“This year we have come across children with a lot of anxiety, feelings of loneliness, isolation, fear of relating to their peers and excessive use of new technologies…We, the social educators, have dealt with all of this in the centres’ classrooms”, says Irene Palau, one of five social educators who will not be able to continue her work in Sa Colomina. 
Vanesa Planells, Irene Palau, Sandra Ribas, Emma Descalzo and Maria Escrivà. | VICENT MARÍ
Irene, along with Vanesa Planells, from Santa Maria High School; Maria Escrivà, from the Algarb; Emma Descalzo, from Sa Blanca Dona, and Sandra Ribas, from the Sa Serra centre, are the five social educators currently working in Ibiza’s high schools. Both they and the students’ families are complaining that the Conselleria has decided to dispense with this role next year.
«We do not teach, we do preventive functions and socio-community »
Vanesa Planells – Social Educator IES Santa Maria
Preventive role
The Conselleria has decided that the role of the social educator is to be replaced with that of Technical Teacher in Community Service (PTSC), but Vanesa Planells argues: “We think that PTSC and social educators can coexist, the two roles can work together as already happens in other autonomous communities,” she emphasises with conviction “We actually both follow the same path, we perform different functions, but we complement each other.” In this way, the educators highlight the importance of both roles within high schools and explain that they are not mutually exclusive. Vanesa continues: “Our work is the most social part, we work alongside guidance counsellors and support the young people, we do not teach but we play a preventive role and provide socio-community intervention”.
3,000 families throughout the Balearic Islands will be left helpless, 100 per educator
Educators claim that without their work in the centers many families will no longer have support
A difficult year
The pandemic and lockdown have led to a considerable increase in mental health disorders and problems among young people. Commenting on this Maria Escrivà says, “This year I have had to give many workshops on emotional issues, I have encountered many cases of self-harm, anxiety and, above all, many eating disorders (EDs). I have even had to refer some cases to the suicide prevention programme, ” says Maria with great concern. The most serious case in the Algarb has been eating disorders. Maria explains that there are students who have not been able to finish the course because they have had to be admitted to hospital: “During the pandemic everything has been about image, taking care of themselves…to the point of having to work hand in hand with psychiatrists”, says Maria.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.