“No taxation without representation!” A fundamental statement in American history, outlining colonial America’s disgust with the British Parliament enforcing laws upon the American people despite the fact that no Americans were consulted when creating the laws.
Adults and children alike exhibit frustration toward the idea that one who is not representative of the people governed implements laws for said people. Such frustration is the principle of American democracy.
Is it so odd, then, for students to wish to be consulted in their governing policies as well?
The Board of Education for Dare County Schools has experienced a dramatic change in membership. Three of the seven board members are being replaced, and there are some things that Nighthawk News feels these new representatives of education should know.
In a series of class discussions, the single most important thing for new board members to be aware of, at least for the Nighthawk News staff, was that we, the student body, have a voice.
Beyond the confines of our publications classroom, the First Flight student body as a whole has opinions and contributions to give and share that, up until now, have generally been overlooked by those in charge of our education.
Students and teachers are afforded, through their experiences, a direct line of sight into the goings on in our public high school, yet the students are given no voice when it comes to policies being implemented by the Board of Education.
The Board holds so much power and, at least from the student perspective, fails to be checked in its reach by the opinions of the body they govern. While not every student wishes to be heard or frankly cares what happens as a result of board meetings, there is still a large portion of the student body that wants their opinions and insights to be validated beyond the unrealistic reaches of simply stating their claim as a citizen.
Secondly, the Nighthawk News staff hopes to remind the Board of Education that mental health matters.
With stressful workloads, at-home happenings, approaching futures and all-encompassing burnout in tow, students throughout the school exhibit a wide range of mental health states on a daily basis.
While some members of the Nighthawk News staff hope you might consider mental health days off of school, or even reconsider the absence policy for the county and exams in order to lessen the stress on students’ plates, the least we can ask is that you please take students’ mental health into account.
High schoolers are supposed to be young adults, preparing to step into the real world without any sort of safety net to have our backs like we did when we were in high school. As young adults, we feel that it is important for our concerns to be heard by the body in charge of preparing us for the aforementioned real world.
We look forward to hearing from the new Board of Education and what policy changes may come with the new members. We just hope they come with as open of minds as we have.
This staff editorial reflects the opinion of the Nighthawk News editorial board.
