Upon America’s founding, the first type of government existed under the Articles of Confederation. This did not work as intended, and it was decided that it either be completely eliminated or changed for the better. My opinion stands similar to this on the subject of peer leadership.

Yes, I am a peer leader. I joined the program because it stands for something good. The goal of peer leadership is to educate the underclassmen to abstain from self-harm and harmful activities, to better the student community of Great Neck North. We have some superb students, clean of alcohol and other drugs, who come to school every morning, hoping to make this school a better place for everyone, and to these students I give a solemn salute. The goals of these students could not be more noble. They aim to make sure each and every one of the freshmen and sophomores in the school feels included  in  the community, feels safe, and understands the consequences of substance and alcohol abuse. But, the problem with the program is not what it strives to provide, but with the implementation to achieve those goals. The freshmen did offend some of us peer leaders as some try to do their best, yet they did have some valid criticisms.

In the previous article about peer leadership, I have no problem stating that the breakfast issue brought forth by the freshmen class seems ludicrous. A peer leader like myself, co-peer leaders and peer advisors bring in treats for the peerlings to enjoy at their own discretion. No one is forcing a student to reach for the munchkins or chips-ahoy cookies in the center of the room or those that  are being passed around by the peerlings. While eating a sugary treat may not feel like the  healthiest of choices, it shows that the peer leaders are trying to be friendly and compassionate towards the freshmen and sophomores. No one doubts that a bagel is healthier, but bringing in broccoli and bringing in Oreos sends two different messages. One sends a message of,  “I don’t care what you think, this is healthy for you and you should eat it, even though I know you hate it,”and the other sends a message of, “Hey, I know this isn’t the healthiest of options, but I think most of you guys will like this over a plain bagel.”

Although I wish I could stop there, the truth of the matter is that peer leadership is not a perfect program,  nor should it be considered a perfect program. There are flaws that stand out among the rest, which were rightfully brought up by the freshmen. One thing you will hear only as a peer leader is what drove others to become peer leaders. The unspoken truth behind some peer leaders is that they are only playing this role for college credit, and I do not mean for a credit like an AP class would give a student. I mean credit in the sense that a peer leader can write on their high school transcript that they were a peer leader. It’s no secret that getting into a good college and standing out amongst the rest of your peers can get very competitive, and what better way to stand out than to say, “I was a peer leader, I taught younger children to not do  drugs and have a healthier lifestyle.”

The unintended hypocrisy of peer leadership does not end there, as drug usage seems to be the most evident problem among the peer leaders. One of the first few lessons we teach our peerlings is, “drugs and alcohol are dangerous and should not be abused at a young age.” One would think that this concept was already ingrained into everyone’s head, including the peer leaders.

A freshman, who shall remain nameless, in my Wednesday advisory period, said to me, “It’s kinda hard to believe alcohol is bad for you when I see all you upperclassmen and peer leaders doing it all the time.” I was at a loss for words as to how I should respond to this, because even most peer leaders know this to be true, and this is why the freshmen dislike the peer leadership program and do not see  it as being credible. From Snapchat stories, Instagram posts, and Facebook posts, it requires hardly any effort for a peerling to see a photo of their peer leader drinking, or now “JUULing.” The sad reality is that peer leaders do smoke, do drink, and do break the contracts that they sign. Just the other day in my peer advisory-health class, we ran the bead-box activity that so many freshmen are familiar with. Indirectly, more than half of the class admitted to drinking and breaking the peer leadership contract. To say that peer leaders never engage with alcohol and drugs would be to say that pigs can fly.

This is not to say that all peer leaders are involved in this behavior. Many of the peer leaders in the program are the shining stars of our upperclassmen. These students go out of their way to make sure none of the freshmen or sophomores hurt themselves or their futures, but to conclude that peer leadership is some glorious program that has no problems at all is preposterous. I say this as a peer leader: peer leadership has its upsides, but it also certainly has its obvious downsides. These hints of hypocrisy, and therefore these downsides, undermine the legitimacy of the program. Perhaps it’s time to adjust the program, and follow in the steps of our American forefathers, as they did in this country many years ago.