Page 339 in chapter 22 writes, "whatever the experiences that lead to growing personal awareness of their homosexuality, most gay and lesbian adolescents can vividly recall a period of intense anxiety when they first realized that they suddenly belonged to a group of people that is often vehemently dispised. For the adolescent, an identity crises occurs." In my opinion, teachers need to be educated in issues such as homosexuality, as we may have several students throughout our career who experience such things. My best friend in high school was gay, although nobody had any idea until a few years after he graduated. Through his experience, I can vouch for how hard it can be for an individual to be dealing with these type of feelings, and not having a safe enough atmosphere to express them. My high school was not extremely tolerant of homosexuals, and I know that is one of the many reasons my friend didn't show his true self.
As teachers, we need to not only inform our students about the differences that exist in this world, but we need to also model repsectful behavior to enhance a safe learning environment. After all, if, as teacher we do not provide a safe environment for ALL our students, than we're not fully doing our job. By educating ourselves, and therefore, our students about such issues as homosexuality, than hopefully a better, more tolerant learning environment was exist.
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5 years ago
1 comment:
I agree, I had a similiar experience in high school- only it was a little more difficult because it was in a Catholic high school and it was the teacher that was coming out. Many parents were so upset that a Catholic high school would let a gay teacher teacher there. The man was my favorite teacher and he never once hinted to any of us his sexual preference. None of the students found it a big deal because he was so fun and he was one of the few teachers in this world that really cared what his students thought and felt - he would be the one at all of the basketball, football, volleyball, softball, and baseball games. He'd be there for wrestling matches and track meets. He'd be there after school just to talk with his students and mainly - listen. My high school honestly didn't know how to handle the situation. Despite all of the negative attention, this teacher - by coming out - helped other students feel comfortable to come out as well and they were safe talking to him about it because it was so taboo otherwise in our Catholic environment. This just goes to show how schools altogether are not a very welcoming place and how hard it is to break society's strict laws in order to create a safe environment for students (and teachers).
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