When people hear Pleasant Valley, many immediately think “rich snobs.” At any sports game, the opposing team almost always chants “daddy’s money” at the PV student section.
It is a big assumption that every PV student is “rich” or comes from money. However, within the students of PV, how much does money truly set them apart?
Many students are seen with less opportunities in school and extracurricular activities when they have less money to spend. Within education, families with more money have a greater chance to set their students up for more success. Parents are able to put their children into private curriculums, extra tutors and additional help. They have the opportunity to take standardized tests that require money more than once, like the ACT. These wealthier students can take classes for college credit throughout the school year that cost extra money, and have the chance to go to better, more costly, colleges. Ultimately, leaving these wealthier students with a chance to go to better colleges in the future.
Students with more money are able to set themselves apart in athletics as well. There is more to spend on nicer gear, personal trainers, better gyms and better clubs. With money not being a worry, students have many ways to improve their sports and athletic abilities.
Senior Allie Simpson, who participated in soccer, track, and cross country throughout high school has seen this often. “At soccer, girls who have private trainers outside of our daily practices almost always get more playing time,” she stated. However deserving those girls are, it is still unfair to those who do not have the same opportunities.
Along with this, students who come from affluent families often have more time to participate in extracurricular activities, which could also be beneficial towards resumes for college applications. Many students who do not have parents that completely financially support them need to spend their free time working instead of practicing.
Money impacts much more at PV than just extra opportunities. There is an overwhelming amount of money bias happening at the school just under the surface. If a star athlete who comes from money gets caught with drugs, it is swept under the rug. If someone from “the wrong side of the tracks” is caught with drugs, an example is made out of them.
This has been seen for years at PV and it is not a rare occurrence. In 2019 a student wrote anti-semetic attacks on bathroom walls, a hate crime towards jewish people.
At first, the administration had an idea of who the perpetrator was. They thought it was a person who was not exactly PV’s picture perfect student; he did not come from money, his parents were not huge money donors and he rarely did homework when he did show up to school. The list of consequences were announced publicly on the intercom to emphasize their point and blame was ready to be placed.
However, only a few days later, the guilty person was found. It was not the person they expected — but the complete opposite. The person who wrote the threat on the walls was someone who came from a “good” family with money and did not usually get into trouble at school. When it was revealed that it was this student, the promised consequences did not go through. The incident disappeared in the eyes of administration, but not to the students.
Administration read out an apology on the intercom, explaining that it was sent in by the person who wrote the attacks. Administrators worked hard to protect their identity and reputation and made sure that the name would not get out to students.
This is not the first instance of this happening at PV. When the P3 app was introduced at PV, students were able to anonymously send in tips to the school deputy. Many students used this app to send in pictures or videos of students drinking alcohol or vaping, mainly to get revenge on people if a fight or drama was going on.
When tips were sent in, administrators would immediately look into them and take necessary action, but it seems like this action only takes place for certain students. In 2019, a senior at the time was sent into the app with a video of her drinking vodka at a party. With most students, this would lead to immediate suspension from both school and sports teams.
For this student, she only got a slap on the wrist and had to talk to the administrators about it. It was obvious to the whole school why this happened — she was a tri-sport varsity athlete, straight A student, but most importantly, her father had funded thousands into the school and booster clubs.
This situation angers other students for good reason. There is no reason for some students to get in trouble while others do not. Senior Morgan Sorenson has seen this at PV. “I have had a lot of close friends get P3’d, however, many of them have suffered little to no consequences,” she explained.
“To fix this issue, someone who has no idea who the students are and has no involvement with the school should be present and overlook punishments to insure fairness among consequences,” Sorenson explained.
Pleasant Valley has a good reputation for the protection of their students and actions taken against bullying. However, when wealthier students who come from money face less consequences than those who are not seen as high up on the totem pole, it causes a large division among the students and teaches them how money can put them ahead of others.
