Madison High Students Protest for Change

That student voices are actually listened to. Not just heard. Whether that is through student representatives like the Student Council, or through assemblies with the student body. You teach us democracy but refuse to practice it. That is not acceptable.

That teachers and students are no longer micromanaged and will not be in the future. There is a difference between structure and subjugation. In the student handbook, it explicitly states that students are entitled to their basic rights of citizenship. Taking away our phones and forcing us to pay to get them back is unconstitutional and violates our Fourth Amendment right.

That the cell phone policy imposed at James Madison High School is immediately repealed. There is no good reason for cell phones to be completely banned. Cell phones do not cause fights. Everyone knows the real reason that cell phones are being banned is because it is easier for the truth to come out with video evidence and near instant communication with the outside.

That we are treated like students attending a high school, not convicts in prison. This includes allowing us reasonable freedom of movement, freedom of communication, and the right to our personal property. James Madison High School currently operates like a prison. The students are the prisoners, the teachers and assistant principals are the guards, and the principal and Ms Doria are the wardens. Our personal property is confiscated as we enter the building and returned once we are released, as if we are serving a prison sentence and released after we’ve served our punishment. We are escorted to our lunch in a single straight line with police officers in the building as if we are dangerous criminals. We are students. We have done nothing wrong. We have protested, spoken up, and retaliated against oppressive policies. This does not justify any of the action that the school and district has taken to silence, control, and punish us.

That Ms Doria is removed as the behind-the-scenes puppeteer of our school. She is not a member of the faculty at our school and yet all decisions are being made by her and her boss, not our actual principal. She chooses to speak on the PA every single class period and takes away from our allotted learning time. Hearing her voice a dozen times a day every single day frustrates not only the students but staff as well. She speaks to us like she is our warden and we are inmates, not like she is a professional education specialist and is speaking to the children she is supposed to be trained to handle. The students can tell she is incredibly disingenuous and that she does not care for our wellbeing or education and instead is more concerned about the school’s reputation and keeping the “perfect” image of her boss, Superintendent Mike Miles, intact.

That the school, and/or district, informs the news of what truly is happening in the schools. From firing teachers for speaking out to making it impossible for students to enjoy learning from their teachers and equally impossible for teachers to enjoy teaching. Teachers are the ones who spend all day with their students and know what the culture of the school and students is like. No one is fighting because of cell phones. Fights at school have been happening long before the idea of cell phones were even thought of. You are deliberately sending a message to the public, that the cell phones are the problem, and everything will magically be fixed once they are erased from school property. However, it has already been proven that the opposite of that is true. We are asking you to be honest and transparent with the student body, with parents, with the news, and with the public, and to immediately stop punishing those who are.

That a formal apology is written and presented orally by whomever is deemed most appropriate to the teachers, staff, and students of James Madison High School. This is truly the LEAST that the administration of the campus could do with all it has put us through.

From,

Concerned Students of James Madison High School