For this article, students and teachers alike were interviewed, each being kept anonymous for their own comfort. There were a lot of good responses put in, but only five really stuck and were selected to be featured in this article. Each topic chosen will be discussed thoroughly.
The first topic that was chosen would be students receiving more or better incentives to show up, participate in class, and do their work. The idea of ‘you’ll pass if you do, fail if you don’t’ isn’t really appealing to younger elementary kids, and older high school students. Enrichment and proper rewards is a good way to get students to want to do better in school. If you were to let the kids, both elementary and high school, vote on rewards that they like and have that as something to look forward to, then there’s a very good chance that they’ll be motivated to try harder. This type of work reward system has been tried out at other schools, and most generally has been successful. There may be the argument of not building a good work ethic on its own, but in recent times, students are drawn more to getting things that they would like in exchange for good work.
When some individuals think of school, they first think of testing. The thought of testing then leads to standardized tests. This is another thing that many students and even some teachers are against. We all know standardized testing is something schools use to show the collective progress of the students' education, and how well the school is doing in terms of educating kids. The quality of the test scores and district average also determine to an extent how well the school is funded and how many grants they receive from just the state or the government as a whole. However, too many standardized tests leave students drained and stressed, which keep them from doing well. A few studies have actually shown that too many of these tests lead to students being less likely to try to get better scores because of how many tests there may be. Unfortunately, this is something the school isn’t exactly at fault for. The state decides how many tests are required, and teachers aren’t even aware of the exact material on these tests. Because this isn’t a fault in the school, I believe we, the school district as a whole, should be allowed to petition for the amount of these tests to be decreased and an alternate way of school funding be introduced. A funding way that doesn’t leave students drained and without motivation.
Moving onto an easier topic to digest, school. Multiple students have complained about school lunches. Each complaint ranges from quality, quantity, lack of variety, and the length of lunch in general. Taking the nutritional guide schools are supposed to follow into account and still looking at the quality of food, a teacher has said that it shouldn’t be affecting it the way it does. Many other schools follow the requirements to the exact, and students are served food of much better quality. There isn’t a lot of prep time or a lot of actual cooking like there should be in a typical school hot lunch. A lot of the food here is taken from a package, warmed or cooked, and served. The portion sizes for lunch sometimes aren't the best for everyone. Portion sizes should vary based on needed calorie intake. Needed calorie intake is based on a number of factors. These factors are age, size, height, sex, and lifestyle. Some students, especially those in sports, may need larger portions because they burn more calories than students that aren’t as active. A good percent of the time, when lunch rolls around, students are disappointed to see that there’s always some sort of chicken. Though chicken may be one of the healthier and more readily available meat options, it shouldn't be an almost every day option for lunches. The recent variety in food options is nice, but maybe more should be offered. The last topic on lunchtime opinions is the length of lunch. Each lunch shift lasts about 20 minutes each, leaving some students rushing to eat their lunches and sometimes not being able to finish everything they want on their plate. When students can’t finish their lunch they tend to take it back to class with them when teachers would rather not have food in their rooms. Some teachers may be alright with it, but there are some teachers that don’t want leftover lunch foods in their classrooms. Lunch is also the time students are encouraged to socialize and chat with friends outside of class time when they should be learning. Factoring in the time it takes to eat, and socialization, lunch isn’t the fairest length. Lunch should be at least 35 minutes long. This would make sure students can socialize a good amount and also have the time to finish their food and let it digest comfortably.
The next topic is something that some teachers may be a bit against, but a couple students have brought this up. Student’s should be allowed to listen to their own music and change it as long as they aren’t texting anyone on the phone or doing anything but turning on/switching music and they don’t have both headphones in during the actual lessons in class. This specifically leans more toward kids with auditory processing issues, sensory issues, or kids that just work and focus better when listening to their own music. Sometimes classes can get a little louder than some students can handle, or there are specific noises that might cause their sensory issues to spike during classes, and unfortunately one can’t always leave classes to try and calm down and take the time they may need in order to calm down. In the time they’re taking to calm down, they may be missing important information that they may need to understand an assignment, for a test, or for some other reason. As someone who struggles with sensory issues sometimes, being able to listen to music in classes while doing school work really helps keep me calm and helps me focus a lot more than I normally can. I do understand some arguments this suggestion may get. There might be some kids who abuse this option and use it to sneak on their phone during class when they should be paying attention to lessons or doing work. That all comes down to teachers paying closer to attention to those choosing to use this option to help with their work. Making students who are wrongfully using their phone during this time put their phone up is absolutely a valid option, so long as they, the teachers, know for sure the student was misusing their phone during the time.
The last option is a change I personally believe the school should make. At the beginning of the year, all teachers should put out a google form to be filled out on google classroom that asks the students their birth name for legal documents and grading purposes, their preferred name, and their preferred pronouns for their personal comfort. Even if some may find this a small and meaningless thing, this could be something that makes someone feel very comfortable in their own skin. When it comes to kids that are exploring their gender identity, many individuals lack a good support system, or don’t have a support system at all. Though it may not be the responsibility of the school to keep students comfortable to that degree, I personally feel as though the school should still offer this to students. Schools claim that they prioritize education, health, and well-being of all kids on their grounds, part of caring for their well being should be actively asking and using their preferred name and pronouns. I understand that this may sound like a silly request in the grand scheme of things, but something as ‘small’ as this may just be the thing that makes a student's school experience more enjoyable compared to what it may have been before. Students’ struggling with their gender identity may be dealing with parents that don’t support them, or treat them differently because they’ve tried seeking out some sort of support, so this, in my eyes, is an extremely important thing. Being in a space where they don’t have to deal with constant misgendering and dead naming may also be something that keeps them from doing something drastic like taking their own life. Transgender and non-binary individuals, specifically those without a support system, have had an extreme increase in suicides. I understand that not everyone is ready to talk about gender identities, but it’s not something that can be avoided forever. Again, I understand this may be something that seems small and insignificant, but I’m sure this is important to someone.
I would like to extend a thanks to all the wonderful people who helped in the making of this article. Your opinions were spectacular and I do sincerely hope that you are heard!