Humans have thrived off of support from peers and people in their community for as long as they’ve been around. It’s how we’ve learned to adapt and progress. St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s Committee for Community Conduct–a student committee dedicated to giving their thoughts on what the result of minor infractions of the schools handbook by fellow students (all disciplinary action is ultimately up to SPA staff)–exemplifies the positive benefits of peer accountability and support. The committee consists of two members from each grade level and the Dean of Students.

C3 has a step by step way of going about their process. First, the Dean of students meets with the student and hears their side of the story. The principal and the Dean then decide if the case will go to C3. If the case gets passed on, guardians of the student will be notified and the student will receive a statement of their violation and a flow chart of the C3 process. A reminder about honesty will be said by the Dean of students before the committee moves forward. The student and committee have a discussion then the faculty advisors leave while the committee discusses what they think. The Dean makes a decision and sends them home to the student and their guardians.

In recent years with the COVID-19 pandemic, the SPA administration has made a lot of changes. This includes C3 having less influence than it once did. The committee used to receive cases every few months systematically and was able to come up with suitable repercussions based on what the offense was. Normally, the group of students would hear out the student in trouble and read through the handbook to respond. The chance to receive criticism from peers allowed students to be more aware of each other. Students responded better when getting the criticism from their peers rather than the Dean of Students or teachers. This helped solidify the SPA community.

According to Mental Health America, peer support provides “improved quality of life, improved engagement and satisfaction with services and supports, improved whole health, including chronic conditions like diabetes, decreased hospitalizations and inpatient days, and reduced the overall cost of services.” Giving C3 more power and ability to engage with the student body and having a second opinion from other students makes students strive to be better community members and make connections.
Returning to taking C3 as being a valued part of SPA culture and support will create the environment the new staff this year is trying to emulate. They have preached in assemblies and class meetings about making this year engaging for students. We can start by bringing C3 back into use.

The system of support has worked for other schools where students are able to have a big voice. It allowed for students to rely on each other and work through issues together, which has worked on numerous college campuses such as many California schools. Having it reimplemented in SPA will encourage students to take the student handbook more seriously and start conversations with each other that will lead to positive change. It will also help students feel a sense of normalcy by returning to a time before the pandemic.

Bringing C3 back into the spotlight would drastically improve the student body’s dedication and involvement in the community. It would bring people together to create a good environment. It would also give change for students to redeem themselves. C3 is a step towards this opportunity for many people.