By Raquel Catpo, Staff Writer

On June 29,  smuhsd.awareness uploaded their first post, working towards their goal to bring justice and to amplify student voices. With over 1,800 followers and 155 posts on Instagram, this account brings light to serious situations that involve homophobia, racism, bullying, harassment, sexism, xenophobia, etc. Any San Mateo Union High School students can submit their experiences through the form linked in smuhsd.awareness’ bio. In the google form, one can input their story, school, and name, if they wish. For example, on January 21st, smuhsd.awareness posted a story involving homophobia. A student shared, “Last year, during a football game, I was up in the bleachers with some friends. Our team was kicking a field goal but they missed. In the middle of all the opposing cheers, some guys right behind us said ‘what a raging f*ggot he should k*ll himself already.’ I looked back at them but it didn’t seem like they understood the gravity of their words. As a gay orphan, I am really upset by how normally they treated such awful words.” (Aragon High School)

Similar to smuhsd.awareness, mills.awareness also intends to allow students and staff to share anonymous stories about various issues. Three anonymous students at Mills run this account, and they feel utilizing social media apps is an effective way to share stories that would otherwise be left unnoticed and ignored. When asked why they started the account, they stated, ¨to create a platform for Mills students to be heard and to inspire a sense of unity on our campus.” Their posts consist of three slides, with the cover slide naming the topic in which the post is about. The next slide is the story submitted, and the last is their handles and how to share a story. 

If used by the right people with good intentions, instagram accounts like Mills Awareness are great ways to draw attention to issues in our community, and help us improve and resolve these problems.