Safe Spaces - Reflection
Growing up I went to a very small, Catholic K-8 elementary/middle school. Then I moved on to another very small, Catholic high school. I had little to no exposure to any LGBT students, or bullying not only because my schools were so small but also because both schools I went to were Catholic. Although I didn't see anything LGBT related when I was in school, I do have gay members of my family and it was never strange to me, I never thought anything of it.
When I read this "Safe Spaces" article I felt so sad for the horrible bullying that these children go through. The last line of the first paragraph says "Unfortunately, for many young people suicide feels like a better alternative than living with rejection or abuse from peers, family members, or community leaders." This is not okay. It is heartbreaking that young people thing that suicide should be a way out of their lives. Nobody should every have to feel that way. The article tells of many ways that a student could become uncomfortable, and feel ostracized in a classroom environment. (95) These are not things that the teacher, or students do on purpose but we do need to be aware of. All students need to feel like they are safe in school.
Looking back, in a small Catholic school these kind of things could have
happened. There also was probably quite
a bit of heterosexism, which August describes as “the assumption that everyone
should be heterosexual.” (1) I do see this
now, but I didn’t as a student in school.
I really enjoyed your article. I also attended catholic school from the age of three and I can agree that with being in a catholic school it was little to no people who were in the LGBT community. It is heartbreaking because I felt that with being a catholic school people of the LGBT community did not feel comfortable being themselves. I also have family members that are gay and it has always been the norm to my family and I. It is very true with what August said, that you do not realize that people just assume that everyone is a heterosexual, especailly in a catholic school. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you incorporated your experience in a catholic school. I never went to a catholic school so it was cool to get this perspective from you. I agree with your last sentence "I do see this now, but I didn't as a student in school". I never really thought about any of this, or the example that was discussed in the text about standing to one side of the room depending if you were a boy or a girl. You pulled out so many great quotes to show the struggles of people in the LGBT community.
ReplyDeleteI also like how you connected your Catholic school experiences, it was a new perspective to me as well. My high school didn't have a high concentration of LGBT students either, so this article was definitely a shock to me as well since I never witnessed this bullying or exclusion. It's great that you're able to look back and notice these things now though.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blog post! It was interesting to see your connection to your private school experience. I went to a high school that had alot of LGBT students and people there to support them, so it was cool seeing this issue from the view of someone with not much exposure to it.
ReplyDeleteYour blog was very good! I really like how you connected your catholic school experience in.
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