Fifteen-year-old Mike Thurston used to go to school in that district, facing daily taunts of being gay--Mike isn't gay--and being shoved into lockers. He left after being bullied to a point he didn't want to go to school at all.
So Mike and his parents are cautiously optimistic to hear the Anoka-Hennepin school board is on the cusp of changing a current policy that prohibits teachers from talking about homosexuality in the classroom. Yes, teachers at a public school in 2011 are banned from talking about homosexuality, which, in my mind, is a form of bullying in and of itself, as it casts a shame and a sense of secrecy over being gay in America today.
Mike's mother, Cindy Thurston, hopes things will change: "I want to be hopeful that things can move forward for gay students, but I'm worried too if that's still going to be stopped."
But, at a standing room only school board meeting, district officials introduced their new proposal which, in theory, allows teachers to discuss homosexuality. Yet it's name of the program which is causing some confusion: the "Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy." The the policy does not specify what constitutes a 'controversial topic'.
Some people still remain uncertain about what can and cannot be discussed openly in the classroom, and are urging the school board to clarify the proposed policy before voting on it next month. And then there's the issue of the policy's official title.
Tammy Aaberg, whose son Justin committed suicide after being bullied, isn't happy with the title: "I read the policy and my heart started breaking all over again. Because now we're going from neutral on sexual orientation to labeling LBGT kids as controversial."
And, of course, one woman, who did give her name, an Anonymous,m if you will, "We were a model for the nation at protecting kids from homosexual propaganda. The sexual orientation curriculum policy is an excellent policy."
I'd like, just one, for one of these ill-informed, knuckle-dragging, one brain-celled wingnut to explain to me what 'homosexual propaganda' is, and, while they're at it, give me the exact definition of the 'homosexual agenda'.
:::::crickets::::
School board member Scott Wenzel believes they're making progress: "Am I totally happy with it, absolutely not but I think we're moving forward to satisfy and clear up some misunderstandings in our school district and create a safer school for our students."
I'm happy, too, that the Anoka-Hennepin school district is at least having the discussion. In and of itself, that's miles ahead of other school districts who bury their heads in the sand over bullying. But why call being gay a controversial topic. Why not call the policy an 'Open Dialogue Policy.'
At least that sounds welcoming.
And, as far as Mike Thurston, well, he's left his school and is enrolled at a performing arts school, happy he can be himself, hoping the same for the students he left behind: "There was still a lot of hate everywhere."
And that should be the controversial topic.
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I know parents shouldn't have to, they pay for the schools, they should be able to use the schools - but if more parents started removing their bullied kids the schools would pay attention. If they are funded like our state which pays for # of bodies in the building.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that a person exists isn't controversial. At least, I don't think so. I think the big issue is that people get all tripped up in the sex part of things. If we judged all straight couples based on sex, we'd have a very different situation.
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