A typical walk in our hallways may include the overheard complaints of fellow students. Most complaints revolve around homework, assessments, and the pressure of classes. Although it is understandable, we, as a student body, shouldn’t view our education as an obligation. Instead, we should find enjoyment in learning and be grateful for the opportunity to go to school.

As Oshkosh North Spartans, we are very fortunate to have a learning environment where students feel safe and have a place for their studies. Yet, in many places students just like us are lacking the same educational opportunities.

In Florida, many students are suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.  After the storm made landfall on October tenth in the Florida panhandle, Floridian schools in at least eight counties sustained constructional damage. The affected schools shut down, which prevented a school session to take place. Although many students at Oshkosh North would welcome having days off, the school closings negatively impacted much of the Florida youth, who remains displaced weeks after the storm.  

In just one county—Bay County—over 26,000 students lacked educational infrastructure after the storm. The Bay County School Board and the Florida Department of Education worked to find a place for children to continue their learning. The proposed solution implied cramped conditions, including having different schools share a single campus and have multiple “sessions” of classes in a single day. The alternative to this included an extended school year or holding children back.

Other schools across the United States experience educational issues concerning the safety of the student body.

Undeniably, there has been an increasing occurrence of school shootings and threats throughout the nation. Schools are now practicing emergency drills, reviewing procedures in case of an active threat, running simulations, etc. Oshkosh North is no exception. Within the first month of school, our homeroom teachers were required to talk to us about ALICE, an acronym for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate. We practiced an ALICE emergency response simulation and discussed what would happen if an active shooter was in the building, something that is sadly necessary in an era of so many dangerous school shootings.

Although we are fortunate enough not to have used ALICE in a real situation, many schools across America have endured deadly shootings. An example of such occurrence happens early this year in Sante Fe, Texas.

Ten people died and fourteen were injured after a 17-year-old student brought a gun to school and opened fire back in May. The offender, Dimitrios Pagourtizes, pulled the fire alarm at 7:45 in the morning and began firing his weapon. After the shooting, students were affected mentally and did not feel safe at school anymore. Many families mourned the loss of loved ones and urged the government to take a more significant approach to ending gun violence in schools. The Sante Fe school shooting was already the twenty-second school shooting of 2018.

Here at Oshkosh North we are very fortunate to have the safe environment that we do. As a student-body we should be grateful for the opportunities that our school provides us with. We should not complain about the mundane struggles of school when in reality things could be so much worse than they are.