A Necessary Approach

School is a place for education, it is for students to dive into the wonders of the world and understand basic knowledge to survive in life, and potentially find passion in certain topics that they can apply in future jobs. Along the way, students meet other students and collect knowledge from each other. People go through this process and inevitably, school teaches students to find their individual voices. 

Sometimes, people become aware of issues against a school itself and realize that someone needs to take action in order for things to change. It’s not a bad development, it is natural that students should want reform and their voices to be heard. 

Here is a list of recent topics that are being debated in schools and what actions are being taken:

With COVID-19 rates rising, Redondo Union High School students plan a protest to advocate for virtual learning. As guidelines for COVID safety are being made but not enforced, some students are not feeling comfortable with attending school while their classmates may be sick and spreading the virus. Various students are missing in each class, making school more difficult for the students as well as the teachers. The peers in Redondo Union High School have decided to take the issue into their own hands and plan a walkout at Redondo Beach.

Students protest school’s sexist dress code as the popular social media app, Tiktok, acts as a voice for the dress code issue surrounding our society and has managed to target many audiences concerned about the topic. Recently, Student Evita Frick Hisaw has shown a light to the problem that many schools are making their dress codes with sexist ideals towards woman in mind, therefore perpetuating rape culture. As Natomas Charter School in Sacramento, California, denies these allegations, they claim that the situation was blown out of proportion and felt that the school itself was not at fault, but rather other districts.

Three Rivers, MI, reverse the ban of pride flags in a classroom after students and teachers voice their outrage with the ban. The action of simply having representation in a classroom is something that can heavily impact students that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Many teachers want to be the ones to cause that impact, they want their students to know that their class is a safe space for people of any sexual orientation. A pride flag should not be debated as a political issue.

When murmurs turn into shouts, someone is bound to listen. Some students triumph in getting recognition, petitions can be signed and meetings can be established in order to make a change. Others don’t always share the same success, but that does not mean all hope is lost for said cause. There is always someone listening and getting inspired to make a change of their own.