Student voice is what makes up a school’s identity; it utilizes the power of exclaiming certain opinions, giving students the opportunity to speak out on the wrong and focus on the right. In a functional school, students can simultaneously share ideas and connect, however, in less successful schools, the idea of making oneself be heard is a mere dream, and the student government has been deciding how to lead the overall voice of Ballard High School.
During Homecoming and spirit week, students felt as though their voices were being unheard. Many underclassman students have stated that they feel as though their opinions aren’t being heard in certain situations such as choosing themes for football games and spirit week. When polling random students, Between the Lines heard the following: “All grades should have a say in what the themes are.” President Nia Smith gave a comment.
Senior class President Nia Smith stated, “It’s not that I’ve been trying to go off on my own and lead[ing] decisions, but I was trying to make sure that Seniors have more of a voice only because we have been here the longest, and my idea of it was seniority.” The idea that seniority has control of student voice at Ballard is controversial, and many of the senior student government members have diverged away from this idea.
When these new rumors of “seniority” became the driving voice and underclassmen complained that their opinions would not be shared out, Dr. Neuss led a lunch meeting where all student councils came together to put these rumors behind, however, when asked about what was mentioned at the meeting, senior Secretary Camila Castro Castillo stated, “We want to make sure that we’re not overstepping on roles or overpower and diminish the other voices of the group… and that everyone’s heard, that everyone can participate. I think it is unfair that we all have student council positions and not all of us are being represented or heard.” Some student government members are concerned about the reputation of the council if it can’t function to be able to hear from all grade council members.
When asked about student voice, Senior Media Director Maddie Thompson stated, “I would have the students suggest different themes like we did [last year] but instead of pushing… seniority, like only seniors vote, I would have had all the classes post the same poll and put together the answers.” Many of the student council members have come up with resolutions in order to solve the issue at hand in order to prevent any student conflict by including more council members and the student body of Ballard.
However, this is a first time experience for many of the student government members. Students have reviewed their roles in student government. They will continue to learn and revise from their mistakes and create a united community within the student body for Ballard High School.
