Social contracts new this year at WHS

WASILLA — Social contracts are a new addition this year to Wasilla High School. Social contracts give students and teachers the ability to have formal agreements and expectations for how to treat each other during class.

At the start of the school year, teachers and students in each class created a set of rules generated by students. These rules are what students in the classroom have agreed to follow. The rules were documented on a piece of paper, were signed by all the students in that class period and hung for the class to see.

But what is the purpose of social contracts? Wasilla High School Principal Amy Spargo said the purpose of social contracts for teachers and students to come to a formal agreement on how to treat one another. The goal of social contracts is for students to be able to manage themselves in class.

What led to social contracts being enforced in classes? Every January, students at Wasilla High take a school survey answering a variety of questions to gather perspectives from the students. A couple of topics in this survey were about respect and bullying. For two years in a row, students acknowledged there is a problem with bullying and respect at WHS. The results of this survey led into the enactment of social contracts in classrooms.

What do administrators and students think about social contracts?

“I think the purpose is to give the student a chance to correct their attitude or behavior creating a good learning environment for each other,” said Shalissa Stubbs, a graduating senior at Wasilla High.

Spargo said social contracts are a great way for kids and teachers alike to talk about how to be treated by the teacher, how to be treated by other students and how students will treat the teacher. She said the contracts also are a reference point for how to treat each other not only in class, but all the time.

Spargo said social contracts are only as useful if teachers and students are held accountable. This gives students the option to stand up for themselves in a positive way and way to manage themselves.

Sharon Alstrom is a senior Journalism student attending Wasilla High School.