An Investigation into Discrimination at Uni High

 By Maryama Saed

What makes The University High School so special? Is it that it has people from all over the globe, enthusiastic and supportive teachers or is it that it is so accepting of all aspects of its students? The answer to that, I don’t even know. Considering the open-minded nature of the school and our reputation for tolerance, we thought it was important to still ask; Do the University High School students still face discrimination?

We conducted several surveys as three students in year ten at The University High School. The purpose of the survey was to try and find out if students of the school had faced discrimination. We faced certain difficulties while surveying students. First we surveyed a class in year eight and when we had asked if they thought students had faced discrimination, uncertainty and mixed thoughts spread throughout the class. The majority of the class hesitated when asked about discrimination; the minority of students believed discrimination occurred in the school and the majority of the class were unsure. When we asked the class to vote for the final time, the majority of the class now thought discrimination occurred because they had though it was the right thing to do and mainly because their friends and peers thought it was also right.

 A second survey was conducted because of the unclear responses we received. Therefore we surveyed two students from every year level, from all races. Out of the twelve students we surveyed , nine students had not experienced any sort of discrimination. The other three people or twenty five percent had faced some sort of discrimination. Even though the minority had said “Yes, I’ve faced some sort of discrimination”, another error or fault we acknowledged was that not everyone is open to sharing their experiences. 

The last survey we conducted was to aim to get students to share their stories and experiences. We surveyed six students, one from each year level. Out of the six year levels, we only obtained one story from a Black, Muslim, female in year twelve. The year twelve wrote down saying “ In year seven the teacher kindly asked one of the students to take off his hoodie and the student refused and said ‘Why don’t you tell her to take of her hijab (veil, scarf)’ and the teacher said because it’s a part of her religion and the student still refused”. Keeping in mind, year seven is generally the year where you are discovering, changing and trying to fit in all at the same time.

Standing out is what most students try to avoid and being targeted all of a sudden like the year seven girl was would have been uncomfortable. Being confronted and using a hoodie and a scarf in comparison is just disrespectful. Even though this experience wasn’t serious, it was not necessary, not saying any type of discrimination is. Similarly, this could have made this year seven black, Muslim woman insecure about her scarf which may sound extreme, but it’s what happens when you are targeted for something you believe in or something you are.

What role does The University High School play when students are faced with discrimination? Firstly, in order for the school to take action the student needs to tell a teacher or the year 7-10 counsellor Jess. After you have shared your experience, Sub- School investigates and tries to find out whether you are telling the truth. If you are telling the truth, parents are called if necessary and the consequences for the person who was violating you are not taken lightly.

To sum up, we don’t have the evidence yet to say whether the University High School is a discriminative school. What do you think? If you’re getting bullied or discriminated against, speak up because your voice is waiting to be heard and understood by the school with full support.