State officials want to hear from students and educators across Colorado about school safety. And they’re planning a road trip that starts next week to hear from students and educators.
These events, called Empowering Student Voices for Safe Schools, are aimed at giving students and educators a chance to address school safety concerns in their communities. It’s the eighth year that officials from the Colorado Office of School Safety are hosting the events.
“Now more than ever, student and school safety is of paramount importance in our state,” said Christine Harms, director of the Office of School Safety. “We encourage students and educators to join us as we come together for invaluable discussions and actionable feedback that can be implemented immediately in schools following the findings of these learnings.”
Officials are gathering information on three topics. First, they hope to hear about the spaces that make students feel safe. Second, they want to know how students consume and use popular media.
“We wanted to talk to them about critical analysis of media because we know that the media portrays the use of substances in a very positive light and we wanted to talk to them about critical analysis of that,” said Margaret Ochoa with the Office of School Safety.
Finally, state officials hope for a discussion about substance use. The keynote address, which is provided by the nonprofit Rise Above Colorado, aims to emphasize the normalization of safe behaviors and supportive relationships.
“Part of their messaging is normalizing the fact that most youth in Colorado are not using opioids, they're not using substances of any sort,” said Ochoa.
The event is structured so adults can learn from the youth on their campuses, provide context, improve programming, and present data and findings. Students in the eighth through the 12th grade are invited to participate in teams of up to six students and one staff member.
The meetings are:
- Wednesday, Jan. 15 at Otero College in La Junta
- Jan. 29 at the Impact Career Innovation Center in Durango
- Feb. 26 in Sterling at Northeastern Junior College.
You can visit the website of the Colorado Office of School Safety for more information on the January and February events.
