Course has guest speakers to tell about realities of job

One of the newest classes on campus hit the ground running when classes started this fall and has already brought guest speakers on campus.

The Introduction to Social Work class, which is being offered for the first time this semester, asked Beth Andsager and Sharon Grimes, of the Pratt Social and Rehabilitation Services Center to come on campus and talk about what it is like to be social workers.

“Instead of just having the students listen to me lecture, I wanted them to know the reality of the job,” said Joyce Frey, instructor. “A lot of them are considering going into social work and I want them to know what they are going to go through every day.”

Frey said in the class students will learn about social work in nursing homes, hospitals, schools and SRS.

The ladies who came on campus, discussed what procedure they go through with a child when abuse is suspected, what part they have when a child runs away and discussed some of the difficulties of the job.

Andsager said that on average they each work with around 17 children at a time and that each case is very different. She and Grimes told students about different situations they have been in and what they can expect to see and feel if they go into the field.

“I love my job and I love to help children but it can be very difficult,” Andsager said. “It is always rewarding when you can keep a child in the home and help the parents make the steps they need to in order to change.”

Frey said this class isn’t important just for students wanting to go into social work but also for students wanting to go into criminal justice or just wanting to know more about the system.

“There is a lot of miss guided information out there and even if they are not looking to go into it as a career, they will be affected by it at some point in their life,” she said.

Andsager said the most misleading information about their job is that anytime a SRS person comes to the door they want to take the child out of the home, which she said isn’t the case.

“Our goal when we go to someone’s home is to find out the truth about what is going on and see how we can help,” she said. “We don’t have the right to remove a child without law enforcement or a court order.”