No one should ever be bullied. Every person has the right to
freedom of expression and should not always conform to what is the norm. There
are homosexuals, bisexuals, heterosexuals, and transgender. What do they all
have in common? They are humans who want acceptance and respect. I watched a
segment on 20/20 that followed the case of a 14 year old boy named Brandon, who
shot his fellow classmate Larry. Larry was a 14 year old boy who experiments his
sexual orientation and preferred to dress in girls clothes and have people
refer to him as Leticia. His adopted parents abused his and experienced
bullying in school. Brandon was the typical jock and honor roll student.
However, he also faced abuse and is homophobic. Brandon did not feel at all
comfortable around Larry. In addition, Brandon’s classmates picked on him
because Larry asked him to be his Valentine. With the accumulation of stress
and teasing, Brandon could not handle the stress anymore and decided to take action:
shoot Larry. From both sides, neither child should experience torment from
anyone. Where was the guidance? In contrast, Larry’s life was lost. No child
should be a victim of bullying.
I commend the government for creating policies in which
educational facilities should immediately take action once a student is harassing
another student on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability
or religion. According to stopbullying.gov,
the laws enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and
U.S Department of Education’s Office for Civil obligate schools to address
conduct that is 1) severe, pervasive, or persistent, 2)creates a hostile
environment, or 3) based on a student’s race, color, national origin, sex,
disability, or religion. But, one policy
that strikes me is the fact students are not necessarily protected by their
sexual orientation. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “a nationally representative study of adolescents in grades
7-12 found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth were more than twice as likely
to have attempted suicide as their heterosexual peers.” Another study found that 25% of
the 55 transgender youth reported suicide attempts.
What can the government do to help? There will be students who are
homophobic and do not support the LGBT community. It is difficult to mesh the
students who do not have the same views as one another. Texas should
incorporate a policy in which no student should be bullied based off their
sexual preference. Every student should be entitled to search and discover who
he or she truly is without having the hassle of someone tormenting him or her. Another
idea I found interesting is creating a charter school for the LGBT youth. On
the same segment as mentioned before, there is a school in Milwaukee in which
the youth attends and feel safe. It provides
a stable environment in which the students are able to focus more in school and
have the freedom of expression.
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ReplyDeleteSorry I fixed some errors with my last post.
DeleteI do agree with what the author has to say. Although, I have to point out that students who bully and disrespect others are in fact despicable, but it is not entirely their fault. I suggest that this is a result of terrible parenting – parents who don’t look out after their child and those who remain too oblivious to care what they are doing. It is also through a parent where a child starts developing their earliest views about the world and its people. Brandon probably grew up with homophobic parents who, of course, has guns laying around in their house not properly stored away from their 14 year old son. However, a child may grow up with “these” parents (if any) and may not be influenced to do bad things to others, but we as humans also learn from our environment and through the people we meet such as our friends. These “friends” (that unfortunately have been affected by bad parenting) who encourage discrimination are sure to influence the student who decides to hang out with this group. In short, a student can be influenced by a group of friends to do bad things due to those friends' lack of parental guidance. Years later, without something happening to correct these students, they will grow up to be the bad parents that was described earlier - endlessly repeating the cycle. If we could somehow change the way all adults behave and act around children in the whole world, would the end to bullying stop. However, it is impossible to change every single adult (18+) in the entire world let alone their views, perspectives and behaviors.
ReplyDeleteSo enacting LGBT protection laws and policies is the best way to ensure a student’s safety in schools. Creating separate charters for LGBT students is also a possibility that I do support. However, I am just concerned that others – who don’t understand the point of the school’s founding – might believe this is a form of segregation of LGBT students leading to further discrimination towards students coming from that school. But if we were to truly make an impossible difference in the world, we do not have to constantly pass laws and policies (write out with pen and paper) to ensure the rights of humans, we do not have to ridicule the infrastructure of the government or how it governs, we don’t even have to change how the school system works, their outreach of education or their quality of education. Rather, we look at the world from the inside-out, starting with the most basic component that makes up all these incredible things (rights, buildings, education, etc.) in this world: the people. If we are able to change the behaviors, perspectives and views of every human now, generations of children and adults with these qualities will sure to come. The problems that were previously mentioned above will be solved naturally over time. While it all does sound completely foolish and extremely Utopian, it is again extremely impossible. However, we are coming of modern era where we are showing improvements in the way we accept reality for how it is. More people than ever are accepting the LGBT community than it ever did back in the 19th century. As of June 26, 2015 (a little bit late compared to other countries but nevertheless approved), U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in the states. Therefore, there may still be beacon of hope in the midst of a cold and dark society. But I digress. On the subject of matter, enacting policies and laws or setting up charter schools for the LGBT is the only thing we can do now that will ensure the safety of LGBT students and their right towards a stable learning environment and their entitlement to search and discover who they truly are.