. Personal attacks, even online, against the actual work and values that draw us to school counseling or malalignment of the work can be damaging or even traumatizing to school counselors themselves as well as have a negative impact on students’ access to mental healthcare.