Taylor Ramsay 1
Nov 30, 2012
English 1A
November 30, 2012
To the ones that look away,
Every child in
America
is deserving of growing up in a safe, compassionate environment. Getting
through the teenage years is one of the hardest things anyone experiences in
their lifetime. And anyone who has made it through grade-school, even, knows
that these years are an abundance of confusion, contradictions, and the acceptance
of the fact that one’s own peers can be very, very cruel. You are constantly
told by the world to accept yourself for who you are, but that at the same time
you must conform to the social norms or suffer the consequences. You are told
that everybody is different, unique, but that you must also be like everybody
else, which in itself is already incredibly confusing. This contradictive
aspect of modern society is something we’re all somewhat aware of, but cannot
seem to find a solution to. We’re all trying to decipher where we would be
best-suited in the world. Due to the sometimes antagonistic view towards
anything ill-fitting to our social norms all children are struck with the
potential of being tormented, including the LGBT community. No matter what your
spiritual beliefs consist of, everyone should be able to agree with the simple
fact that no child should ever feel unsafe at school. Schools are a place for
learning, and for gaining the same opportunity that every child in
America
is promised; equality and the chance to succeed.
Childhood is hard, but this is an entirely different level of acceptance,
and of bullying in the modern day world. LGBT youth face possible rejection
from everyone- peers, religion, and in some cases their own families. I have
many friends who are gay, and they all seem to have realized it at a young age.
They admit that it’s certainly not an easy thing to accept, and when you finally
get to that point in self-actualization you can only hope that people will
accept you as well. Bullying is a terrible thing, because it is often an attack
regarding the very thing you are most self-conscious about. It can take a huge
toll on the emotional health of a young person, and teaches them that it’s
normal to feel worthless and rejected. Bullying takes many forms, and can be
verbal, violent, or just complete shunning of one’s own existence. Gay bullying
is a particularly hard problem to face, because a person’s reasons for
rejecting it can be deeply rooted, in religion, politics, culture, et cetera.
According to the National schools climate survey in
New
York, safety is an issue for LGBT youth. This survey
paints a realistic picture of this problem, a reported 63% of these students admit
they felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and the numbers
are much higher for transgender students (80%). It seems that for transgender
students, the climate is likely to be much more hostile. A shocking 81.9% of
LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 38.3% were physically harassed,
and 18.3% were actually physically assaulted. About one third of these students
admit they have skipped a class to avoid being harassed, and the grade point
average is lower for the students that are harassed the most. It is obvious
that this bullying takes a very literal toll on their schoolwork, and that
should never be the case. Bullying of this caliber can have intense effect on
one’s self-worth. It can lead to depression, substance abuse and even suicide.
The same study showed that while coming out as gay brings higher rates of
psychological well-being it can also lead to a much higher level of peer
victimization. A supportive environment, both at home and at school is very
important to the emotional health of these teens. A study done in
Oregon showed that
LGBT youth are 17.3% more likely to commit suicide then their heterosexual peers, and 20% more
likely when in an unsupportive environment. It is important that schools and
teachers continue taking steps to solve this bullying epidemic in our country.
At this point there is no federal law that directly addresses bullying,
although every state has their own laws, policies, or both. Seth’s law was
passed in
California, in response to
the suicide of a boy named Seth Walsh shortly after being rescued from a group
of bullies. It is supposed to force schools to update their bullying policies
to include bullying based on perceived sexual orientation. Although this is a
step in the right direction, it’s not perfect. Parts of the law have been
removed due to budget problems that would have had bullies placed in
counseling/anger management to help get to the root of the issue. Bullying is a
problem that is deeply rooted, and cannot necessarily always be solved by
traditional means. In my opinion, if you simply suspend a student for violent
actions against another, that will just incite more anger and take time away
from their education. Missing out on school should never be an option, and it
definitely shouldn’t be considered a consequence. We need to start teaching
these bullies, and their parents, that even if you don’t agree with someone’s
lifestyle, it does not in any way make it okay to harass them for it. Once a
person has admitted to themselves that they are gay it is very unlikely for
that to change. No matter how disapproving you are, you are never going to
completely change a person, and it’s not your place to do so.
Teachers should be some of the first people to take action, because of the
fact that they are with these children at school. They are the ones that have
the opportunity to witness bullying first hand and take action. Seth’s law is a
perfect gateway to start changing. It is supposed to require schools in California
to have a strong anti-bullying policy that specifically addresses sexual
orientation and gender identity. It states that you must have a planned process
for handling this type of bullying, and that teacher and staff must intervene
if it is witnessed. Schools must make these new rules public, meaning posting
them where people can see them so that they are aware that something is
supposed to be done. Why is it that many schools ignore this new law? It is
possible that they just don’t know how to handle this type of bullying, or that
they are afraid of outspoken anti-gay parents? Whatever the reason, we all need
to remember that we are talking about children here. I know there is at least
one teacher at every school that cares about this issue. The smallest of
changes can really make a different, which could be starting a GSA (Gay-Straight
Alliance) or just simply talking to your students. If just one person decides
to try and make a difference, often it can lead to others jumping on board as
well. If you see something going on, never look away. Do something about it. All
it takes is a few small changes, a few hard conversations, and we could be on
the path of ending this bullying completely.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_21401141/most-local-school-districts-ignore-states-anti-gay
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