George School Town Hall. A time for students to express their opinions and feel moved to freely speak about their concerns. It represents the student. It gives a voice to the silenced. The assembly allowed for open mics, for anyone to talk about their unique experiences and call for action.
With the town hall yearly occurrence well behind us, it is important to acknowledge the concerns that were shared and discuss the next steps. Students were empowered to speak out during the 1 hour and 15 minute time frame. The lines continued to grow towards the end and there were many students left to speak who didn’t get the chance. It was an eye-opening event that highlighted student opinions from mental wellness to the football team. Yet, I still feel like I am left with one question: What now?
The event kicked off before lunch, classes were shortened to provide enough time for students to stand up and share. With almost the entire school there the platform promoted student opinion as easily as possible. But even then, teachers looked upon certain topics with varying facial expressions.
Mental health has continued to spread and trap youth across the world. Students feel overworked, sleep deprived, and (in severe cases) depressed. As I read up on the facts of the issue, the results seemingly aligned with the student perspectives. According to the World Health Organization and the results released under the World mental health report: Transforming mental health for all, 1 in 8 people live with a mental health condition and 14% of diagnosed mental disorders are in 10-19 year olds. Many of us are grateful for the resources provided to us such as the Student Health and Wellness Center and Stop Days, which allow students a chance to catch up on schoolwork and give a days worth break. The concerns shared were more targeted towards expectations and the pressure of not succeeding. There is an understanding that this is a college preparatory school and that our IB Diploma is a rigorous learning program, but there is a point at which it becomes too much. In my opinion, the pressure begins right after school or sports when the only thing you do is homework. Then you start staying up past midnight to get it all done (studying, homework, etc.). Next thing you know you can no longer do anything on the weekends but schoolwork. In order to create a balanced lifestyle one must be integrating fun with knowledge. We learn this in our health classes.
Another commonly spoken topic was the state of the school football program. There are 16,000 football teams across the United States and a million players, according to NCSA (the college recruiting agency). Students argued that if the school takes away football there is nothing stopping them from taking away other sports programs. The administration has presented recent concerns with the safety for George School students participating in the sport. We have a smaller school and therefore, a smaller student body. With many students trying sports for the first time a smaller league may have been more beneficial in learning the sport, but there is also the experienced players to account for. If football is your main sport and you wish to pursue it in college a small low experienced league is far from ideal. To read up more on the case of the football team at GS, click here. The issue members of the football team felt was compelling, was the lack of transparency from administration and informing the players of their decisions. If something were decided upon, the team would have little to no say against the matter.
I spoke to a few students in conversation about what has happened in the past after the town hall, and many expressed that in past years little to nothing had been followed up with by faculty or staff. With personal stories of struggle like those about teacher and student relationships and more general ones such as those about student workload, I think that a follow up is crucial to creating a conducive environment. Sharing these thoughts was no easy task and showing empathy towards one another and creating an understanding of each other’s unique experiences will only strengthen our community. The more we can grow in appreciation of unfamiliarity, the greater of an impact George School can have on its students.
