Surveys
Your principal can wave off one student. It's a lot harder to wave off 300. Run an anonymous survey about what's broken at your school, share it like an invite, and watch the answers roll in.
Start here
Each one comes from a doorstop campaign. Tweak the questions, pick a cover, send.
Fix the bathrooms
Soap, stalls, vaping, the smell. Prove how many people hold it all day.
Vaping in the bathrooms
Show that most students want the bathrooms back, without anyone getting in trouble.
Mental health support
Make the case for more counselors, social workers, and someone to talk to.
Cooler classes
Show there is demand for the AP, elective, or dual-enrollment class you want.
Better lunch
Microwaves, more time, food people actually eat. Count the empty stomachs.
More passing time
Not enough minutes to get to class, grab water, or use the bathroom? Prove it.
Start a club
Find out who would join and when they are free before you ask for a room.
Start from scratch
Your problem, your questions. Keep it short: three to five questions get the most answers.
It works
Real campaigns at real schools, from the news. Students got bathrooms reopened, dress codes rewritten and classes added, mostly with a petition or a survey and a meeting with the right adult.
Amherst Regional High School, Amherst, MA
The school locked nearly every student bathroom at lunch to stop vaping. A student started a petition arguing it was unfair and possibly against the state building code, and within days every bathroom was open all day again.
Falmouth High School, Falmouth, MA
Two seniors surveyed classmates about vaping in the bathrooms and brought a proposal to the principal. The school capped how many students can be in a bathroom, added vape detectors, and expanded support for students trying to quit.
Santee Education Complex, Los Angeles, CA
The school’s Gay-Straight Alliance spent months on a campaign: over 700 signatures, more than 20 classroom presentations, and a safety plan answering every concern administrators raised. The school converted a restroom into the first all-gender bathroom in LAUSD.
Islander Middle School, Mercer Island, WA
She asked why period products weren’t free like toilet paper, and backed it with a petition and a letter. Within weeks the district fixed the dispensers, made them free, and did the same at the high school.
Oregon
A group of high school student leaders drafted a bill and lobbied legislators at the Capitol. The governor signed it: Oregon students can now take a mental health day the same way they take a sick day.
Evanston Township High School, Evanston, IL
A senior surveyed classmates about how dress-code enforcement felt and found some groups were singled out far more than others. Working with administrators and student council, she helped replace the code: leggings, tank tops, hoodies and hats were allowed, and staff were told to stop body-shaming students.
Isca Academy, Exeter, England
Boys weren’t allowed to wear shorts, even in a heatwave, so about 30 of them came to school in the skirts girls were allowed to wear. The school added shorts to the uniform and didn’t punish anyone.
Menlo-Atherton High School, Atherton, CA
Current and former students started a petition that passed 2,300 signatures in days. The school board voted unanimously to require an ethnic studies course, and it was running the next fall.
Richland Center School District, Richland Center, WI
Students and parents spoke through two hours of public comment at the school board. The board approved the district’s first gay and ally alliance club, with a teacher-librarian as advisor.
Seattle Public Schools, Seattle, WA
The district split high school lunch into two periods with no warning. Students at seven high schools walked out and rallied at district headquarters, and the district brought the single shared lunch back on Wednesdays. The student union called it a partial win.
Roosevelt High School, Chicago, IL
Students boycotted cafeteria lunch and posted photos of the food online. Chicago Public Schools added new menu items and snack options. Students called it a start, not a fix.
Santa Barbara Unified School District, Santa Barbara, CA
The district blocked YouTube on student iPads. A student government rep led a survey across three high schools that got over 1,700 responses, most saying the ban hurt their schoolwork, and students filled the September board meeting. The ban is still in place, and the fight is ongoing.
Pick a problem
Start from a survey students already ran about bathrooms, lunch, classes or mental health, or write your own.
Send the link
Drop it in the group chat. Answers are anonymous, and people see the results right after they answer, which is what gets it shared.
Bring the numbers
"212 students answered and 84% hold it all day" is hard to ignore. The doorstop for your problem shows you who to send it to.
From other schools
Public surveys from students everywhere. The ones that got something changed are at the top. Open one to see the results, or run it at your school.
