By: Leanna Yu, Editor-in-Chief
On June 28th, a student-run Instagram page with the username @smuhsd.awareness began sharing anonymous stories of bullying, racism, anti-semitism, homophobia, and sexual assault submittted by SMUHSD students. The account, having over 1,750 followers and 110 posts, is run by nine anonymous student representatives of six San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD) schools.
The @smuhsd.awareness page defined themselves as “a coalition of SMUHSD students and recent alumni who want to spread awareness of the issues (such as racial incidents, sexual harassment & assault, LGBTQ+ discrimination, anti-semitism, etc.) that happen at our schools and how our administrations perpetuate them.” These students and alumni share all stories, experiences, and perspectives sent to them with complete anonymity.
To submit an anonymous story, students are directed to fill out a Google Form linked in the account’s bio, providing their school name and written story. These stories are transformed into posts with a vibrant cover photo that addresses a trigger warning for the topic covered in the following page. In addition to being a platform that shares unedited student stories, the account also promotes a list of mental health resources for teens to use, including SMUHSD Anonymous Alerts, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and other online hotlines. In an Instagram story highlight released by the account publishers, the message showed: “No story is ‘too small.’ We want to make real change and we will post every single story we get.” They also addressed the validity of their posts, stating, “Unfortunately, with the growing number of stories we’re getting, there happen to be more “joke” stories, and a lot of people who think that there is no purpose to this account.” After gaining publicity from SMUHSD students, the San Mateo Daily Journal featured a student written article regarding the SMUHSD Awareness account as “fueling [the] narrative that our district is infested with hate” and sharing “accusations, [that] of course, are dangerous.” The SMUHSD Awareness account responded to the article, remarking that “proving stories are accurate is not our purpose. The purpose, rather, is to highlight injustices as a whole… to generate awareness and visibility to accounts that usually may not get the attention they deserve.”
Most recently, @smuhsd.awareness published their stance on the return to school in the spring semester of 2021. In an Instagram story highlight called “Return 2 School,” the group outlined the November 12th SMUHSD Board Meeting and their arguing points for continuing distance learning. After addressing current San Mateo County COVID-19 cases, student mental health, equity issues, and changing class time/schedules, the coalition released this statement: “We do not think that next semester is the right moment to return to school for these reasons, and we hope that whatever is decided will be done after careful consideration.”
The SMUHSD Awareness Instagram page is continuing to gain momentum in their following through their posts on spreading awareness to the teens of San Mateo County.
