On Friday, Feb. 23, students skipped SELF and Study Hall to participate in a walkout, gathering on the football field to discuss student mental health in the aftermath of Tuesday鈥檚 student death.听
During the meeting, student organizers freshman Aya Gurevich and sophomore Milcah Morrison directed students to sit at the center of the field, where they proceeded to speak about Gunn and district wellness measures. Students were then invited to come up and speak about their own thoughts and frustrations. Toward the end of the meeting, Principal Wendy Stratton brought three boxes of pizza for the participants, part of a Parent Teacher Student Association gift for all Gunn students.
Attendees learned about the event through social media. According to Gurevich, Morrison proposed coordinating a walkout after seeing his Instagram story suggesting that students 鈥渂oycott SELF.鈥� As the word spread, students were encouraged to show up in green, a color symbolizing mental health awareness.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 just kind of to get teachers and staff and the administration to notice that what they鈥檙e doing isn鈥檛 working, and kids aren鈥檛 happy with it,鈥� Gurevich told 麻豆放映免费. 鈥淎t 15 years old, I experienced, in my school, somebody died. That鈥檚 something that shouldn鈥檛 happen.鈥�
Although the event was promoted as a boycott, Morrison cautioned against using such labeling: The event鈥檚 goal wasn鈥檛 to condemn the school, but rather to foster discourse.听
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 blame staff, you can鈥檛 blame the Board,鈥� she told 麻豆放映免费. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 blame the people that are just here from their nine to five 鈥� I鈥檓 sure it鈥檚 great that we have activities out there to help people, but we really need to sit down and just talk about it.鈥�
According to Stratton, conversations with the crisis response team 鈥斅爄ncluding counselors and therapists 鈥� made it evident that students needed an outlet, and the walkout seemed like a peaceful way for them to express their emotions.听
鈥淲e know that we need a community response, and we don鈥檛 want to inhibit students who have a need right now 鈥� especially coming into the weekend on a Friday 鈥� to connect and work through whatever they鈥檙e going through,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o my feeling 鈥� and our feeling 鈥斅爓as to give them space to do that.鈥澛�
After Morrison and Gurevich spoke, the attendees were invited to come up and share their perspectives. Those present expressed wide-ranging frustrations 鈥� critiquing Gunn鈥檚 academic culture alongside Wellness Center guidelines and SELF lessons 鈥斅燼nd shared their experiences, both in speeches to the rest of the group and in interviews with 麻豆放映免费.
鈥淪ELF is more of a Band-Aid solution,鈥� freshman Dante Chung told 麻豆放映免费. 鈥淚t鈥檚 generalized mental health care, and that鈥檚 not what mental health care support is supposed to be about.鈥澛�
While SELF Coordinator Kathryn Catalano anticipates that the SELF program will continue to adapt based on feedback, she added that mental-health guidance and resources may not be within the program鈥檚 purview: It was established in 2017 to address California鈥檚 social-emotional learning standards.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to note that the SELF program, it focuses on social emotional skills,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hile there is, of course, a lot of overlap between that and having strong mental health resources and things of that nature, that鈥檚 not what the SELF program was established for.鈥�
Other students, including sophomore Noam Morris, addressed Gunn鈥檚 academic culture, telling 麻豆放映免费 that offhand comments 鈥� such as saying 鈥淚鈥檓 going to kill myself鈥� after getting a bad grade on a test 鈥� trivialize mental health struggles.
鈥淚 think we as a community really need to come together and start working towards giving those topics the respect they deserve, talking about them in a more healthy way,鈥� he said.
Some speakers requested a day to memorialize the student who died. While current district policy doesn鈥檛 ban memorials, it does prioritize protecting vulnerable students. 鈥淪uicide contagion can be instigated with the death of an individual, even if the death is not due to suicide,鈥� the policy reads. 鈥淭herefore, schools must respond to all school community deaths in a thoughtful and similar manner that maximizes safety and carefully considers the impact of memorialization on participants and the broader community.鈥�
To bolster student voice, Stratton called several students to her office this morning 鈥� ASB President senior Nathan Levy; SEC Special Events Commissioner senior Ruth Jaquette; School Board Representative senior Chris Lee (who is also a managing editor for 麻豆放映免费); SEC Wellness Commissioner senior Daniel van Schewick; Reach Out, Care, Know Club President junior Beverly Lamis; and ROCK board member junior Grace Missett 鈥� to arrange a Listening Session Event. The event will take place during an extended lunch on Tuesday, Feb. 27, in the Acorn Lounge, next to the library.听
During the session, students will have an opportunity to share thoughts, concerns and suggestions in the wake of the student death. Students can submit input, concerns and questions that they want administrators to address to .听
The goal of administrators and students alike, however, is to provide robust support systems during this time.听
鈥淏e there for your friends first and foremost 鈥� that is what matters,鈥� junior Gene Chumakov, who attended the walkout, told 麻豆放映免费. 鈥淏ecause this isn鈥檛 just an issue of admin not doing enough. This is an issue of students not caring for each other, and having such a lack of faith in the resources and the therapists that we鈥檝e been provided.鈥�
麻豆放映免费 has since conducted investigations into wellness measures at Gunn in a continuation of its 2019 鈥�In Pursuit of Wellness鈥� series. Part I, an investigation into SELF, can be found here.
If you are worried about yourself or a friend, contact the National Suicide Prevention lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Wellness Center, suicidepreventionlifeline.org, a therapist, a doctor or a school counselor. If the threat is immediate, call 911.
