Recently
there has been a walk out of Memphis high school students in light of the
killing of 17 people in Parkland, Florida. Students from five high schools in
Memphis showed up at the recent school board meeting on April 17th
with a list of demands. According to Laura Kebede, the demands of the students
were as follows:
· Stop
kicking students out of school instead of figuring out what’s going on.
· Make
time for teachers and administrators to have one-on-one time with students so
they can truly get to know them.
· We
need more counselors and support groups.
· We
want a conflict resolution class to be taught in school.
· We
want a class on mental health to be taught in school.
· Do
more to stop sexual harassment and assault from happening in our schools.
· Please
do not arm our teachers. Help us prevent this from happening.
· Keep
supporting student activism and student voice in Shelby County Schools.
The youth’s demands were well developed and are important to
note moving forward in reforming education policy. The knowledge I’ve gained
while being in the course has helped to in my understanding of “poking a hole
in the sky,” and that is exactly what these students are doing. The youth’s
participation and awareness of what is going on in their schools is nothing
new. I think when we think of the youth and activist work, the mind goes toward
college students. However, the conversation extends to our youth in secondary
education. I think history has shown us the impacts that the youth can make,
and I think that it is about time we start listening.
As the youth has stepped into the
spotlight, we’ve commended students for their voice, but we fail to hear what
they are saying. For one student from Ridgeway High School, Mallori King stated
“We ask that youth are visibly and vocally involved in decision making. We are
the ones sitting in the classroom day after day. Youth voice should not look like
tokenism. It should look like equity” Kebede). Two of the demands that stood
out to me ways the demand for conflict resolution and mental health classes. These
SCS students are knowledgeable about the what is needed in their schools and
the needs for their fellow students. The mental health of our students are
crucial to getting through the day, and I believe the youth are providing
excellent solutions to difficult problems. The district looking at the budget
as new decisions about where to allocate the money toward. I am hopeful that
the district will take into consideration these student’s demands.
Source: https://chalkbeat.org/posts/tn/2018/04/24/memphis-students-present-demands-on-school-safety-in-wake-of-parkland-shooting/
I completely agree with the points being made in the post. It is absurd that the youth have been attacked after the Stoneman Douglas shooting as somehow being inherently uninformed. It it a great sign that these goals mentioned by the students in there demands, also mention things such as mental health awareness and no tolerance for sexual assault.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad that mental health awareness is part of the demands. In a place like Memphis, where the economic gap is so large, there are many families who may not be able to afford proper care for mental health. Having a class in school that would allow them to learn about the effects of stress or hormone imbalances, and hopefully expose kids to resources to use for themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to classroom safety, mental health stability can also combat the school-to-prison pipeline through means of restorative practices rather than disciplinary punishment. I also think the great think about having actual facilities in which mental health is valued is a great tool for students to find stability within adults. It is really important for students to have good relationships with authority figures, especially for students who have more mobile backgrounds or are facing homelessness. The maintenance of these relationships can foster more support for students who are disproportionately disadvantaged.
DeleteThe fact that the youth of Memphis are recognising these issues when a lot of the administration isn't is an amazing sign for the future. It gives the city hope knowing that there's a group of individuals coming through that know how to tackle the problems.
ReplyDeleteThe youth of our world are not getting the appreciation and recognition they deserve. It's astonishing that there are high school students doing more work and demanding more change than the elected officials of our city. The demands that these students made really display the problems going on within schools that nobody is talking about or bringing light to. We need to value the voices of young people more in order to make more affective change in their lives.
ReplyDelete