For the month of October, the Aliso Niguel High School Instagram page has a post dedicated to the many diverse celebrations and events occurring. The celebrations highlighted in the post include Hispanic Heritage, National Childhood Cancer Awareness, National Disability Employment Awareness, Filipino American History, LGBTQIA+ History Month, Global Diversity Awareness and Polish American Heritage.
With such a diverse student body, it is important to highlight all celebrations of October. To ensure all students are heard and seen within the school community, this highlight helps bring that recognition to the diverse student body.
The post also informs students who may not know the important celebrations going on. By educating the students on these things, it helps break down stereotypes and combat discrimination. This helps reduce the likelihood of prejudice, ignorance and discrimination.
The post also mentions the events that are happening that are related to the celebration and gives recognition to clubs like GSA, Pinoy Barkada and Best Buddies. The school has also put out decorations for Hispanic Heritage Month near the statue of the Wolverine located near the front office. The decoration includes flowers and a sign dedicated to raising awareness of Hispanic heritage.
Nahla Lemtouni (11) says, “By celebrating these diverse celebrations, people will then understand different cultures and groups and understand the way they do things. People who aren’t educated on others’ culture are more likely to discriminate or be hateful towards groups of people from diverse countries, so it’s important to learn about them.”
Despite the attempts to make the school campus a more welcoming and inclusive environment, there is still a problem with hateful language and behavior.
Valerie Mar (10) says, “I don’t think school feels any more inclusive; I hear slurs and swears thrown around like it’s nothing sometimes. It’s nice our school wants to celebrate diversity, but they aren’t helping diverse groups feel very welcome. In other words, it feels like those words are just for show, as our school doesn’t feel any more inclusive due to staff leniency with hurtful language frequently used around campus.”
In the past the school has tried to promote a safe environment for all by giving presentations to students and educating them about the consequences of hate speech. By celebrating diverse cultures and communities, the Aliso Niguel community can become more aware of inclusion and acceptance.
