While reading “Queering Our Schools” and watching the Woke Kindergarten episode “Woke Read Alouds: They, She, He Easy as ABC”, I had so many thoughts. In The Queering Our Schools article from Rethinking Schools it discusses Sasha, a 16-year-old agender student who was burned when another student set Sasha’s skirt on fire. Sasha’s family encouraged education, instead of criminal punishment for the student who committed the crime. The article asks, “How do we create classrooms and schools where each child, parent, and staff member’s unique, beautiful self is appreciated and nurtured?” The article states that building safe LGBTQ communities within schools for adults and students, while incorporating LGBTQ people, their accomplishments, and struggles, into the curriculum are ways to create a more inclusive, empathic school.
My first thought after reading this article was how far we are from having open LGBTQ discussions in schools. These conversations need to begin in elementary school, normalizing the idea of pronoun choice, and accepting everyone for who they are. The backlash from parents would be overwhelming. I think that gender identity is highly complex and misunderstood by most, making it an even more difficult topic for discussion. Sexual orientation, still a difficult conversation in school, seems to be more easily accepted. One thing from the article that I did find interesting was the discussion about ‘bullies’. I agree that focusing on bullying and not the underlying issues- fails to address the cause. Schools deal with bullying reactively, as situations arise. It’s time we become proactive, not just talking about what a bully is, but by addressing the social issues that spark bullying and challenging those ideas.
The video “Woke Read Alouds: They, She, He Easy as ABC”, addresses the importance of respecting and honoring others by using their preferred pronouns, asking questions, and accepting people as they are. I really like the idea of the book and the conversations that it could promote. However, I’m not sure it would be easily accepted by parents in the school district I work in.
Lastly, the document on Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Guidance for Rhode Island Schools on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students is a great resource for schools to use to navigate this very difficult topic. I am pleased to see that RI has taken a progressive stance on LGBTQ rights in schools. This progressive guidance provides a supportive atmosphere for future LGBTQ discussions between schools, families and students.
Ready to begin the conversations in school, great resource here: Be Prepared for LGBTQ+ Questions and Concerns
Hi Amanda! I completely agree that education needs to start in elementary school, addressing bullying is a reactive approach, rather than providing education to foster acceptance and prevent bullying before it happens, However, this is much easier said than done, for many, learning about LGBTQ and gender issues is a sensitive, adult topic that can provoke a lot of serious, complex, adult questions that some parents may not be ready to introduce their children too. While I feel all children should learn these things to foster kindness and acceptance from those who are different than them, when is it appropriate to do so (in reference to gender and sexual orientation)? I also feel that in my district, reading a book like "They, She, He Easy As ABC" would not go over well with many parents, and not so much because they don't agree with what the book is teaching, but that they don't want their children learning about these things yet.
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