Abraham Lincoln once said “The government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Almost 200 years later, it seems we have forgotten this message at the most basic level- our schools.

I understand the stated purpose of the SGA- at least, I comprehend it. Adults want to teach us about “process”, “legitimacy” and “ethics”- all great qualities that need to be taught, but in a classroom- not a legislature.

If we wanted to teach kids planning qualities and how to play pretend adults, that could be done in acting school. However, if we plan an election, get people to turn up, get people hyped up for the results, and give out fancy position titles to the winners, then we have to treat it seriously and give more accountability and responsibility to the SGA.

In the words of one student: “It’s disrespectful to students when those whom they exercised their privilege of voting on do nothing to advocate for them.”

I believe the problem reaches far beyond student leaders. It all boils down to adults in the school and the county greatly constraining the ability of the student leaders- even farther than the rules on paper.

One example that comes to mind is difference of opinion. It is very important to me that people disagree in government, respectfully. If there was no debate there would be no weighing of opinions, and it would stop being leadership, instead becoming a rubber stamp. In fact, I think that student leaders should be given much more power than they have on paper. The SGA does a lot of great things- we probably have the most productive SGA in history this year. But there are still those barriers that loom in the distance and greatly constrain our voice.

Last year we had JamFest. A project that was by no means a great success. Obviously there were students who campaigned on the idea that we should never have something happen like that again- and their opinion was shut down. Not by any one person, but by a large coalition of adults in the school not wanting to hear a different view.

This year things have gotten better. I personally witnessed parts of preparation for Winter Whiteout and I have to say significant improvements have been made. I have never been more proud to be in SGA than I am today.

I advocate for real student leadership, not students marketing dry pre approved ideas passed down from teachers. While wisdom is greatly appreciated, youth and creativity should be cherished while they last. As our Schoolwide Secretary Darian Garcia puts it, “The issue inherently at stake is not whether or not change is made; it is instead about the where its centrality should lie: in the voice and control of the students, those who work in cooperation with others rather than take matters into their own hands to attempt to solve the school’s problems.”

I would rather have our SGA put up one poorly managed event that attracts too few people- if it is planned solely by students, than 20 amazing dances and parties thrown by adults who have been doing this for years. Because in the end, we will get better. The students will learn and adapt. If one year we fail, the next year we will step up- and suddenly elections will begin to matter. Let us run loose a bit- we are young and full of ideas. And maybe, if they can work at the school level, they could change the world. Take off the reins for a moment and see what we can accomplish. We will evolve, I promise- just don’t let fear and bureaucracy get in the way, even for just a second.

My solutions are clear: I want more input from the students without fear of punishment for ideas. Everything should be put to a referendum in my opinion, I am a populist in nature and embody those principles. If the students are not given the option to say what they believe in, no matter how “out there” the idea may seem, then nothing, and I mean nothing will ever change for the better. Yes, I still think adults generally know what they’re doing and have an experience that we can learn from. Yet, I still cannot even comprehend why everything must be seen as a liability, and not a learning experience. We can’t learn from our mistakes if we are so afraid to make them that we do nothing in the first place. Sure, this is a problem that spans not just the people in one school- it spans a nation, but if we in Montgomery County, in Richard Montgomery High School begin this path to change by giving students more of a say, then we can start a movement that will push us all in the right direction.

I do not always have the best ideas and I am the first to admit that. I have plans that I hope to back up with both facts and common sense. The former, I can find online or look for in a book. The latter, however, has to come from the guidance of adults. Guidance, compassion, and understanding. If people remember a time in their life when they also dreamed big and hoped for the best; before reality hit, then an attitude of positivity will be engrained in our culture and we can truly progress.

I want more leaders, because I believe leadership is a quality that comes with the ability to act on it. I believe adamantly that the students deserve to have a much larger role in the things going on with their education. If SGA functions as a congress, and the Administration as the executive branch, vetoing or approving resolutions in a more formal manner, then a partnership based on trust and understanding could be built. I believe in the students. I believe in our generation. I believe that in our position today, we need to be the ones at the front of the movement, not propping up tired ideas from the bottom.

To rephrase Lincoln: I would hope that one day, a true government of the students, by the students and for the students shall not perish from this earth.