Every year, high school students vote on who should represent their class in the student government. Every year, the peasants of the school are bribed with candy for votes.

Every year, students still don’t know what it is the Student Council does.

Walking down the hallways during election time, posters that show who you should vote for crowd the hallways. And, every year, the same names and faces cover the halls. Sure, seeing a friendly face aids in making the decision of who to click on the ballot. However, the posters never say the reasons why one should vote for these specific candidates. Many schools across the nation let the candidates make a video or give a speech to tell their peers what they will do to change the school. However, here, student council becomes a school-wide popularity contest, or simply a bullet point for a resume.

It’s fun to vote, grab free treats and feel like you are having a say in your student government, but it is tricky when you are only voting for a person because you know them or have seen their face once or twice around the building. The candidates who seriously want to run often times are defeated by the students who are well-known or have enough friends to vote for them and bump them to the top of the poll.

Once students are voted into office, they get to add a bullet point to their resumes, and the rest of the students don’t hear from the council again. StuCo occasionally hosts an event or can drive, but the majority of the time the program doesn’t really affect the school. If the organization was eliminated, there really would be no change in how the school is run, and most students probably wouldn’t even notice.

The school needs to start encouraging videos or speeches to be made for StuCo candidates. This way, students can be informed of how each person will contribute to the school, and lesser-known candidates may actually stand a chance in the election. Furthermore, the school needs to allow the student government to have a say in school issues. Their activities are limited to decorating posters and planning spirit week themes. With more responsibilities, officers could make a change in the system. They could do more for the student body, something they were elected to do, but have failed to accomplish.

Student Council is practically useless if the members can’t change problems at the school. After all, how else are the peasants going to have a say if their representatives don’t really have the power to give them one?

Editor’s Note: Social Media Manager Haley Medeiros wrote this editorial on behalf of the Eagle Nation Online editorial board.