Galen Price is fuming about his high school's drug testing policy—a policy that he claims is unconstitutional. Price, the former chairman of the International Student Activism Alliance, thinks that most students are apathetic about such policies because they are told what to do every day and shut out of the decision-making process. He believes that many students do want to speak up but don't because they fear reprisals. Price responds to students' questions on the Know Your Rights Web site (www.studentactivism.org). Besides helping students understand their rights, Price hopes to convince them to be more active in telling school administrators about their grievances.
Lani Riccobuono, a student in California, recalls that when a substitute teacher searched everyone's backpack for a missing baseball cap, not a single student wanted to file a complaint. She cites widespread lack of understanding about the Fourth Amendment for the lack of student action. She imagines a different world if more students took law or civics classes with opportunities to debate constitutional issues.
Millennials, the generation born after 1982, are generally thought to be both clueless and apathetic about their rights as students. Plenty of students, however, are frustrated and angry but believe that it's not worth trying to fight for their rights. A hodgepodge of initiatives exists to teach students about their rights and how to defend those rights. The most promising practices are those that create genuine collaboration and mutual respect between staff and students.
Youth Infusion
- Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools has a long tradition of seeking student input. Students persuaded school officials to table a proposal to issue photo identification badges and convinced state legislators to grant local school boards the authority to amend the ban on beepers and cell phones in schools to allow students to use these communication devices before or after school. Ironically, student safety proved to be the central argument in amending this law that originally was enacted as a school safety measure to deter the sale of drugs.
- High school students in Annapolis, Maryland, serve alongside teachers, community members, and parents on every advisory, curriculum, and study committee. State law mandates that public schools establish a School Improvement Team, and most high schools include several students on the team.
- The Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Student Union operates independently from the school system but still works from within. At Bartram, the city's largest public high school—with 3,600 students and five buildings—concern about zero tolerance policies led administrators to agree to create an ombuds-man position to improve school climate by acting as a third and impartial party when a dispute between a student and a staff member occurs. The Student Union also is creating a students' bill of rights to be read during orientation for incoming students and be posted alongside the school rules in each classroom.
- The California Association of Student Councils included in its goals for the coming year the establishment of a students' rights committee in each district. In Montgomery County (Maryland), student rights and rules are posted in five languages on the Internet.
Nick Rodriguez, who served as the voting student member on the California State Board of Education, credits his experience as a student council member with convincing him to become an activist—rather than a passive skeptic. He views roundtable discussions between students and members of the state's Senate Education Committee as positive steps but criticizes school officials and other decision makers for their failure to act on student concerns.
A Democracy for All
A major challenge for schools is to engage nontraditional leaders—those not likely to run for class office or student council—so that school officials can hear from those who feel alienated or oppressed.
In Massachusetts, the State Student Advisory Council is addressing the need to partner with a more diverse group of students by recruiting students from vocational and technical schools who weigh in on such proposals as dress code legislation. These students often dismiss student governments as little more than prom-planning organizations.
Targeted recruitment beyond student government members is also a crucial aspect of the Montgomery County Public Schools' student advocacy program. The program trains five-member teams from each high school who then teach their peers about censorship, harassment, and other issues. This peer-to-peer model is designed to reach those students who perceive teachers and administrators as adversaries.
Student Rights at Work
Two high schools stand out for sup-porting student rights. Randy Swikle, the 1999 National High School Journalism Advisor of the Year and a teacher at Johnsburg High School in McHenry, Illinois, recalls a front-page story in the student newspaper about charges that the school principal had driven a boat while under the influence of alcohol. Before he was exonerated, the principal publicly complimented the school newspaper for its fair and accurate reporting of the story. Swikle says that the tendency is to stop anything that puts the school in a bad light, but the principal who trusts journalistic integrity wins in the long run.
As principal at Federal Hocking High School in Stewart, Ohio, George H. Wood put into practice his belief that a democratic partnership with students would help create a more collegial climate than would strict adherence to rules. A student council of 60 students and a smaller group of student trustees, elected by their peers, have input on all school committees, including hiring staff. Three years ago, several parents wanted to ban a book used in 11th and 12th grade classes. Wood conducted lengthy discussions with the students. Then, students moderated evening seminars with parents. The entire community emerged stronger as a result of confronting this controversy head-on.
Activism in the Classroom
Such inclusive practices teach citizenship, experiential learning strategies, critical thinking skills, and communication skills. The challenge is to make these random acts of healthy school-student partnerships widespread. Neil Howe and William Strauss, the authors of Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation (2000), suggest that today's studentsare beginning to manifest a wide array of positive social habits that older Americans no longer associate with youth, including a new focus on teamwork, achievement, modesty, and good conduct. . . . Over the next decade, the Millennial Generation will entirely recast the image of youth from downbeat and alienated to upbeat and engaged—with potentially seismic consequences for America. (p. 4)
- Solicit ideas from a variety of students—not only student council members—on how to teach students about their rights and responsibilities. Make a good-faith effort to implement their ideas.
- Encourage class discussions, assemblies, and other forums to wrestle with specific issues as they arise. Ask students to lead or co-lead these forums.
- Support the participation of those students who are passionate about student rights in student leadership conferences or civil rights organizations.
- Support school clubs focused on civil liberties or on combating discrimination.
- Encourage teachers to discuss with students pending school board proposals or state legislation that will affect them and encourage students to participate in debates on these issues.
- Allow students to have an independent forum, such as a newspaper, to express their views—even if their positions are at odds with the school administration.
Increased collaboration among students and educators demands imagination, practice, and perseverance. But in the end, these efforts will build students' involvement in their schools and promote lifelong participation in the democratic process.
