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Home » SRO » What School Resource Officers Do As LRC and LRETs
What School Resource Officers Do As
Law-Related Counselors and Law-Related Education Teachers
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Law enforcement is the most natural role for School Resource Officers (SROs) to fill. The roles of law-related counselor and law-related education teacher are not as familiar to SROs, yet law-related counseling and law-related education teaching are estimated to account for as much as half of the time an SRO spends carrying out duties in his/her school.

SROs are not licensed counselors and do not attempt to carry out the functions of licensed counselors. As law-related counselors, SROs provide information and advice to students concerning subjects about which they have expertise. They are familiar, for example, with the workings of the juvenile court system and can provide guidance about processes and services. They can offer suggestions about programs that might be available. When necessary, they can help students and parents negotiate the system and can help point out options that might exist for the students. They can help connect students to appropriate law-related services in the community.

Describing the SRO's counseling role in terms of "law-related counseling," though, does not provide a complete understanding of the type of resource the SRO can be in the arena of counseling. Although not licensed in counseling, the SRO performs a role similar to that of counselor and, for that matter, similar to the role any responsible adult can perform for a young person. This role can be described as being the "active listener." Because SROs "walk the halls," they interact with the students a great deal. Many SROs maintain open-door policies for their students which means that their students are free to stop by their offices to see them anytime. Because of such accessability, SROs often are approached by students who "just want to talk." As any adult who has been the sounding board for a young person knows, this type of interaction is important. Giving young people time, listening to their concerns, letting them talk; these are critically important actions which SROs are able to provide. Through such actions, SROs get to know their students and can help students by not only providing advice but also by connecting students to counseling services both inside the school and in the community.

As law-related education teachers, SROs draw upon their expertise about the law. As with the counseling role, SROs are not replacements for teachers; rather they provide an additional resource which can be drawn upon to teach young people about the law. Because they are representatives of the law, they can help get the message across that there are consequences for unacceptable actions. They can enhance teachers' efforts to educate students about rights and responsibilities. They can make clear that responsibilities are associated with the rights we all enjoy as citizens living in this democracy.

School Resource Officers truly are resources for their schools because they fill roles in addition to that of law enforcement. As law-related counselors and law-related education teachers, SROs provide additional avenues through which young people can be reached. They can supplement counselors' efforts to help students and teachers' efforts to educate students.		  
   
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