School Captain Stands Up Against Her School’s “Perfect” Image

Sarah Haynes, the 2015 captain of the elite Ravenswood School for Girls, has stood up for what she believes and bravely delivered a speech in which she criticises the school for losing sight of what’s important.

She stood up in front of the whole school, faculty and parents and spoke openly and honestly about the school’s intended image and its impact on the students who attend.

“If the school can’t admit it isn’t perfect, how can they expect some extraordinary adolescent girls to realise perfection is unattainable?”

To be able to speak so plainly, she had to write two versions of the speech, as she says her speeches had been censored in the past for suggesting the school was anything less than perfect.

It comes down to what many students across the board are worrying about – that schools are focusing more on their image than the welfare of their students, especially the ones who aren’t particularly outstanding.

“I don’t know how to run a school but it seems to me that today’s schools are being run more and more like businesses where everything becomes financially motivated, where more value is placed on those who provide good publicity or financial benefits.”

“Some people work hard and get noticed and good on them. Some people work hard, struggle and get overlooked.”

She hopes for a better school community where each student is supported, feels valued equally and receives equal opportunities. She says “at a time in my life when my family and I needed Ravo the most, it let us down,” and that she would have felt insincere had she glossed over the downfalls of the school she had experienced in her speech.

Sarah said that when she thought Ravenswood was perfect, she thought she would never be good enough. She was afraid to make mistakes, and even more afraid to admit to them. I know a lot of kids out there who have felt similarly about the expectations placed on them by their own schools and it’s so important that Sarah was able to stand up and speak about it so publicly.

In the world of 24-hour web news and social media, her speech has quickly spread across the country, and she has taken a stand for others that couldn’t.

Her speech was met with a standing ovation, because schools shouldn’t be leaving their students feeling “hurt and betrayed.” They should be feeling supported and valued, and ready for the future.