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Should there be LGBT exclusive schools for kids?
Results so far:
| Yes | 45% | 146 votes | Total: 326 votes | |
| No | 55% | 180 votes |
Yes
by Lauraine Andren
Created on: September 27, 2009
At the age now of 68 I am still troubled by nightmares of attending school in the 1950's. As a transsexual teen I did not know what I was and neither did the teachers and students. Being different from other students I was always the butt of jokes and physical cruelty was an everyday affair.
I skipped school at every chance I could as my hatred for the other students and teachers was all consuming. Teen years are filled with unknowns and sexuality was only two sexed, male or female, I was neither.
A school where I was accepted and my transsexualism not an issue would have spurred on my need for learning and maybe given me the incentive to go on to college after graduation.
In school I never raised my hand once in class as it would have called attention to me and that was something I could not afford to do, as someone would have made comments about me instead of the subject at hand. Consequently I tried to simply disappear from view and never call attention to myself.
What a waste of formative years when all you wanted was to disappear from life itself and hide who and what you were. Acceptance by ones peers is paramount to a well adjusted childhood. I feel a child should have the right to choose a regular school or a school where they will be accepted and nurtured. I never had that choice, and I feel my life would have been very different if I had.
At 68 I am comfortable with my sexuality as are my friends and some of my family. Society still hasn't accepted that their are more sexes than than the standard two. I had surgery to transform from male to female in 1968 and it was a decision that I have never regretted. In fact it wasn't a decision at all as without it I know I would not be alive today but instead be a suicide statistic. We all want to be loved and accepted but for some of us it is a painful long process and then there are no guarantees for acceptance or love. First we have to love ourselves and change anything that stands in the way of our happiness. I look in the mirror now and see and old women, but look deeper and you will still see the injured child inside who only wanted love and acceptance by others. School can be a time of wonder and learning or a time of living hell that you want to escape by any means possible. Giving a child the choice of school to attend empowers them to take control of some aspect of a life that could be lost by bigotry and hatred.
Learn more about this author, Lauraine Andren.
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No
by Rebecca Adele Scarlett
Created on: July 03, 2010
Schools should be preparing children and teenagers to function in the real world. Segregation of any type does not accomplish this, because society is not, and should not, be splintered into little niches. It doesn't matter if it's based on race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, segregated schooling is not a good idea.
Thinking practically, how could we even run such a system? When a teenager discovers that he is gay halfway through grade 9, should he be shipped off to another school? How about a young woman who is three months away from graduation-should she change schools? Would all of the teachers at LBGT schools have to be LGBT themselves? If so, these schools would run into problems-the hiring process would be discriminatory due to sexual orientation!
Spending their formative years in a cozy little cocoon of acceptance will make entering society-which still has its share of hatred and bigotry-all the more shattering for those who identify as LGBT. It won't help "straight" kids either, because if they grow up thinking that there is something wrong with LGBT people-after all, why would they be confined in a special school?- and they won't understand how to treat LGBT people as individuals once they begin to meet them in their post-secondary lives. All segregation does is emphasize the differences between people, and this process can nurture fear and even hatred, because nothing is scarier than the unknown.
Of course, being able to find other LGBT people and have an understanding and accepting circle of friends is important for LGBT people, especially teenagers. All teenagers need support groups of people who accept them for who they are, and that does not change because of sexual orientation. It's important that schools be open to clubs or groups that help LGBT students through the tough times they may go through because of their sexual orientation. This sort of experience is entirely different from being isolated from 90% of the population all day every day.
We need to realize that the end goal of the education system should be to produce healthy, well-adjusted individuals with the knowledge to funtion in everyday society. What good is the education system if its graduates have all the book-knowledge they need, but can't get a job because a segregated system has worsened the climate of hatred and fear towards anyone different? Sectioning off groups of people may feel comfortable in the short term, but in the long run it will produce more awkwardness for everyone involved, and poses the real danger of splintering our society.
Learn more about this author, Rebecca Adele Scarlett.
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