17 febbraio 2023
Dr.Nappo in his article strongly advocates greater synergy between School and Social Services. Indeed, these institutions, if they fully assume their responsibilities, can make a difference in the life journey of a Student living in a dysfunctional family environment.
Growing inequalities need to be addressed with a collaborative model between school and social services. Teachers and social workers have an obligation to address difficult youth situations together. The school has a fundamental assignment, after the family, for the growth and mental and physical development of its students. Teachers are charged to carry out, in addition to formative teaching activities, the observation of the discomforts or difficulties of learners. The school can and should find support in social services; social services are a network that deals with the protection of particularly disadvantaged learners: with their help, an attempt is made to prevent and limit unfavorable conditions, to intercept both personal and family needs that may manifest problems. Social services therefore represent, for the school, a support that offers tools to assist the difficulties of young people. It is in fact the social worker who is the person in charge, with specific training, to ensure the necessary aids.
We need to envision a more synergistic school-social services relationship, so that individualized projects can be established, pathways can be developed that erase difficult conditions, real programs of common connection must be prepared and established. The school must take care of relating to the social service system, and teachers cannot turn a blind eye if they sense that the student is a victim of beatings or violence or is experiencing a deep state of psychological distress. A timely report from the school puts specialized personnel in a position to see if the conditions exist to take action and identify a path to a solution. It is no longer enough to teach adequately or to have teachers of good will and ability to solve those problems that result in failure. Today we have the need and necessity to build a cooperative approach to promote change in the relationship between schools and social services, overcoming difficulties and differences of the two institutions and their arrangements. Collaborative contact, productive discussion and joint training would certainly be opportunities to return to both the wealth of reflection and experimentation produced in the two areas of intervention.
