My physics teacher has been out for almost a month and the school refuses to tell us why. For the past month, we have been speculating, talking with each other, asking teachers, but we have learned very little. Many teachers were unaware of his absence. 

Schools claim to value communication, but ask any student, and they will tell you that schools often fail in this regard. Important emails get sent to parents, not students, or are vague and uninformative. Effective school-to-student communication is crucial, now more than ever, yet schools consistently fall short.

In September of my junior year of high school, the fire alarm went off. As we stood outside, many of us began to get weird texts from our parents, asking us if we were okay. We soon learned that our school had received a bomb threat, and the school told everyone but us. We stood outside for over an hour, watching as students with a first period off were turned away by the police. 

One month later, we entered a lockdown due to another threat. This one was a shooting threat. This time they at least told us that we had received a threat, but did not give us any details. Rumors started to spread, and by the end of the lockdown, the principal came over the announcements calling a short list of students down to the office with no explanation. Students began to speculate and discuss why the principal had singled out these students. Were they potential suspects? It turned out that these students had to catch a bus to another school.

A few months after that, our parents received an email from the school saying the school was closed due to “unforeseen circumstances.” This email was sent at 7:00 am only to parents and staff. Many students showed up to school that morning only to be turned away by the police because again, the school had failed to communicate with us. 

According to a US News article, there were 346 school shootings across the country in 2023. If you were ever in a situation where your life could potentially be in danger, wouldn’t you want to know? Wouldn’t it be incredibly frustrating and terrifying to be sitting in a corner of a classroom with twenty other students, doors barricaded, lights off, not knowing what is going on? By not communicating with the students, schools end up causing more panic and confusion. 

On August 28, 2023 there was an active shooter situation in the University of North Carolina. Many students described the communication that they were receiving, telling them to shelter in place due to an active shooter situation, as poor. After receiving that message, people were very confused. One student explained that “From that moment on, we have been trying to piece together what actually happened. Our confusion, and the way we were forced to fill in the gaps ourselves, made an already horrific situation all the more terrifying.”

I have heard that same perspective from nearly everyone that I have spoken to about the incidents at my own school. It has been over a year since the incidents at my school, yet everyone always brings their bags outside with them when the fire alarm goes off “just in case.” Every time we hear the little click that the announcement system comes on, at a non-announcement time, we hold our breaths because “what if it’s happening again?” I understand that the school is trying to not cause panic, to make us feel safe, but by not communicating with us, they are saying that we don’t deserve to know what is happening when it is our lives that are in danger. Of course you don’t want to tell elementary school aged kids that they might be in danger, but high school students need to know what is happening. We are expected to act like adults during these emergency situations, yet important information is repeatedly withheld from us. If the school administration actually wants us to be safe and secure during an emergency, we need to know what is happening. They need to discuss emergency communication with the students in their school to create effective policies benefiting everyone involved to improve the outcome of these emergencies. Our schools need to stop refusing to treat us with the same dignity and respect that they expect us to show to them. We can’t act like adults while you treat us like children.