I came across this article while I was searching for something online for another class. I thought I would put it on my blog because I thought it was encouraging to find out that there are resources made to help teachers to talk about gay issues in the classroom. I have heard many times that talking about these types of issues with elementary school is inappropriate because kids are too young to handle such a controversial issue. The truth is, as Debra Chasnoff points out in her film It's Elementary: Talking about Gay Issues In School, kids already know a lot about the world around them. Students are not hearing about gay issues for the first time in the classroom. Instead, they are coming into the classroom with knowledge, and often times, with biases and prejudices that they may bring from home. This video, although I have only watched clips, shows that students are really knowledgeable and compassionate when they are given the chance to discuss homosexuality. As one reviewer says, "One of the most striking aspects of the film is the depth of awareness and sensitivity students illustrate regarding the issue". What I think is especially interesting is that Debra shows classes of students grades K through 8 talking about the issue, and the first graders were the kids who were more open minded and offered the most insight. This helped me to realize that it is crucial to be talking about these types of issues at an early age, before students become stuck in a certain negative mindset. Additionally, this particular review addresses the fact that we are not hesitant to bring about topics of race or ethnicity in the classroom, so why is homosexuality still such a taboo? One's sexuality is just as much a part of their person as their race, and we should be able to have a discussion regarding homosexuality with students, as it is reality and something that they are aware of and have an opinion about at all ages.
review of film:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3935/is_/ai_n9093531
offers video clips:
http://newday.com/films/Its_Elementary.html
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I would definitely agree that children come to classrooms with pre-existing ideas and beliefs about issues because of what they've heard from others or at home. As a teacher of course I don't want to encourage any negative views of anyone, but at the same time I don't want to impose my own views on my students. I want to make my classroom comfortable and welcoming, like pretty much every other teacher. It does seem like sexuality is still taboo to talk about in the classroom, when race and other difficult issues are not, however I think that the argument that children are too young to talk to about this issue might hold some truth (in my opinion). I think of sexuality in relation to its root word of sex. Sex isn't something that is taught at such an early age because it is not something that young children should be thinking about (according to our society). I don't think that the issue is acceptance or that the subject is so uncomfortable but that we don't want to lead these discussions into the topic of sex, which is considered to be too mature for a young crowd. This is just a thought as to why this subject remains taboo...
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