As my eighth grade year was coming to a close, I was frantic figuring out ways to immerse myself into the high school. In order to better assimilate as a freshman, teachers and older students suggest that eighth graders explore various activities and extracurriculars. With Student Government being a prominent aspect of the high school, eighth graders are often eager to take part in it, just as I was.

Although I was excited to actively be involved in Student Government by having an elected position, looking back on my experience, I am glad I didn’t have one. I do not think eighth graders should be able to run for elected positions. The proposal to prohibit eighth graders from securing a position in student government as freshmen will help maintain fairness across the freshman grade and promote experienced students to take leadership positions.

Even though the Directors of Committee Affairs (DOCCs) educate eighth graders on the functions and basic rules of Student Government, they are inexperienced and have much less knowledge about Student Government in comparison to their older counterparts.

The DOCCs try their best to inform and prepare the eighth graders for Plenary, yet they still attend Plenary for one semester before entering high school. Electing a student for a leadership position who has had such limited time in Student Government takes away possible positions from students who have spent more time engaging with and learning about Student Government.

The eighth grade class is not representative of the entirety of the incoming freshman grade. Because of this, new students are put at a disadvantage due to their inability to run for an elected position during the spring.

The actual process in which eighth graders get their name on a ballot is unfair. A common trend throughout election season is when older students recruit an eighth grader to run with in order to win more votes. However, this eighth grader is normally already well-known and well-liked (normally by having an older sibling in the high school) throughout the high school putting lesser-known eighth graders at a disadvantage at joining a committee. During my eighth grade year, many of my friends were asked by older students to run with them on a committee. Although I would have liked to run for a committee as well, I was unable to because I simply was not asked by an older student to join their group, and as an eighth grader, I was unable to start a group of my own.

With this proposal, freshman won’t be completely omitted from Student Government functions. They will still be placed on a committee, can attend Senate, can engage with the material in Plenary, and can voice their opinion more comfortably in Small Groups. Through these various forms of Student Government, freshmen can learn the way the government functions more thoroughly than they learned from their DOCCs. They will be learning by doing which will eventually benefit them when running for a position for sophomore year. This proposal will maintain equality across the freshman class in terms of Student Government participation and will secure elected positions for more experienced students.

Before the proposal was passed, new freshmen had to sit on the sidelines and watch their peers engage in leadership roles while the freshman elected to these positions were chosen based off their popularity and status. This practices of Student Government completely contradicts the values Parker embodies: equity and inclusion.