New School

[Cole Parker]

This is a very good article:

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/groundbreaking-high-school-for-lgbt-students-to-171414115.html

This is an extract from the article:

[ Nearly 9 in 10 LGBT students report experiencing harassment within the last school year, and three in 10 report missing a class because they felt unsafe, according to gay rights group Georgia Equality. The group was among other advocates who lobbied state lawmakers to create legislation to reduce bullying in schools.

After the bill was signed into law in 2010, the group investigated school district policies in Georgia to see which districts had LGBT-specific bullying-prevention policies. It found fewer than 30 percent did. ]

I had thought that by now, most schools in this country had solid, enforced anti-bullying policies. Perhaps the investigation spoken of was done in 2010, but even so, I thought most of the progress that had been made occurred prior to only the past five years.

C

[Graeme]

I haven't heard of this being considered in Australia, but hopefully that's because it's not needed. I know our local high school has anti-bullying posters up on the walls including ones that explicitly target homophobia. However, I also know that there is still bullying at that school and that's one of the reasons my boys don't go there.

I remember reading about the Harvey Milk school in New York and the discussion about whether it was a good idea. The argument for is that it provides a safe place for these kids to learn. The argument against is that it segregates them from other students and therefore makes the transition out of school that much more difficult.

For me, the argument 'for' wins. The transition out of school occurs when the students are more mature and better able to handle discrimination. Allowing them to get to that point and providing an environment where they can develop self-confidence is more important.

[Merkin]

If the transition out of school into a less than tolerant society could occur at the end of the secondary school experience it could be prepared for within the curriculum.

Safeguarding every student so that an optimum educational outcome might be achieved should always be our first order of business--straight from early childhood through to designated "adulthood."

[Cole Parker]

I totally agree with both of you. The fact is, it's much harder to put up with being separated from the pack as a young teen than it is as an adult. It colors the rest of their lives if they're made to feel dirty and worthless and abominable when they're 12, 13 and 14. Many never lose that feeling. They're much more able to handle it at 18 and much less likely to ever face the more virulent forms of it.

I wholly endorse the idea of a safe, tolerant and supportive school experience, and if it takes a separate facility to accomplish it, well, shame on the community but bravo for the school board!

C

[JamesSavik]

Policy is one thing. It's nice, PC and looks good on paper.

The reality is often a very different matter.

Like when you are a kid and terrified to complain to anybody.

[ChrisR]

How does this research group identify LGBT-specific anti-bullying? Must it be a specific student assembly run by the local LGBT support group to qualify? Or is it okay if they have inclusive posters that say "No bullying based on race, creed, color, sex, ethnicity, language, religion, handedness, athletic ability, club membership, clothing style, IQ, handicap - er - I mean disability - whoops - otherwise abled, oh yeah and sexual preference/identity/whathaveyou"??

More than 60 years have passed since Brown v. Board of Education led to desegregation and forced bussing in the US because people thought racial segregation was wrong. For at least 25 years we've been integrating mentally challenged kids into regular classrooms. But now, suddenly, for a different reason, we think segregation is proper. Of course the kids' families need an extra $1100/month to pay for the privilege to be segregated. Seems that every agenda has its own idea of what's best for children and I doubt they're all correct.

[Cole Parker]

If the schools that are integrated aren't safe for the students, then this makes perfect sense to me. And it stated that if the parents can't afford it, financial aid is available.

I would agree that it would be better if such schools weren't needed, but unfortunately, that isn't reality in Georgia.

C

[ChrisR]

If all things were equal, Cole, perhaps so, in Georgia or anywhere else.

But Graeme makes a good point that more mature students are able to transition better. By creating LGBT schools at the high school level you're forcing kids to make the decision to come out by age 13/14 when they're not as mature nor are they as capable of taking care of themselves if the parental units are opposed. Otherwise they have to stay closeted in the mainstream school and have even fewer resources and friends to survive it. I fear it could actually increase the problems with drugs, homelessness and suicide rather than reduce it.

[Cole Parker]

I don't read it that way at all. No one is forced to come out. This school is for kids who've been bullied and not supported by faculties or administrators at other schools. Their parents already understand this. Whether it's because they're gay or for some other reason, they're being mistreated at their schools, and this gives them a safe haven to get an education.

If they want to stay in the closet, they can. If they're out to their parents and want to go to the safe school that's been set up for them, it's now available. If they're not out, they can still ask to go here. I see nothing wrong here at all.

C

[Graeme]

My opinion is that this is a school for kids who are already out (whether or not by choice). A kid who is not out would only go to this sort of school if they wanted to come out, because if someone knows that they go to that school, they'll be assumed to be gay (regardless of whether they are or not).

The Harvey Milk school in New York has been there for a long time, so this is not a new concept. It is, however, a new concept for the south. I'll let myself be guided by people like James Savik who are out and live there as to whether this is a healthy idea, or if it will just feed injustice.

As for the segregation/desegregation issue, the difference here is that the members of the minority will be choosing to segregate themselves, and will generally be doing so for safety reasons. They need a safe place to go to school. If they can't get that in the traditional schooling system, then sorry, but it looks like they need to segregate themselves, at least for the few years of high school. This doesn't stop anyone from attention a school in the traditional schooling system, but for those that need it, it's an option available to them (hopefully).

[Merkin]

The villains causing this situation are the bullies, and they should be the focus of our concern and our legislation.

[Nigel Gordon]

​So long as youngsters need to go to schools of this type it is a sign that there is something very wrong in the education system that needs to be sorted out.

[Chris James]

I'm afraid it is more than an issue with the school system...it is the result of bad parenting. Those mothers and fathers who use the school to discipline their kids are wrong. Kids who bully others in school are guilty of being criminals because there is no greater crime that not allowing a child to get a proper education.