Monday, October 10, 2016


  Still Bisexual (@StillBisexual) | Twitter:

October 9, 2016
Safe Spaces
Gerri August
Reflection

To create a "safe place", the classroom must incorporate every value, belief, and background of all students. It is the teacher's job to encourage a comfortable relationship between the student and teacher and also of classmates. LGBT teens have a very hard time fitting in with others because it is not a comfortable lifestyle to them that they may not have had a lot of exposure with. Possibly due to a society that up until recently did not teach children that there is nothing wrong with interracial or bisexual relationships."Sexual orientation topics are entirely absent from nearly half of our elementary teacher education programs in the United States. It is therefore unsurprising that LGBT people are largely absent from elementary curricula or classroom discussions." (85) August discusses how teachers can make their classrooms more secure for students of LGBT community. Teachers talk about how families come in different forms but hardly talk about two moms and their children or two dads with their children. August feels that teachers need to be aware and educate on sexual orientations so there is more acceptance of the LGBT community.
When I was in school, we had no such term as LGBT and very rarely would you hear about an individual "coming out of the closet" at such a young age. Teachers did not discuss sexual orientation in a classroom and a family consisted of a mother, a father, and children. Today, I think it has become more accepting than it was 30-40 years ago but still not discussed enough.  My best friend's daughter is gay and she struggles with outside family acceptance.  Many are old fashioned Catholic's that don't understand or accept her for who she is. Although she has more acceptance at school, I still see the many struggles she goes through just so she can live her life the way she wants to.

In this tips for teachers page it has a list of helpful guidelines for teachers to help students that have LGBT parents and how to make them feel comfortable. It talks about including discussions about LGBT in your classroom. Show students that diversity is to be celebrated.

Unfortunately....
In this article there are states in America that still ban the discussion of LGBT in the classroom or the teacher risks being fired. Even though gay marriage is legal, teachers are still not allowed to discuss sexual orientation in the classroom.
Image result for lgbt in the classroom    Image result for lgbt in the classroom


All kids deserve safe classrooms. In this short video, a message from LGBT students about what they want you to know:


Points for discussion....
I believe there needs to be more communication between teachers and students. More discussion on sexual orientation and how it affects their daily life and interactions with others. Maybe what is needed is what exactly does LGBT tolerance and acceptance look like in the classroom. How do we as educators make our classrooms welcoming and a completely safe environment that works.



2 comments:

  1. Children definitely need a safe classroom to learn properly. I love the article you posted, "tips for teachers". Maybe schools should create some guidelines for teachers to learn how to create a safe classroom for the LGBT community.

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  2. I loved reading this blog, on how you are telling us how children classrooms need to be safe and become a LGBT community like cassie talked about in her blog also.

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