Baltimore high school students advocating for their own safety

This group of Baltimore City high school students still have about a month left of summer vacation. But they’re already hard at work, preparing for the upcoming school year. They’re part of an organization called “Youth as Resources” (YAR) . Founded in 1994, the youth-led nonprofit gives students a platform to make changes in their own schools.

The slogan on the YAR website is, “Nothing without us, is about us."

"We heard from a lot of youth that they don't feel heard within their schools, especially when it comes down to things that make them feel safe,” Niara Mollett, a rising Western High School and member of the YAR board, told WMAR-2 News.

The organization has an adult executive director, but the board is made up entirely of teens and young adults ages 14-24. This upcoming school year, they’re rolling out an initiative at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical (Mervo) High School, called the Student-Led Safety Pilot program. where they’ll come up with safety strategies by students, for students.

"Because this is a place where we spend our 8 hours a day. Like, this is our job basically,” Elyzah Johnson, a rising sophomore at City College and member of the YAR board, said.

In 2019, the group started a School Police Accountability Roundtable (SPAR) to start improving relationships between students and school police officers. They think some schools rely too heavily on school police, who sometimes resort to using batons or mace on students.

"One time, some kids were fighting on the bus. They jumped on and just maced the whole back of the bus,” Shawn Purpis, a rising junior at Carver Vo-Tech and member of the YAR board, recalled.

"If there's a fight, break it up. You don't have to bring out a baton and start beating kids,” Johnson said.

"If a student is talking in a class, they should not be going up there to handle that situation. That's the teacher, counselor, principal. That's not the school police's place,” Mollett said. "We want the school police to be a part of the school climate in a healthy way.”

While they believe there’s too much of a focus on policing, the students say there’s not enough of a focus on mental health.

"Honestly, the biggest safety concern for me is probably the amount of people who go to my school who you can tell have really bad mental health when they walk into the room,” Johnson said. "At my school, people really just graze over it.”

"Everybody should really pay attention to that because it could be the people that can be smiling in your face could be going home to having a bigger issue. You have to pay attention to the signs,” Deaera Jones, rising junior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and YAR board member, said.

"Teachers - they care but sometimes they have their days just like students have their days. And my school really don't let us know who is the right people to ask for help,” Purpris said.

"Like the kids in their school not being able to effectively communicate, which leads to misunderstandings, which leads to violence,” Mollett explained.

With the Student-Led Safety Pilot, these high schoolers hope to make positive changes in their classrooms, by getting input from those who might know the problems best.

“Because we live it,” Mollett said.

The group has met with a variety of stakeholders, including school board commissioners and the city council to get their support. The students are securing funding from a couple of local foundations, so they can get the pilot program off the ground this fall at Mervo.

They hope to expand to more Baltimore City Schools either next semester, or next school year.