Just a thought

Another thought provoking night in my adolescent development class. We viewed a video titled Bullied, detailing the first victorious case against anti-gay harassment within a school system. This was a situation where most teachers and administrators turned their heads to flat out abusive behavior. It is so frustrating to me when people don't think before speaking or taking action. For example, in the video, the principal at the middle school where this boy was being harassed simply chalked up physical beatings as "boys being boys." No punishments were given out. Because of her biased nature, she refused to think about the simple act of abuse separately from the issue of sexuality. One question needed to be asked, "Is this acceptable behavior in my school?" The simple answer is no, and anyone who disrespects and harasses another person should be disciplined. I have established from the beginning of this program that one of the pillars of my teaching philosophy is respect. Whatever else I learn or take away from this program, the respect pillar will remain steadfast. Simply put, there is no other way to treat a person.

I'd like to share one personal story of how this issue has affected my life personally. In college, I was a pledge(not a full member yet) at a fraternity and my sophomore year, a good friend from high school started as a freshman at my school. He was openly gay and I was one of the first people he had told over a year earlier. A great guy, I immediately invited him over to the fraternity to hang out. He loved the place, got along well with most everyone, and was soon asked to pledge. At our chapter meeting when the issue came up, one member stated his concern as, "What happens when we're both in the shower and he's checking me out?"(Nobody, male or female, would have been checking this guy out in the shower!) Long story short, I gathered the courage to stand up in front of 80 guys and say, "Look, this guy is one of us. He likes to party, he's friendly, he's a hard worker, he'll probably bring more girls to the house than any of us, and he wants to be here. Ask this question: Would we be questioning our desire to have this guy be a part of our house if he was straight?" The answer was no, and he was invited to be a member. He ended up being great friends with everyone in the house, including the one who was afraid to shower with him! This is a great example of taking a moment to simply think through a situation before you come down on the side of hate, fear, and discrimination!