I want to celebrate all of the successes that our students have been experiencing. But, before I get into that, I need your help.

This month I want to address an issue that is heavy on my heart, and that is the cyber harassment that many of our students engage in--whether that be through Instagram, SnapChat, TikTok, etc. There are several Instagram sites run by our students (anonymously) that their peers send photos, rumors, slander, etc. into so that those comments and photos can be posted anonymously. The damage is real--we have teens who are being hurt psychologically and emotionally as a result. This makes those teens more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, loneliness, suicidal behavior, and physical symptoms triggered by mental health issues. There is also a clear imbalance of power in who is targeted in many of these posts--often it is students who may have special needs or who do not have the supports a home to be able to try and weather this bullying and harassment that are the targets. Not that anyone should have to try and "weather" this type of hurt.

Recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that 14.9 percent of adolescents have been cyberbullied and 13.6 percent of adolescents have made a serious suicide attempt. If we were to calculate this with our 1700 students, that would mean--statistically--that about 232 of our kids have made a serious suicide attempt, and 254 of our kids have been cyberbullied.

In addition, the fact that the students that post do so anonymously allows these students to freely create and spread misleading information about other students and staff, harming the reputation of individuals, leading to altercations on and off campus, and damaging students psychologically without the student who is posting ever taking accountability for the harm they are doing. I know many students to not realize the damage that this causes--and this is where I need your help. I cannot find out who is running each of these Instagram sites. And I do not understand why kids follow them when I see this as being a part of the problem--if our student body were able to demonstrate that they would not endorse the slander of their peers, then these sites would cease to have followers and would cease to have the power that they do. When I report to Instagram, some of these sites are taken down but then re-emerge under slightly different profile names. This is a serious problem everywhere, not just at Arlington High School. You may already be aware that more than 200 school districts have now sued the major social media companies over the youth mental health crisis. This started as a single lawsuit filed by the Seattle Public Schools a year ago, and now is an all-out offensive against the social media platforms that our teens spend multiple hours a day on. We can do more at home and we can do more as a community--even in showing our kids that by following these sites, they are endorsing them and being a part of the damage that is caused.

These acts are also illegal according to our Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.90.120 details that cyber harassment is the following:

Our kids are engaging in this. It breaks my heart. My dream is that Arlington High School has a culture where we all truly take care of each other. I ask for your help in building a culture where our kids know that this is not a way that we treat others, and that we do not endorse it by following these sites.

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In celebrations...

This week we have been able to celebrate both our boys and girls basketball teams competing at state! Our boys and girls wrestling hit the mats hard at state competition also, with several young men placing. Our kids work so hard!

And, we have DECA headed to state this weekend. In the near future... our Percussion Ensemble will compete at the state level, and our Anatomage Medeagles Varsity team will compete in Nationals in June.

Footloose, the Musical, is here! Get your tickets now!!!

Spring Sports are in full swing--stay tuned for great news of our students' hard work and skill!

Please reach out to your student's admin or counselor with any needs you have!

#ahsflyeaglesfly