Student related conflicts

Student related conflicts have caused West to operate on multiple holds a mere two months into the school year. With the frequency of hold announcements, students don’t take surprise when they hear, “Oshkosh West is on a hold.” Staff and administration have been attempting  the necessary precautions to prevent these circumstances and make sure all students remain safe during school hours. There is no predicting physical altercations, as conflicts can escalate rapidly. 

One way students can lend a hand is reaching out with information. Shayna Reynard, the dean of students, wants students to know how to make such a report. If a student has an issue they’d like to report, they can use the Speak Up, Speak Out tipline, also known as SUSO.

“Students can always come to student services or the office and tell us if they’re able to. Sometimes students feel more comfortable being anonymous or they hear about things at a time when they’re not in school, so one great way to do that is the SUSO tipline,” she said. “We’ve been fortunate that we’ve had a lot of awesome students using that to help us make sure that we can keep West safe. Also they can always send us an email, and any way to communicate with us is good.” 

SUSO was created by the Wisconsin Department of Justice in order for any student to alert their school about anything at any time. SUSO is not just for students, as it can be used by parents, school staff, or any community member that wishes to submit a concern regarding school safety. One can reach out through SUSO via website, mobile phone application, or toll-free number.

Teachers are taught through a program how to react to these circumstances if they are needed to interfere. This is called the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training.

”The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention is something that has to be renewed every few years. In these situations, it’s usually who responds first and who feels comfortable in that situation; we never want a staff member to feel uncomfortable,” Reynard said.

With a hold occurring so suddenly, students may feel overwhelmed in these circumstances. To Principal Erin Kohl, it is important a student reaches out if they need help. 

”Our counseling team here is absolutely fabulous. Reaching out to one of our school’s counselors, our school social worker, Mrs. Wagner, the school’s psychologist, Mrs.Schmitz, or any of the administrators in the building can help,” she said. “We’re here to help and we’re here to help work through those situations if you’re feeling stressed, afraid, or anxious, and things like that. That’s what we’re here for, so please use our pupil services team or administrative team for support.” 

Another way office administration has made sure to reduce panic is by increasing communication during holds. There isn’t necessarily a new policy, but some rules and regulations have been changed. 

”Based on feedback from the couple days in a row we had a hold, what we now changed is just the information that we provide during the hold,” Kohl said. 

Through this policy, the school shares with parents an email of what had occurred.

“A lot of times we go on a hold because of a medical situation and we want to just respect their privacy,” she said. “If it’s something bigger and more major, then we follow up with a communication afterwards that is shared with students, staff, and parents just to let people know what has happened.” 

So far, these fights have broken out during passing time as students interact with one another. This brings a challenge for students and staff when it comes to regulating what goes on in the hallways. 

”I think it’s really difficult because we have 1,600 students, and students far outnumber the staff members. I think our staff members are really great about being out in the hallways as much as they can during passing time and being visible, and so I think that adult visibility is probably the number one way to prevent things from happening,” Kohl said. “The reality is that things are going to happen whether there is an adult standing in the hallway or not.” 

Altogether, the staff has been working hard at making sure students are safe and that they can prevent fights and other incidents from happening, the reality is that issues between students overflow without warning. As the school year continues, however, staff will stay focused on regulating these situations. 

“I think that the number one way to prevent some things like this from happening is if students hear rumors about someone wanting to fight someone or people making comments about fighting, people should make sure to report those things,” Kohl said. “Then we can investigate further and hopefully prevent more of these things from happening.”

By Sydney Maki

Oshkosh West Index Volume 118 Issue 2

November 1st, 2021