A space to be heard: students use their voice to refine focus on issue
July 28, 2022
Response to a nationwide epidemic of gun violence has come to form a wholly unique, yet fractured portraiture of organizations at the intersection of disciplines seeking to collaborate in not only protecting students from future tragedies, but supporting them in continuous discussion.
But where elected leadership falls short, voices advocating on behalf of their respective campuses and the needs of the larger youth collective offer a perspective shaped by the condition of institutional factors outside of their control—a perspective often lauded—but rarely acted upon meaningfully.
Nitya Khurana ‘24 is one of 17 students who form the district-wide high school advisory team known as VOICE. Aiming to gather feedback from peers on their respective campuses and communicate such suggestions to the Board of Trustees and Superintendent, program participants have led discussion on subjects ranging from dress code requirements to student safety. In reflection of recent events, Khurana acknowledges implications in the calls to implement stricter security measures.
“It’s really easy for anyone to get in the building,” Khurana said. “There’s not really a way to address this in terms of infrastructure. [If using] student IDs [as a security measure], it’s easy to forget them, [and] you [may] get locked out for the whole day. One way they could [address the issue] is potentially having more police officers, but that would bring up another safety concern about those police officers [having] guns, and it’s not a given that you can trust them.”
Although concerns related to campus safety in the event of an active shooter have not been explicitly discussed by VOICE members this past school year, other topics receiving significant district investment in recent years have seen the mark of student input.
“We’ve actually discussed mental health a lot,” Khurana said. “That’s a huge priority especially now, [as] it’s on the uptake that people are talking about it, and more people are getting the help they need.”
In recognizing the power relationships that govern education, it is the insights of students that acknowledge the shortcomings of public policy while magnifying vital necessity for more.
“Despite having this student leadership group, I think a lot of student voices are still missing,” Khurana said.