Mesa students want schools to address causes of vaping, violence. Here's how

In the past year, Mesa Public Schools has decided to implement a slew of safety measures: metal detectors intended to catch certain weapons, vape sensors in bathrooms and an agreement to give the local police department access to school surveillance cameras when emergencies arise. But how do the students themselves think their schools can be made safer?

On Monday, that's what the district set out to learn.

Three dozen high school students were tasked with creating solutions to school safety issues during a competition modeled on Mesa's annual "Hacktivate Mesa" event.

The students tackled vaping and substance use, bullying, harassment and violence. Overwhelmingly, their solutions focused on preventative measures that address the root causes of those behaviors rather than punitive reactions.

The groups of students, who were split up by high school, had a day to create a solution and present it to a team of judges. They were given data and information like incident reports, student climate surveys and board policies. They also had access to a "genius bar" of experts to consult, including a school police officer, the director of health services, a wellness department specialist and a counselor who focuses on absenteeism and substance use.

From governing board President Marcie Hutchinson's perspective, the event was a way to redirect the board's focus to students.

"School board meetings have been very contentious. ... It's a lot of theatrics of the very divisive politics that we have," she said. "For me, this is an experiment in democracy. Can our students lead the way and make our board meetings more ... deliberative conversations, intentional conversations that are student-focused?"

Students were told that the best presentations would have the opportunity to present their ideas to the governing board. That will likely happen in August, Hutchinson said.

"Let's start the new school year with student-generated ideas," she said.

Violence and harassment are issues at school. Students want prevention

Students at Monday's event were concerned about violence, threats of violence and harassment at their schools. And for the most part, their proposed solutions focused on addressing why students lash out in the first place.

"I've noticed myself being more cautious at school and keeping an ear out," said Amber Smith, a 17-year-old student at Mesa High School. "There's been things happening that I didn't really understand or feel safe around since my freshman year."

At Mountain View High School, school employees break up fights, said Timothy Careaga, 17. But he thinks his school could implement more preventative measures for teen violence. Even though there are zero tolerance policies for fighting — and consequences like in-school and out-of-school suspensions — students "don't care," said Careaga's schoolmate Ruben Bacasegua, 16.

"They'll probably do it again, but after school, which is not the school's fault, but ... the violence could have been prevented when we were young," Bacasegua said.

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Careaga, Bacasegua and two other Mountain View students proposed a program for high schoolers to read to kindergarten through third-grade students to help them with literacy and emotional intelligence skills.

Wyatt Murdock, 16, said he used to get into fights as a kid. If he had a strong teen mentor, he said, he thinks he would have been "less violent and just a less angry kid." High schoolers could discuss the book characters' decisions with the elementary schoolers to help them build emotional intelligence, Murdock said.

"Our school systems are treating the symptoms," said Alek Wall, 17. "We're trying to treat the root causes."

Red Mountain High School students took a similar approach — addressing root causes — to incidents of harassment. They looked at school data and surveys and found that since 2019, incidents of harassment across the district have risen, and according to well-being surveys, students' sense of belonging dips in middle school.

They proposed a year-long, project-based class for seventh and eighth graders. Incoming seventh graders would be surveyed on their interests and grouped with like-minded classmates and a teacher to embark upon a year-long project together.

The Red Mountain students thought the class could help kids develop a stronger sense of belonging, which in turn could curb verbal and physical harassment.

"If you don't feel like you belong, then you're going to keep harassing," said Anaiz Daniels, 17.

Every student would need to have a stake in the project "so that everyone cares," Daniels said. "We want to make sure students know that they have teachers that care and they have people to support them."

Students from Mesa High School wanted to address violence and threats by dealing with bullying, which they saw as a root cause. In their research, they found that "those who are bullied tend to lash out," Smith said. Their idea was to have high schoolers talk to elementary and middle schoolers about the dangers of bullying.

Students from Skyline High School also focused on violence, saying they wanted the weapons detection system to be made more sensitive to detect knives. They also suggested parent involvement to prevent violence on campus, modeled off of a "Dads on Duty" program at a Louisiana high school.

Students want schools to address root causes of nicotine, marijuana vaping

Students at Monday's event saw vaping as a big issue at their schools, too.

Students use electronic cigarettes — which heat liquids that contain nicotine or other chemicals, including THC, the high-inducing compound found in marijuana — in bathrooms throughout the school day, said students from Westwood and Dobson high schools.

"I think it's a really pressing issue," said Westwood student Natalie Akaelue, 15. Her classmates who consistently vape nicotine and marijuana e-cigarettes throughout the school day "don't realize how serious it is," she said. "They don't consider it an addiction because they don't like to see it as that."

Xander McClinton, 17, said it's "almost a guarantee" to see a group of students vaping when he walks into a bathroom at Dobson, which he said brings him a "sense of unease."

His schoolmate Grace Guthrie, 17, said it's "very frustrating to go into the bathroom."

"Students are vaping in stalls, they're vaping in corners or just blocking off sinks," she said. Dobson began locking many of the school's bathrooms each day in the afternoon — sometimes, there would only be one bathroom open, Guthrie said. It was an ineffective response, she said, because students would still vape in the remaining bathroom. McClinton said the limited bathrooms would cause lines.

At Westwood, Akaelue said she tries to avoid going to the bathroom between classes. If she's in the bathroom too long, she comes out smelling like marijuana, she said, which she doesn't like because it prompts questions from her parents when she gets home. Around the beginning of the semester, the school began requiring students to leave their backpacks outside when they use the bathroom, Akaelue said, which she said was "a little bit effective."

So, how should the district address the issue? Currently, punishments for students who are caught vaping can include suspensions, as well as civil citations from police officers for students caught with THC.

On Monday, students said they want their classmates to have more opportunities to address the root causes of their substance use.

Many students use marijuana and nicotine e-cigarettes as a coping mechanism for stress and anxiety, Guthrie and Akaelue both said.

"We were hoping to address the addiction from the root and support these students, more than just punishing them," Guthrie said, though she added that she thinks punishment is still necessary to some extent.

The Dobson group's suggestions included bi-annual assemblies on the legal and health implications of e-cigarette use and an "amnesty day" after the first assembly, where students could turn in "contraband" without the risk of getting in trouble; a modified response to students caught vaping that focuses less on punishment and more on counseling and addiction support; and regular security checks at popular vaping spots.

Westwood's group suggested support groups for students and parents and more counselors and social workers on campus.

McClinton said he thinks his classmates feel like if they talk to counselors about vaping, they'll be punished rather than being able to talk about finding ways to quit. Akaelue said her classmates worry that counselors will tell their parents.

"We're hoping that if we have more counselors and more social workers that were easier to talk to, they could use that as an alternative to using drugs," she said.

In September, Mesa Public Schools' governing board approved a settlement agreement in a 2021 lawsuit against Juul Labs, an e-cigarette company that has been widely blamed for causing a significant increase in e-cigarette use among youth. It's not clear how much the district received in the settlement or how that money will be used.

"I see the addiction every day, and it's concerning," Guthrie said. "It's truly deeper than, 'They're just vaping.' It's more behavioral and their environment at home."

Reach the reporter at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mesa asked students how to make schools safer. Here's what they said