This week, we learned all about the richness of classroom cultures. Until I started to read this chapter in our books, I didn't realize just how diverse a classroom could be, not to sound stupid, but I had never taken some things into consideration. So our assignment was to pick a hot topic in the chapter and ask a question that we are interested in, so you guessed it, my question is, "What are schools doing to prevent gender biasing?" I chose this as my question because during my high school years I met some of the best friends who were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered. Although my school was extremely accepting, not everyone is, so I want to know what preventive measures schools are taking in order to provide a safe environment for these students.
According to http://www.glsen.org, there are four ways in which schools can help to prevent gender bullying and harassment; 1) Adopt a comprehensive anti-bullying policy, 2) Require staff trainings, 3) Support student efforts, and 4) Institute age-appropriate, inclusive curricula. All of these are great ways to ensure students that they won't be harrassed or bullied based on their gender or sexual orientation. Three of these stood out to me in a different way, for example, adopting a comprehensive anti-bullying policy. What they mean by this is incorporating sexual orientation into the group of categories that defines bullying. While I was in school, I never recall seeing sexual orientation as one of the groups, but I am so glad that it is finally included. Supporting student efforts is also a great way for teachers to help ensure a zero-tolderance policy when it comes to bullying. This is also a great way for teachers to build positive relationships with their students! Whether it is being an adviser to a Gay-Straight Alliance Club, supporting ally week, or partaking in the day of silence, teachers are students most valuable resources. Number four, institute age-appropriate, inclusive curricula was the one that stood out most to me because I had never really thought of it like this. Obviously, students need to be taught at an extremely young age that bullying is unacceptable, and I believe that teachers are the ones who aid most in this. However, trying to explain to a 6-year-old why they shouldn't use a certain word because it is offensive to some, isn't the easiest thing to do. As teachers, we need to be able to help young children both learn AND understand why bad things are bad, not just tell them they are bad.
If schools throughout the nation work hard at these four "goals" to elimate gender bullying completely, students will no longer live in fear while at school. When I was in high school, there were a few teachers who were openly gay, and they were some of the school's favorites; I think that can be summed up as many students had respect for the fact that these teachers fully embraced who they were. During one year of high school, the day of silence had the most people partaking than they ever had before. There will always be an exception to the rule when it comes to schools who are making big strides forward, as there will be schools who still have this as an ongoing issue. However, it is up to us as teachers to make it stop and create an equal learning environment for everyone!
http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/2418.html?state=&type=antibullying
http://www.westfield.ma.edu/center/images/bullyProofTeens175px.jpg
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Poafo8EaS2MC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=gender+bullying+in+schools&ots=OgUiJSf7Wc&sig=53SRzfakEl7wOpgZliKOvcsK9qw#v=onepage&q=gender%20bullying%20in%20schools&f=false
