Anoka-Hennepin School District - Don't Teach, Don't Tell?

[Corvus]

I cant figure out how to embed the video so heres a link

http://youtu.be/ZMpHVLNlvA8

thoughts?

[PharaohKatt]

Re: Anoka-Hennepin School District - Don't Teach, Don't Tell?

I can't stand it. My younger sibling was constantly picked on at school, and my brother got shit from teachers for defending zim. I don't think people realise just how not-harmless bullying can be.
Sticks and stones and words and actions. It all counts.

[ChainLightning]

Re: Anoka-Hennepin School District - Don't Teach, Don't Tell?

Anoka is almost walking distance from where I'm from, up there. Within 20 minutes by car, anyway.

My thoughts? The, uh, anti-gay movement is sort of played up, a bit, in there. Most, and I do mean MOST, of the kids and parents alike have zero phobias or animosity towards gays. What *is* going on is an abomination but it's not all that pervasive. Just a handful of delinquent bastards can make life hell for a huge number of kids.

I went to the neighboring school district, when I was kid. I was bullied, picked on, teased and abused for a number of differences (I wore glasses, I was short (and still am), I hung out with druggies, I didn't ever carry books but still aced the tests - the list is endless). Because of my naturally curly (aka unruly) hair, kids thought I never combed it, since major waves and curls don't do what you want them to. So, I became "Dirtball". I was also named "Freakazoid", "Dwarf", "Pothead" and "short shit", among many others.

That bullying isn't new. What's new is the amount of airtime, how much attention it gets. When my daughter was 16, she had a classmate that hung herself in her bedroom closet. It didn't make the news.

It's not about being gay and persecuted. It's actually about kids not knowing or not having someone to turn to when the asshats come out of the woodwork. Tattletales, snitches and crybabies just aren't acceptable, in any clique. For victims, it seems hopeless. For news crews, it's a good way to garner a paycheck and paint the problem the way they want it addressed.

And for those few pieces of snail snot, it's a free ride to notoriety and fame. All their friends can stand in awe at just how criminal the shithead's behavior can be, toward others, at how lucky they are that it's not them being bullied... they can even celebrate the success of ostracizing, at the funeral of yet another one of our children.

It's a very complex problem and it's as old as the hills. And it's not nearly what the news stations report on.


Them's my thoughts.

[kijani]

Re: Anoka-Hennepin School District - Don't Teach, Don't Tell?

Well said, Chain. Very well said.

[Dez]

Re: Anoka-Hennepin School District - Don't Teach, Don't Tell?

I agree. It's one thing to step in, another to live there and know the people.

It made me wonder, though...the suicide rate in Utah is very high for young men 15-20. When you have a very conservative religious community anywhere it has to be hard on kids who identify as gay.

[ChainLightning]

Re: Anoka-Hennepin School District - Don't Teach, Don't Tell?

I agree. It's one thing to step in, another to live there and know the people.

It made me wonder, though...the suicide rate in Utah is very high for young men 15-20. When you have a very conservative religious community anywhere it has to be hard on kids who identify as gay.

With extremely conservative communities, like those you mention in Idaho, it doesn't even take someone finding out, deducing or even accusing a youngster of being gay. The FEAR of being found out is often bad enough, alone, to force these kids into feeling there's no better option that suicide.

I'm not saying that it's any different, of course. That terrorizing, whether being acted out or just sitting there like a mouse trap, waiting to go off, is still unacceptable.

I should also say it's not about thinking that homosexuality is wrong, as many religions assert, for example, it's about how PEOPLE are treated for being different, for not "following the herd". Many folks can't see a difference there.

[Dez]

Re: Anoka-Hennepin School District - Don't Teach, Don't Tell?

I should also say it's not about thinking that homosexuality is wrong, as many religions assert, for example, it's about how PEOPLE are treated for being different, for not "following the herd". Many folks can't see a difference there.

THAT is a very good point. I wish parents in particular were more careful with how they taught their children. Fear often makes them emphasize parts they're worried about, thinking that will somehow prevent that problem from affecting their child. Instead, it often leads to the child thinking that someone with that problem (or parents with that problem) is fair game.

I've had several uncomfortable conversations with my SIL about this lately. Her boys are almost 5 and 3 and she's already working very hard to cement the ideas that certain things are "worldly" and "make heavenly father sad", and that alcohol, tea, and coffee are bad. For a kid, though, it's a short leap from "that thing is bad" to "that person is bad". What's going to happen when they realize they have a gay uncle? What's going to happen if they come over to our house some time and see a couple of beers in the fridge?

It takes a lot of prepping and pressure from the parents, determined to raise their kids "right", to get those sorts of attitudes in the kids.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Anoka-Hennepin School District - Don't Teach, Don't Tell?

THAT is a very good point. I wish parents in particular were more careful with how they taught their children. Fear often makes them emphasize parts they're worried about, thinking that will somehow prevent that problem from affecting their child. Instead, it often leads to the child thinking that someone with that problem (or parents with that problem) is fair game.

Yes. And the child is afraid to go to their parents with any questions/problems because he/she doesn't want to let them down, and becomes isolated and desperate.