Recently a new club, the Young Americans for Freedom, or YAF, started holding meetings and posting to instagram. The account has made some concerning posts and statements that I find to be harmful to the student body. I will list some references and their impacts and then discuss the changes I think could be made to accommodate this club without them being a hate group. Starting off on December 7th, 2021, they made an anti-trans post stating that there are only 2 genders. The captions even said “There are only ♂♀”. I found that this post could be very degrading and insulting to the trans and non-binary community, of which RHS has a big community. As a school that claims to be so open, accepting, and caring for their students, I find it shocking that a school sponsored club is allowed to make such harsh and hurtful comments. Going further back on October 11, 2021 rhs_yaf_ posted to Instagram a “Happy Columbus Day” video. I’m sure you’re aware of the large Native American population at RHS. Columbus’s exploration led to wars, theft, and slave labor. His presence ruined the Natives tribes and forced them onto reservations after he stole their land. This club celebrating him without accounting for his flaws and mistakes is very hurtful to the native community that still suffers from his past actions. I think it’s disgusting and privileged of them to praise a white man who ruined the lives of those with ethnic and cultural backgrounds. To post this while knowing that most schools don’t celebrate Columbus Day anymore and just educate on the topic because it's so sensitive and impactful is very unprofessional. On November 19, 2021 they posted “Kyle Rittenhouse: Not Guilty” The post was captioned “Thank you lord for watching over Mr. Rittenhouse!” Kyle Rittenhouse shot three men, two of which died. Rittenhouse brought a gun over state lines to a protest and shot three men. He was found not guilty and, regardless of if any of us think he was guilty or not, I find it alarming that they’re praising a man who shot people. Is that not a school threat or red flag in your mind? I mean, if someone told me how much they adore this man who shot three people for not having the same views as him, I’d be terrified. I am terrified to write this, I have no idea what these people with poor morals are willing to do to get their way. No matter the inevitable consequences, I’m standing up for what I believe in and, once again, I see this post as a privileged, biased, political, and harmful statement, and something unfit for school. On January 22, 2022 they posted a photo of someone holding a sign saying “Unborn Lives Matter”. The amount of things wrong with this post astonishes me. Abortion should not be a topic in school. It’s a topic that always ends up political and religious. The freedom of religion also means the freedom from religion. A post revolving around their religious views and how they feel about a woman's choice to her own body baffles me. These are the same students who refuse to wear a mask because “My body, my choice.” If they believe that and put all of us around them at risk for their comfort then why does a woman not have the right to abort a fetus with no sign of life for her sake? As a Christian who could probably never bring myself to have an abortion, I still completely support other women’s rights to one, and I think these students should account for the sensitivity of the topic before speaking on it. I know many young girls, including myself, who were sexual assult or rape victims, and for whom abortion is a scary, real topic that too many girls my age have to face. For the YAF to so blatantly disregard the emotional half of this matter is horrendous. They claim to advocate for freedom but won’t advocate for a woman's right to her own body. According to Planned Parenthood, “Approximately 67.8 per 1,000 women aged 15-19 become pregnant each year. 82 percent of these are unintended pregnancies”. A staggering statistic like this shows how many girls at our school could be affected by the harmful online shaming. Most teens can’t raise a child for their mental and physical health/safety, so for this club to degrade women for their private choice to abort a fetus is so uncalled for and wrong.  Another problem I see with this post is the “Unborn Lives Matter '' in reference to the “Black Lives Matter '' movement. The photo posted even used the same font and format. With a small African American population at our school, I can't imagine how hurtful this post was. To be such a small minority and know a whole club of students at school compares your life to a fetus with no heartbeat, brain function, or breathing pattern must be incredibly hurtful. Comparing a teen or adult life to something with no sign of life is so injurious and impacting. I wouldn't be shocked if they were hurt and surprised by this post, to be so degraded and belittled over race in this day in age is crazy, we should be past that. They might not have intended for the post to have underlying racist connotations but it does. Many of their posts contain content that shames or disrespects students they attend school with. Posts that I think could truly damage the mental health of the classmates they’re so rudely speaking on. On the topic of hurtful posts some of their supporters and followers have posted as well saying things such as “stop making up words” when referring to the word “Latinx”, RHS is made up of 37% Hispanics and as one of them I find this to be a crude comment. Stating one’s ethnicity and race doesn’t exist is so damaging, especially for the mixed students who already face issues with “fitting in” since they don’t fit society’s standards of what they should look like to be a part of their ethnic or racial group. Another follower took the liberty to post and relate the Holocaust to the pandemic we’re currently in. Jewish people were killed for their religious beliefs, which is nowhere near the same thing as having to wear a mask to keep from contracting a sickness. To any Jewish people on campus this is probably a very upsetting post to see. Their ancestors were killed for their beliefs, and that is not the same as a pandemic and it is so harmful to compare mass genociode to COVID. To follow up on more issues with their Instagram handle, their bio states they are “A Project of @yaf_”. Some official YAF posts include: Anti-Abortion, Transphobia, blatant Republican political views, Anti-Black Lives Matter, Antisemetism, Homophobia, Anti-Vax, Islamophobia, and blatent racist jokes. All things that a school as diverse as Ramona High should absolutely not approve of. While I understand students need to be expressive and make clubs for their interest and beliefs, I do think this one personally reflects very poorly on the school and upsets many students. A club with so much political and religious tie-ins shouldn’t have even passed the approval stage to become a school based club. I think if they existed outside of school there would be less of an issue because that's a matter that we can't control. This matter however is in our control and is something we can easily change to better fit the circumstances. Personally I’d like to see the club removed, but I can see how that might stir more issues. My biggest request is that they are censored. I run the Yearbook instagram for RHS and all posts I make are admin approved to make sure they're school friendly. I’m sure they will bring up freedom of press, but when attending a public High School you do lose some of your rights. I think they should be informed that if they're a school approved and based club that they need to post unbiased and non-political statements. They must follow the rules just like everyone else, if they dont they shouldn't be allowed to be a club. As a club with so many controversial issues inside of it, it would really be unfortunate if it reflected back on our already struggling school. The negativity coming from this club could tear us all down with it. I also believe it's owed to the minorities at school that someone stands up for them and advocates a safer, more accepting environment. I love being able to say, “I'm proud to be a Bulldog”, but it's hard to be proud when your school accepts people that hate and shame you and hate and shame your friends based on their appearance, religion, gender, or sexuality. I think this club is too hostile and harmful to be school based without any monitoring. With hopes of change, many leaders on campus apart of the student body have all discussed starting a petition to have their group censored or removed. I would greatly appreciate you looking into them and all that I've informed you of. I hope to see change and a safer campus. Thank you for your time and consideration. If you have any further questions or concerns about the club please contact me and I’d be happy to speak further on this topic to help advocate for my classmates.