What do I want to see changed in schools? The number of things students feel they have to hide. If an environment is developed where students feel safe and able to express themselves to adults, many lives can be changed for the better.

Things

I see things.

I know things.

Stories. Anecdotal stories.

Personal Experiences.

Traumas.

 

I hear things.

I know things.

Things that have only been said to me.

And me alone.

They trust me.

People trust me.

 

I look around my school and see what other people don't.

What people choose to ignore.

What people could only guess at.

 

I hear explanations that aren't expressed.

What people are scared to say.

What do you tell your teacher when you didn't get your homework done,

Because you had to stop your mom from beating your sister's head against the wall?

What do you tell your teacher when you get pregnant due to sexual abuse?

You don't.

Those aren't things you can tell your teacher.

 

I see things.

I hear things.

I know things.

Things that are usually kept locked up.

Behind closed doors.

 

I know people in the foster system,

Always going from home to home.

I know people who have repeatedly attempted suicide.

People who cut themselves.

People who take hard drugs.

I've had friends get involved in relationships with people who take those drugs

And haven't been able to get out.

 

I know people who were put in a dryer

For punishment.

As a child.

Tied to a chair,

Pushed down the stairs,

Had TVs thrown at them,

Been cut in the face by a guardian.

 

I know people whose parents loved their drugs,

More than their children.

People who have been abused,

Almost drowned,

And then abandoned by those parents.

 

I know a girl whose been told she has a baby sister.

The one thing she always wanted.

Only to find out, that sister is a drug baby,

Addicted to meth,

And that she could pass her on the street,

Any day of her life

And never know.

 

I know girls younger than me

Who have sex with every boy that tries.

The number of girls I knew growing up

Who have gotten pregnant or had a child within the last year

Is astonishing!

 

People don't realize what goes on.

You know only a small portion of what I see every day.

What I see when I look into the eyes of my peers.

 

I see things.

I hear things.

I know things.

And what can I do?

Nothing.

 

I have no power in these situations.

And I cannot betray their trust.

I refuse to give names,

I won't answer questions.

But I can and will try to drop hints.

 

But if nothing is done

And no changes are made,

All I can do

Is try again.

 

If I repeatedly try to raise awareness,

But no one takes action on what I could not,

Then whose fault is it?

Not mine,

It's yours.

If you choose to ignore

What you could have done.