part two
Knowing Your Role When Students Come to YouIn part one of this series, I recapped the legal and tactical sessions I delivered at the Ohio School Resource Officers Association (OSROA) Basic Training Course — covering proactive safety planning, the Barnes v. Felix Supreme Court ruling, and the Six Domains of School Safety framework.
Part two focuses on what happens when students come to you personally — with their problems, their pain, and sometimes their disclosures of serious harm. Two sessions addressed this directly: the SRO as an informal counselor, and the SRO’s obligations under Title IX.
The SRO as Informal Counselor: Knowing Your Role and Its Limits
One of the most nuanced aspects of the SRO role — and one of the most misunderstood — is the counseling piece. Under the NASRO three-role model, SROs serve as law enforcement officers, educators, and informal counselors. That word “informal” carries a lot of weight.
An SRO can listen to a student’s concerns, provide encouragement, connect students to resources, and serve as a trusted adult and mentor. What an SRO should not do is diagnose mental health conditions, provide therapy, conduct clinical assessments, or become a student’s primary support system. Those roles belong to licensed mental health professionals — school counselors, psychologists, and social workers — and for good reason.
We also addressed a reality many SROs don’t think about: conversations with students are not confidential. Unlike licensed counselors who operate under privilege protections, SROs are law enforcement officers. Information may be documented, shared with administrators, and passed to investigators. Mandatory reporting obligations — including suspected child abuse under Ohio Revised Code §2151.421 and credible threats of harm to self or others — apply regardless of whether the officer is in uniform or a polo shirt.
Three exercises brought these issues to life. Officers worked through how to respond when a student requests confidentiality before making a serious disclosure, how to redirect a student who has become overly dependent on the SRO for emotional support, and how to maintain trust with a student while still fulfilling reporting obligations. These aren’t hypotheticals — they are situations SROs encounter regularly, and officers who haven’t thought them through in advance are more likely to respond in ways that create liability or harm.
The referral process received significant attention. A warm referral means personally walking a student to the school counselor — not pointing down the hall. It means following up in the days afterward as a caring adult, not as a clinician. And it means staying in the loop as part of the school’s multidisciplinary team without trying to do everyone else’s job.
The key principle: SROs can be a trusted adult, a mentor, and a bridge to help — but they should not function as a student’s therapist.
Title IX and the Role of School Resource Officers
The final session covered Title IX — the federal law enacted in 1972 that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational program receiving federal funding. What many SROs don’t fully appreciate is how directly this law applies to them.
SROs operating in schools are typically agents of the school district, which means Title IX obligations attach to them. In most cases, they are designated required reporters — meaning that when they become aware of any instance or reasonable suspicion of sexual harassment, sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, or gender-based discrimination, they must report it to the school’s Title IX Coordinator.
The SRO’s role is specific: receive the report, notify the Title IX Coordinator promptly, connect the student to supportive measures, and document what happened. The SRO does not investigate Title IX complaints. That responsibility belongs to the school.
Documentation was a major focus. Officers learned what to record — date, time, location, parties involved, a factual description of the alleged conduct, actions taken, and resources offered — and equally important, how to record it. Documentation is objective. It records facts, not conclusions, and uses the student’s own words where possible. The Title IX Coordinator, not the SRO, determines responsibility.
The session also addressed trauma-informed communication. Students disclosing sexual harassment or assault may seem inconsistent, anxious, or detached — not because they’re being evasive, but because that’s how trauma presents. Research supports this: the way an officer responds in the first 60 seconds of a disclosure significantly affects whether the student feels safe enough to continue and cooperate.
We covered empowerment (letting students lead at their own pace), confidentiality limits (you cannot promise complete privacy, but you can promise discretion), and cultural sensitivity (tailoring your approach to the individual rather than making assumptions). A scenario exercise had officers walk through an appropriate first response to a student disclosing sexual harassment — from initial acknowledgment through documentation and resource connection.
The Bigger Picture
Across all five sessions at the OSROA Basic Training Course, a consistent theme emerged: the most effective school resource officers don’t just respond to problems — they prevent them. They know their legal obligations and operate within them. They build relationships before crises develop, refer to the right professionals when students need more than they can provide, and document their decisions in ways that protect both themselves and their districts.
It was an honor to contribute to the professional development of Ohio’s SROs. They carry a heavy responsibility on behalf of every student and staff member who walks through a school door each day.
Bring This Training to Your State SRO Association
If you’re interested in bringing any of these training sessions to your district, school, or SRO association, I’d love to connect.
