A Study of the Needs of Pulaski High School Students

During the past few years there has been a great deal of emphasis placed on guidance. Why? One does not have to search far for sufficient evidence indicating the lack of it. The rapidly increasing number of cases involving the breaking-up of family life, juvenile delinquency, mental breakdowns, low achievement of the bright, and psuedo-guidance illustrates the point. In a positive sense, one can note increasing urbanization, the extent to which the amount of education is increasing, the increase of industrial lay-offs and specialization, and, in general, the complexity of modern life. The crux of the matter seems to lie in the fact that at the present time a person has to make more choices and adjustments in all phases of life than ever before. The writer felt that if one could study needs and, in a sense, delimit or more clearly define the areas into which student needs fall, it would lead to a better understanding of various students choices and adjustments. The opportunity to conduct a study of this type presented itself at Pulaski High School, a school of approximately 2000 pupils in Milwaukee, where Mr. Westgaard, the principal, in cooperation with the counselors and homeroom teachers were interested in anything which might contribute to their guidance efforts