Friday, October 10, 2014

Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places: addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in the primary school By: Alexandra Allan Elizabeth Atkinson Elizabeth Brace Rene DePalma and Judy Hemingway



This article made me think about when I was a child in elementary school and what I thought or how I perceived the LGBT community. I feel I did not know about the LGBT community, or if I did know anything it was very little. Just like this article discussed; books, conversations, activities, and everything in the classroom never addressed LGBT. As a child when things are never discussed it is typically because people want to hide you from it or it is not widely accepted. Due to the fact that LGBT was not discussed I grew up not understanding it and seeing those people as “odd or weird.” As a child you become ignorant if you are not taught about the LGBT community. It wasn’t until about junior high that I fully grasped the idea of the LGBT community, and to this day I am still learning new things about it. I feel that in schools children should be made aware of everything going on in the world, including the LGBT community. I do not expect every story and conversation in elementary school to be about LGBT because then that would be overkill, but it should be included as it is now a large part of society. Children should be educated on everything going on around them and then they can decide how they feel about it or understand how their parents and family feel about the topic. I would never want to be told what to do or brain washed what to do, I would just want to know all the options and points of view before deciding what to do. I feel elementary school is the best place to start educating our children about everything and not hiding information from them. With all this being said I hope the education system will start to educate students about everything going on in the world, including the LGBT community, with fair and equal mindsets and attitudes towards the topic so that the children’s thoughts will not be influenced.

Do you agree with me about starting to educate children early on about the LGBT community?

The following hyperlink/video is about women and women’s rights and it correlates indirectly with the LBGT community because it is also a big issue that still needs to be worked on just like LGTB, and it deals with people and acceptance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwJRFClybmk#t=19

 
This picture is self-explanatory.

5 comments:

  1. when do you feel in elementary school should start educating? As early as 1st grade or more when they are in fifth grade?

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  2. I believe we should integrate LGBT into school very early

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  3. I agree with you that education of this topic should begin at a young age, but with that I think it should come in moderation to the age level that is being taught. I think parents should be involved with the decisions/conversations/lessons that are going on in the classroom as well in order to be respectful and keep everyone informed and on the same page. I really like the picture you chose and feel it is a great representation!

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  4. I agree that elementary schools should educate their kids on the LGBTQ community. However, it may seem to be an issue to some parents so it is very important to keep them involved and not to go past any boundaries. I believe that using books to integrate that lifestyle into the classroom is the perfect way to teach kids about the LGBTQ community so that they are more open to it as they grow up.

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  5. I agree, I feel like this topic should be taught at a younger age. I also agree with Shelby, I think it's very important to inform and involve parents on what is being taught.

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