By Myles Bloomquist

As you may have heard several times before, rules keep us safe. Standards, guidelines, and laws are in place to keep our world on the path to success. At least, that’s what they tell us. In a world where every human is one of a kind, it is apparent that traditional standards are no longer effective. The world is much more accepting of race, culture, religion, gender, sexual preference, etc. The list of unique personalities is longer than one can even imagine.

As a high school student, these standards are everywhere. They’re pinned all over the walls, spoken by every teacher, and taught to us in lessons. However, every day I hear about someone going against these standards. Breaking the rules because they don’t believe in them. Growing up, I was never one to disobey the rules. Sure, I misbehaved, but then these standards were drilled into my memory. And I obeyed them out of fear of punishment. I attend Churchill High School, a smaller high school built on athletic programs. As the years passed and administrations changed, so did the beliefs and direction of the school. But also within myself. What was once a building driven by student-athletes, now focuses on academics more than anything else.

I interviewed two teachers at Churchill.

One who taught here their whole career and the other taught at various schools. Basically, standards vary from school to school. I learned a lot about what Churchill prides itself on. Which, as mentioned prior, has recently focused more on academics. But there’s also a heavy focus on accommodating every student as an individual rather than a large collective. At Churchill, we have several programs, including a large international student initiative. As such, we are multicultural and very diverse. Thus, the standards set even ten years ago have dramatically changed. 

Not all school experiences lead students towards the path to success.

St. John’s High School, when compared to Churchill, isn’t as diverse. The focus at St. John’s is just keeping kids in school. St. John’s has a lot of students that come from troubled homes. And as a result, teachers act just as much of a guidance counsellor as they do a teacher. In reality, you can’t teach a kid who isn’t motivated to come to school. 

Comparing and contrasting Churchill to St. Johns, I determined that Churchill’s standards are set around keeping students on the right path; there is a focus on student success and opportunities to speak and interact with their learning.

There’s nothing wrong with either of these standards, but how well do they work out and how well are they accommodated? 

At Churchill, the idea of being treated as an individual is prevalent among the staff. This allows students to be very open with everything ranging from school work to out of school problems. I conducted a survey with fellow peers and the results back this philosophy. Over 90% of the students surveyed felt that these standards have been beneficial to their learning experience. Additionally, they believe that these standards encourage us to succeed.

However, all of the surveyed students said that they have been, or have seen someone, treated differently. Not always harsher, but with how individualized this school is, it’s hard to cater to every personality.

The best part about standards nowadays is that people are more accepting of one another.

Individualizing the student is key to keeping them on the right path. We can’t enforce rules that generalize the student body. Every student has their own life that is full of issues and hardships. Schools should better accommodate that aspect of student life in order to allow them to be open. This will, in turn, lead students down the path to success. Teachers should provide support; however, acting as a part-time counsellor can take away from what the teacher’s primary focus should be. And that’s student learning.

I believe that allowing students to freely be themselves, giving them the support and opportunities they need, and fleshing out everyone as their own human being is necessary for the path to success.