Staff editorial: We need bravery in the face of adversity

STAFF EDITORIAL

The Grand Haven stereotype is evident. Ask any high school student in West Michigan and you’ll probably get some sort of “oh they’re white, rich spoiled kids… but they have a nice beach”. Yes, our population is mostly privileged, mostly white and our beach is pretty great. But people ignore that our community is filled with different socioeconomic backgrounds, races, sexualities, struggles and passions. This is because we let them.

The Bucs’ Blade is spotlighting 13 unique stories, only 13 out of around 2,000 students. Seven of these stories are presented today in our print paper. We had a team of 11 staff members work over three weeks to scour for new faces, new stories, new perspectives. We wrote draft after draft, hoping to showcase the different lives of the peers around us.

We hope that in reading these stories, a greater understanding that people are dealing with everything from mental illness, sexuality, anorexia, bulimia, and race, is gained. We hope that we will gain a stronger idea of who we are — and that idea will spread so that others know it, too.

Our job as a newspaper is to provide people with an opportunity to be heard. But most importantly, it is to give the student body the information it needs to be educated and aware. To be exposed to the rawness of people’s lives is a gift. It allows for an understanding that every single face you see in the hall has a story, each accompanied with unique struggles. The 13 pages that hold a few of these stories are evidence that everyone is fighting a battle.

The courage it takes to speak so openly about something so close to one’s core is hard to find. It’s even harder to share with someone you barely know, and then share it with over 2,000 of your peers. While we had some girls step forward with enthusiasm, very few boys followed suit, further showing how deep the fear of not fitting in is embedded in our school. So, to everyone who talked to the Blade for this issue or considered it, thank you.

The purpose of these stories isn’t to guilt readers into feeling bad for their classmates or to push an agenda. It’s to share and begin a discussion about who we are, both as Grand Haven and as individuals.

By sharing these stories, we hope to show that there are things happening within our school that most may be unaware of. That there are students you may pass in the hallway and never even notice. We want people to read this edition and be able to look at our school differently.

You, the reader of this edition of the Bucs’ Blade have the power to change the stigmas and issues that are talked about in this paper. You can have an honest conversation about the issues you face, or you can get to know someone who faces their own struggles. If you simply recognize that there are problems with how we treat others, and choose to change your actions, you can make the difference that we need.