While watching the video, "It's Elementary," I liked being able to hear different opinions from different aged children. A fourth grade teacher in the video directed her class to write in groups what they thought of when they heard the words gay or lesbian. I was very surprised by what some of the students had written or said that the camera had caught. One boy said "ewwww" and then another boy said "write that, that is what he thinks of". Another word that was
written down was unrealistic. I was sort of confused with this word, wondering what the student meant by it. Did they think that it was unrealistic for gays and lesbians to be accepted or unrealistic for there to be people who are gays or lesbians. Some other words that were listed by the students were movie, sick, gross, pervert and many others. When the teacher asked them as a group where they got most of their ideas from many said specific movies or talk shows and the news. I was then surprised when, I believe, younger students were asked to discuss what they thought it meant to be gay or lesbian. Their responses were much more open minded and less negatively viewed. One student said that it means that "a person who is a boy is in love with another boy, or a girl is in love with another girl." Another student said that it meant "laughing at someone who is gay." And by this response, I believe the student meant that he sees people laugh at gay or lesbian individuals. One specific girl mentioned that she hears her parents talking about how it is wrong to be gay or lesbian but she said that she "thinks that is just how they are." I liked that she said this, because it is showing that she has her own opinion and does not necessarily feel it is wrong just because her parents say so. Another male student had a response that I really liked, he said that "one meaning for gay is happy, so maybe it is because they are happy because they are in love with each other." I liked this response because it was very rational and well thought out. The point that he is making is that when two people are in love, no matter if they are gay or lesbian, they are still happy, and that is why he felt that was the best rationale, since he did know that gay could mean happy. Also in the younger grades, such as first and second, the classes made books, where each student does a page accompanied by their own illustration. One in particular book the class made was a book about how everyone is equal, and the subtitle was "a book about gays and lesbians". Each student wrote a page dealing with the fact that just because a person is gay or lesbian does not mean they should be treated any differently. I liked that the teacher had each student read their page out loud to a few other classes and explain their illustration as well. I liked this because other classes can still benefit from the information and the students get to hear it from their peers. Also it is nice because on teacher mentioned that there were a few fellow teachers who were gay or lesbian and had a much harder time talking about the topic with their students. The straight teacher said that it helps that she has a husband, so it does not look like she is trying to teach the topic because it pertains to herself. This is why the sharing of the book idea is great, because the teacher's who do not feel as comfortable discussing the topic to their students can still have their students get the information.
I lastly really liked a parents comment on the whole issue of whether or not it should be allowed to teach or talk about gay and lesbians in elementary schools. The parent said that, "Even if a parent is against it (gay and lesbians) their kids should still know about it and then the kids can come home from school with any questions and then the parent can talk to them about it in their own way." I liked that the parent said this because I think it is very important for children to know what it means to be gay and lesbian and if their parent's do not want to talk to them about it or do want to talk to them about it, I think school is a perfect place for their children to begin learning about it. I agree with this parent and believe that it is okay to talk about gay and lesbians just as it is okay to talk about other cultures, which schools do, so why should it be any different. Learning about gay and lesbians at a younger age, in my opinion, can only help make our future generations more open-minded and more accepting of others.
Photo from http://www.groundspark.org/images/press_ie_photos/IE_Robbie_highres.jpg
