In the midst of this global pandemic, social media has taken an active role in our lives more than ever. Usually used to share photos, videos, and life updates, these platforms have seen a greater diversity of content in 2020. On Instagram in particular, several accounts have been created to share ideas and perspectives about various social issues, bringing awareness and sophistication to the platform.
These types of accounts usually share anonymous stories, submitted through Google forms or direct messages. Some accounts cover large territories, such as an entire county or state. However, a few have appeared that are specific to our school.
One particular account, @smuhsd.awareness, shares anonymous student stories from across the San Mateo High School district. These entries are typically a paragraph in length, and describe an event in a student’s life at school in which they were uncomfortable, afraid, or even assaulted in the presence of another person on campus (also kept anonymous). These posts cover a wide spectrum of social injustices and discrimination, from racism, to sexism, to anti-semitism, to homophobia and transphobia.
@smuhsd.awareness was developed by two Burlingame High School students and has since expanded to include representatives from each high school in the district. The two original creators were inspired by an account from a San Francisco school district, as well as the desire for social change sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I know that everyone always says that our district is in a bubble, and we’re safe from all of the awful things happening in the world, but we’re really not,” says one of the Burlingame representatives.
When the account was created over the summer, it initially struggled to receive stories. It wasn’t until one of the students involved decided to be the first to post that the anonymous submissions started rolling in. The account has now accumulated a significant audience, with over 1,400 followers made up of students, teachers, parents, and past graduates. The representatives post once a day, but are over a month backlogged with stories.
“I think it’s great- well it’s obviously not great that so many people haven’t received justice for what they’ve been through- but it’s good that people are starting to care,” says an account representative from Aragon.
Certain posts have received more attention than others. On August 30, the account shared a video of a man on Burlingame Avenue yelling “white lives matter” and profanities. This post received over 3,500 likes and reached almost 27,000 people by being shared by SMUHSD students across Instagram.
The account has also started catching the attention of some teachers and administrators, including the San Mateo High School counselor Jane Zimmerman. “Hearing some student’s experiences can be uncomfortable- it’s hard to think of my students facing pain. It’s even harder to think that the system we are all working in could cause that pain. But it is okay to sit with discomfort sometimes, and try to learn and grow from mistakes,” says Zimmerman.
Ms. Zimmerman also wants to make sure that students know the resources available to them when they have a story to share. She suggests starting with a teacher or trusted adult, who then would report the issue to a higher level administrator like Mr. Duenas, the dean of students. She also encourages those who don’t have a trusted adult or wish to remain anonymous to use the anonymous alerts line, which can be found at www.anonymousalets.com/sanmateouhsd.
The main purpose of the @smuhsd.awareness Instagram account is to share perspectives. The students involved hope that they can provide a safe space to those who want to tell their stories, while also spreading awareness to those who haven’t experienced this discrimination first hand.
As said by one of the account creators from Burlingame, “I think there are many people in the district that think, or like to think, that our communities are immune to the problems that plague the whole country. And they’re not.”