I know I've been hitting the school systems a lot lately, but bear with me, I promise this brief blog will steer a bit of a different course. :D
In most public and private schools, some form of student government has been set up. Usually each secondary class has a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, etc, and then on the next level the whole school has a president, v.p, etc. Generally the class officers form what is called the student council or the student government. The council meets on a regular basis to discuss school policies, rules, events, activities, clubs, menus, and the list goes on. But as much discussion, committee planning, and voting as is put into these topics the ultimate decisions are still made by a school board or the school principle/office staff.
So my question is, is the position of student council in schools a valued one, or is it simply a stunt by the school to make the students feel like they have some control? I know schools fear giving students to much control, but the point of student government is to teach kids how to be leaders and how to be an active and model citizen. If our roles in student government are meaningless, how will we ever began to learn or truly even care about real issues?
Most of us at ProgressiveU do care about issues, with the exception of the few who write meaningless diary entries, but the general population of teens doesn't have a true appreciation for the issues that determine our society.
Teenagers and highschool students are the next generation of leaders in our nation, its time that the schools wisely taught them how to handle that responsibility, and I believe the only way to learn that responsibility is to be trusted with it in the first place.
What do you think? Agree, disagree? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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It depends on a lot of things: the school, the people on student council, and the school as a whole. If the students truly want something, then I think they can get it through the student council. But most high schools are filled with people who just don't care.
My experience has been that in college, you get a WHOLE lot more say. I mean, we have a complete government, from senators who pass policies to the judicial board that has some say in punishments. But colleges also have a lot more autonomy than high schools. And students generally care more because they actually have to pay to go to school, and they want their money used wisely, so they tend to care more about different policies.
~C
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Thanks for the comment. I agree, it does depend on a lot of things.
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