Student Advocates Work Despite a Thankless Task

They were down.

"They" were junior high school students and members of their school's student civil rights team. Down because they felt that no one was taking them seriously in their efforts to improve the school's climate. Recently they'd visited classrooms and offered presentations on Maine's civil rights laws and the harmful impact of bias-based derogatory language. They did not get a warm reception from their peers.

They went into each classroom with high hopes and left wondering what difference they could possibly make.

And now it fell on me to make them see how important they really are. Fifteen sets of eyes focused in on me as I thanked them for their work.

"Thank you. You probably don't hear that enough, but thank you. The work you are doing is not easy. If it were easy, someone would have done it already.

"Always remember: Every important movement in American history was first met with laughter. The abolitionists, women's suffragists, civil rights movement protesters and anyone else who believes in dignity for all people. They got laughed at, and worse.

"But they kept at it. They never gave up, because they believed in something. They probably weren't doing it for themselves, either. They may have been fighting for their own rights, but they were most definitely fighting for the rights and dignity of others.

"Now you're doing the same thing. You might make students uncomfortable because you are asking them to think about their behaviors and ultimately change. They may not like that, and they might laugh at you, but you're being heard.

"More important than that, though, are the ones who are silent. We always notice the ones who laugh and make the most noise. We forget the ones who are silent.

"You might think that no one is taking you seriously. But I promise you this: There are students who are quietly celebrating the very fact that you even exist. You are their advocates. Every time you force this school to think about these issues and these behaviors, they love every second of it.

"They'll never say anything to you about it. You'll never know what kind of impact you might have on their lives. Just know that there really are students who are so thankful that this school even has a civil rights team. You are speaking for those students who have no voice.

"So on behalf of those students, I want to thank you. This work isn't easy, but it's so, so necessary, and don't think for one second that what you're doing doesn't matter. It does."

It's hard to know what sort of impact words like these can have on young people. I will often give variations and versions of this speech to student civil rights teams. The connecting thread is that I always, always thank them for their work and commitment in making school a safe place for everyone.

It seems like the least we can do.

Baldwin is a schools and curriculum coordinator for the Civil Rights Team Project for the office of the Attorney General in Maine.