The 8 Most Important Situations Of Vulnerability At School
What (and what) are the situations of vulnerability at school? In this article we will focus on the concept of educational vulnerability to explain what situations can cause it.
For its part, educational vulnerability refers to all those difficulties or obstacles that interfere with the student’s academic career. In what sense? We will see it below. In addition, we will also talk about up to 8 types of these situations and we will mention examples of each of them.
Before delving into the concept of educational vulnerability, we are going to explain what vulnerability itself consists of.
To do this, we collect a definition from Busso (2001), which defines it as “a multidimensional process that converges in the risk or probability of the individual, home or community to be hurt, injured or damaged in the face of changes or permanence of external situations and/or adverse internal conditions” (Busso, 2001, p. 8).
On the other hand, educational vulnerability is a concept that refers to the situation of vulnerability in which some students find themselves, who manifest or experience a series of difficulties or obstacles throughout your academic career ; These obstacles make it difficult for them to make the most of teaching within the classroom and within the school context in general.
Thus, broadly speaking, what educational vulnerability does is weaken a student’s schooling bond.
Difficulties for good schooling
What do these difficulties or obstacles mentioned consist of?
These are different types of situations of vulnerability at school, which are experienced by students at one time or another in their educational career, and these can be: family, emotional, interpersonal situations, related to the teaching process and learning, with the educational context or climate (environment), etc.
All these situations They can be accompanied by other phenomena of varying complexity which can also affect the well-being of the student and/or interfere with their educational process (which can affect various areas of this: personal, relational, educational…).
What does all this lead to? The majority of cases are academic failure, coupled with interference in the well-being and quality of life of the student. School failure can also lead to depressive symptoms, bullying, low self-esteem, family problems.
In fact, we will see all these situations of vulnerability at school (whether as a cause or as a consequence of school failure, although above all as a cause of it) throughout the article.
Vulnerable situations at school
We have collected up to a total of 8 possible situations of vulnerability at school, which can lead to problems of various types and characteristics ; school failure, relational problems, self-esteem problems, depressive and anxious symptoms, etc.
All of these situations, as well as their consequences, interfere with the academic career of the students in many ways.
1. Present poor academic performance
The fact of presenting poor academic performance can end up leading to academic failure among other things.
This is one of the situations of vulnerability in the school, since it can also lead to other problems and interfere with the student’s adaptation to the center, his/her good performance, the passing of the different courses, the relationship with his colleagues, etc.
2. Have family problems
Family problems (as we will see more specifically in the next point) can greatly affect the well-being of the student, which directly influences their academic sphere, but also their personal, relational sphere…
Family problems can be of different types, from having poor communication with parents, to living in a hostile and unstructured environment, etc
3. Alcoholism in one of the parents
Another possible situation of vulnerability at school is the fact that one of the parents has alcoholism.
Family circumstances greatly influence the student’s performance, in your well-being, your relationships, your frustrations, your quality of life, etc. Furthermore, having one of the parents be an alcoholic can generate great stress in the home, as well as feelings of guilt and helplessness in the people who live with the alcoholic. All this, logically, will influence the school.
4. Presence of problems in interpersonal relationships
Problems with peers (that is, with peers of the same age) also constitute an obstacle that turns the student into a person in a vulnerable situation within the educational context.
5. Presence of emotional problems
The emotional problems of the student himself/herself can also become another situation of vulnerability at school, since These problems can very negatively affect their well-being, which will make their relationship with others difficult the construction of positive self-esteem, their relationship with teachers, etc.
The fact that the student has difficulties with teachers can also negatively interfere with their academic career. These difficulties They can range from the classic thought of “the teacher has a thing for me” to real battles with them.
7. Behavior problems in the classroom
Behavior problems are another situation of vulnerability at school. These can be of different types, and range from mild to serious (they also depend greatly on the age of the student).
We must also think that Under many behavioral problems (or disorders) other deeper problems hide usually of an emotional nature, which must be taken into account and properly treated.
8. Special educational needs (SEN)
Finally, another situation that can lead to educational vulnerability is the fact of being a student with special educational needs.
This concept refers to the fact that a student requires certain specific educational support and attention during a period (or the entirety) of their schooling. They arise as a result of suffering from an intellectual disability, a sensory disability, behavioral disorders, etc.
