Homework can’t be posted past 5:00 p.m, and it’s one of the oldest Student Governments in the United States. These are two of the most common descriptions when it comes to the Parker’s Student Government, SG. Truth be told, though, I have had numerous assignments posted past 5:00 p.m. within the last month.
Student Government is an absolutely fantastic concept, but it feels like there haven’t been major successes recently in SG. To me, success is a significant tangible change felt not only within SG.
I have multiple issues with the current Student Government. The first of which is the lack of power. SG doesn’t have the power to do much outside of the Student Government. We have the power to amend our Constitution as we please, but outside of that, I haven’t seen a change at school due to SG this year.
A primary example of this is the 5:00 p.m. rule. This is an absolutely fantastic rule and is a major accomplishment of SG. Through no fault of SG, the policy is often ignored by teachers through technicalities. What happens if a teacher breaks this rule? Nothing. There is no significant power that SG can use to uphold this policy. When a student doesn’t do their homework, most of the time, they receive some type of deduction.
The lack of respect and power is also shown in the second problem with SG. Multiple times throughout this year, SG has been canceled and replaced with special MX’s and other events. This is SG’s time. If the school wants to do something with it, then the students should be able to vote on it. This is the time that is used for important things related to the student body and democracy which is featured prominently on the school’s website.
SG is a place for students run by students. That’s why I believe that during SG the auditorium should only be accessible to Upper School students and the faculty sponsors. Numerous times throughout the year I have seen many adults just walk in and walk out. That’s not what is supposed to happen. During SG there should only be students, the faculty sponsors, and other adults only when specifically invited by the Cabinet.
There are many ways to change and improve Parker that students are passionate about. I think this shows there is a genuine need for change and the desire to do it, but students don’t feel that it is the place of SG. I believe that the best way to encourage this change is to show this need. We need to show the weight that SG carries in students’ lives in order to increase engagement among all students. The potential and the framework for tangible change are in SG already, but there is a need for students to take advantage of that framework.
