By: Emily Nally
At LREI, we consistently have spaces where we can address issues in our community and discuss solutions. However, these spaces we deem “safe” are often surrounded by administration and teachers, which can cause students to hesitate and not speak up. Although the student government has created the Town Hall, where students can discuss issues at LREI in a space with no faculty or staff members, it was largely unproductive and the setting was still intimidating for many students to speak up. In order for the entire LREI student body to be heard, they must have a way to voice their suggestions. The Knightly News decided to speak with members of our student body and ask them for their anonymous answer to one question: What do you want to be changed about LREI?
Sexual Harassment:
This year, our school has had many discussions on sexual harassment and sexual abuse, either in classrooms or in larger assemblies such as the Town Hall. When talking with a 9th grader, they wanted to address “the sexual assault policy [because] it’s really bad and it needs to be changed for many reasons”. Throughout the past couple years, our country has used social media to make it a safer place for sexual harassment and abuse victims to speak up by starting movements such as Time’s Up and #MeToo. The student body also wants to work towards a safer environment where students do not have to be afraid if they have experienced sexual harassment. However, this can only be ensured if we add a proper policy in the Student Handbook to make it official. Currently, the Student Handbook does not have a sexual harassment policy and only briefly mentions it under the topic of forbidden behavior.
Firstly, the Student Handbook and the sexual harassment policy are extremely difficult to find. This is a page I am sure most students recognize―the Resource page that is visible in everyone’s connect accounts.
However, once you click on the “HS Student Handbook and Policies” tab that is written very clearly…
it is completely blank.
The student body has agreed with what the Feminism Club and Class proposed, which is easier accessibility to the student handbook, a proper “sexual harassment” topic that thoroughly discusses the prohibited behaviors in the Student Handbook, and the introduction of a sexual harassment coordinator. Earlier this year, the Feminism Class and Feminism Club worked towards this goal by presenting these proposals to our administration. Curious as to how the meeting resulted, I talked to a 10th grader who is a member of the Feminism Club and was in the room for the entirety of the presentation. Throughout the entire meeting, they felt as if the administrators in the room were not listening and were trying to pass the time to get the meeting over with. An idea that the Feminism club was suggesting be implemented during this presentation, was having a sexual harassment coordinator. This person would be chosen by the student body to ensure that it is a faculty or staff member the majority of the community is comfortable with. This member of the Feminism club recalled that an administrator implied that they would “not start this because it would take a lot of work with the board”. When the Feminism Club brought up how difficult it is to access the student handbook, the administration argued against it because the only schools that do this, are the ones who have had big scandals relating to sexual harassment and abuse. There comes a point when a situation is out of the hands of the student body and we must trust the administration to listen and to go through with what we would like fixed in order to improve our community. Currently, that trust seems broken.
Socio-Economic Privilege:
At LREI, we take pride in our openness and discussion of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and all different identities. We have many assemblies and special days such as #ItHappensHere where we educate ourselves on various kinds of oppression in our society and school. However, I have talked with many students, who still experience or hear racist or sexist comments and remarks within the walls of LREI, and the numbers are large enough to realize that we can improve the ways we educate ourselves on privilege. During a conversation I had with a student who identifies as a female person of color, she told me she wishes “[that the] school [did] a better job of educating people of their privilege, and not just racial privilege but also socio-economic privilege”.
As many students know, being in a private school that is located in Lower Manhattan is an extreme privilege and having the opportunities that LREI students get are incredible. Throughout our conversation we discussed how being in middle or lower classes and relying on financial aid make many encounters with other students uncomfortable because of the things they say, such as their time at a resort in a tropical place or the new vacation home their family bought. Although she expressed that she is glad many people have these experiences she would like students to be more educated on socio-economic privilege and to have our entire student body to understand how someone can feel in these certain situations.
The LREI student body continues to acknowledge issues, analyze them, and propose or create a solution, however we cannot make all these changes without the help of the administration. If there are any situations you feel we have not discussed within the student body and/or student government, please contact the Knightly News! We would love to make your voice heard while maintaining a comfortable and safe space for you.