Atascadero students hold walk after Instagram account shares stories of harassment, racism
Atascadero High School students held a walk Friday afternoon to show support for victims of sexual assault and discrimination after an anonymous Instagram account began posting experiences shared by students at the school.
Over the last week, students at the Atascadero High School have taken to social media to air anonymous stories of harassment, sexual assault, racism, homophobia and bullying in an effort to raise awareness of the issues at the school.
The Instagram account, “ahs_iustitia” (the latter half is Latin for justice), was created about a week ago and has amassed more than 1,000 followers.
It features more than 40 posts of white text on a dark gray background depicting completely anonymous accounts of incidents that either have taken place at the high school or involved students there.
“I want the school to see that there are students that need help,” said the student who created the account, who asked to remain anonymous, in an interview with The Tribune. “I’ve been talking with other students about getting a better system in place so that people don’t feel like they’re overlooked or not believed, or anything like that. And then with some of the posts about staff, just holding staff as accountable as you would if a student had done something wrong.”
Students march from high school
After school let out Friday, more than 100 AHS students, alumni and parents met at the high school and marched toward Sunken Gardens and Atascadero City Hall. Then the group headed toward the Atascadero school district office on West Mall, chanting all the way.
Elle Jacobs, one of the parents participating in the protest, said, “We want change, we want protection, we want safety. We want our kids to be able focus on an education while they’re in school. Not if they’re going to be harassed or hurt in some way while they’re supposed to be safe within these walls.”
One student named Kirra (who wanted to go by her first name) was inspired to walk on Friday after reading the stories online.
“I think the Instagram account (has) got everyone united. ... I think it was a great first step to uniting this whole cause,” she said. “(The cause is) stopping harassment from students and AHS and all high schools in America.”
George Shoemaker, an Atascadero school board member, attended the protest rally to hear what the students had to say.
“I want to listen to the kids,” Shoemaker said. “It’s our community.”
Posts include stories of sexual assault, racism
The posts on the account share stories across a range of incidents from sexual assault and harassment to racism and homophobia.
“When I told the office about my rapist, they completely dismissed it by saying it was a ‘bad love story,’” one person wrote.
Another shared accounts of being uncomfortable in PE class.
“My PE teacher makes gross comments to the girls in our class and uses pet names for and another girl, ‘princess,’” the student wrote. “We asked him to stop and he laughed at us and ignored us.”
Some posts are from young students making the transition to high school while facing incidents of harassment.
“I’m a freshman and there’s another freshman who makes me very uncomfortable,” the student wrote. “Every time I see them, they talk about my privates and I’ve asked them over and over again not to. ... They’re almost hunting me down like everywhere at school to do it and a teacher I told about it did nothing.”
“Freshman year at AHS, there was this guy in my math class that I saw every day and still do,” another student wrote. “He told me to m@sturbate him as a ‘joke’ and constantly made jokes about r@ping people and how fun it’d be,” another student wrote.
Other posts paint a culture where students of color and members of the LGBTQ community are regularly harassed.
“Racism is very normalized at AHS to the point where once of the boys in my grade once told me to go back to my country or go work in the fields,” one student wrote.
“Me and my friends are openly gay and/or trans and we’ve been harassed by so many kids,” another student wrote. “I’ve gotten called som many slurs that I don’t feel comfortable while in the boys locker room anymore.”
The posts aren’t limited to current students at the school.
“As a parent with two AHS students, I have more story’s (sic) than I can count just from this year,” the parent said. “The amout of racil and homophobic behavior that is allowed at this school is disgusting. My kids and their friends do not feel safe.”
Atascadero district responds to stories
Dan Andrus, Atascadero High School principal, issued a statement to students and parents on Dec. 10 about the Instagram account, noting that the school was working with law enforcement to monitor the account.
“Allegations found to be true or supported by the evidence available, result in suspension, expulsion and legal consequences from law enforcement,” Andrus wrote in the statement. “It is our desire that all students feel safe at school and know that they are supported by all school staff. We hope that if you see or hear something that you will say something, so that we can work together to maintain a positive, productive school culture.”
District Superintendent Tom Butler echoed Andrus’ comments in an interview with The Tribune on Wednesday.
He encouraged students, parents or employees to report any concerns to the school or district so they can “respond immediately, activate a thorough and complete investigation and bring some of those issues to a better resolution.”
“It’s important to me that we’re accessible to our students, our families and parents for these types of situations,” Butler said. “We listen; we gather the best information from the individuals so that we can then bring the greatest level of support and the most appropriate response to the matter.”
The student who created the ahs_iustitia account said they are hoping for real, cultural change to happen at the school.
But, the student added, the statements from school administration did not persuade them that change was going to happen as a result of the Instagram account.
“Instead of actually trying to fix the issue, they were just trying to save face with parents that had seen the account and were getting upset about it,” the student said.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Atascadero students hold walk after Instagram account shares stories of harassment, racism."
