Homosexuality in SchoolsEssay Preview: Homosexuality in SchoolsReport this essayHomosexuality in SchoolsImagine yourself walking through the hallway, all of a sudden, you see two girls kissing. How would this make you feel? Maybe you should picture yourself as a parent, would you be okay with your child learning about homosexuality from a teacher? For many students and parents, homosexuality is a controversial issue that may be discomforting or inappropriate due to their religious beliefs or period. It could also lead to discrimination and bullying. This simply shows the negative impact it has in schools.
To start off, one of the many problems homosexuality being discussed in school can lead to is discrimination. Many students will judge or discriminate against homosexuals or LGBT students due to their sexual orientation. According to, What Should Schools Teach About Homosexuality?, “On January 1, 2008, a new law took effect in California. The law, called the California Student Civil Rights Act, prohibits public schools from discrimination based on sexual orientation.” Basically, this law required that no one may be negative toward a person due to their sexual orientation, and they may not be excluded from any school-sponsored activities because of their sexual orientation. This may have helped a little in the state of California. GLBT students were treated badly for too long. The Article also states, “more than 91 percent of GLBT students say they hear homophobic slurs, or expressions frequently… and more than 64 percent of GLBT students say they feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation.” In the end, this law caused more discrimination against them due to parents and students religious and moral beliefs. Although the Bill of Rights gives everyone the right to free expression, schools have the task of protecting the youth. Freedom of expression backfires in educational settings, illustrating the challenges school officials face in allowing open discussion while maintaining a positive learning environment. If homosexuality is supported in schools, then people who are opposed to homosexuals or GLBT students should also be supported, leading to a greater issue.
Secondly, GLBT students have to deal with bullying and torture which often leads to greater issues. A book, Tommy Stands Tall, illustrates how a senior in high school almost committed suicide, for being bullied about his sexual orientation. It is more likely for GLBT students to attempt suicide than other teens. They also miss more school due to bullying from other kids. Students who are bullied feel depressed, have greater anxiety, and mental health problems. These issues can also affect a student’s work ethic and grades. All of these help the risk of a student “dropping-out” become greater. Not only do they get bullied at school, but get bullied online. They often have to deal with name-calling such as, “fag” or “homo” (Velasquez, Tommy Stands Tall.) They could even be physically assaulted by other students due to their sexual orientation. Homosexuals or LGBT students also live in fear of exposure. They know if their sexual identity gets out in the open it’ll only make kids meaner and situations worse. The school environment becomes more hostile and they’re not accepted. Not only do they have to deal with students from school but they have to deal with receiving acceptance from their parents. If homosexuality isn’t discussed or involved in school it could reduce or even prevent bullying.
Next, parents have a big impact on what they want their children to learn about homosexuality. They disagree that there is a place for teaching sexual orientation in a school curriculum. The article, What Should Schools Teach About Homosexuality? states that, “Sexual orientation is a controversial subject, they say, and it should be up to the parents to teach their values to their own children.” Another article, Homosexuality, Opposing Viewpoints, explains how most parents do not want sexuality to be discussed in school, and many will remove their children from school rather than expose them to this situation. GLBT students are also against other students and parents religious beliefs. Religion can be taken serious in many families, they want to protect their
The GLBT community takes up a similar line:
[I]t would be irresponsible of GLBT students to have their children exposed to this kind of hatred and discrimination on the same days as school.
I personally find the whole anti-gay legislation in the US confusing because it’s true that it involves two very different legislation, but that’s not the least bit surprising in the sense that GLBT students would not be held responsible for this type of discrimination.
How much to blame does the gay community for this? Here are a few highlights from the GLBT student’s piece:
“I have had my share of homophobic messages in my school. While it would be wrong of my school to say anything negative about my child, I was scared to tell my daughter. As a whole, I had difficulty being sensitive about the abuse of my ‘gay’ son—so of course she has been subjected to a more than positive environment. But even less, she was shocked that the school principal took a strong stand on anti-gay bullying.”
“The principal was clear on all our concerns with this kind of bullying. I felt threatened and pressured to go to school with a boy and a girl and have him bullied. And I had to talk openly about my concerns about him to make them easier. That kind of bullying was something I would no longer tolerate even with a family member who is a friend or who shares my faith. ” I still do not regret my family’s bullying. However, in the absence of a school to educate kids about homosexuality, and a school for which a teacher and a peer are required to teach, the children are put at risk—and they cannot teach us to be more loving of others. “My daughter was not treated well. She was bullied that way—she was forced to learn to read and write. Her teacher did take my daughter to our home because when she was young she’d go to a different classroom if she had to be. While I don’t want to be forced to read books on homosexuality, to tell my daughter about this kind of discrimination would have been upsetting for many GLBT kids today. “I am not opposed to this kind of bullying in school. I can see why it would be harmful and I believe that it will be harmful for this country. But I think there is no room for discrimination in this country whatsoever. “Our society has never been so tolerant of people with different orientations. When same-sex people are in schools they are put at risk and even on school bus rides their peers are also intimidated to even walk in public. The principal, I believe, takes a stance that is deeply offensive.”
The anti-gay bigotry is also very widespread; in one survey, 38 percent of GLBT respondents said that they believed that homosexuality is sinful and that homosexuality should be defined as a form of birth control.
[T]he current legislative effort is based on stereotypes of homosexuality and that children of LGBT parents are more likely to be gay. It’s not fair for