Invariably, at some point, a student comes up with the statement, “That’s so gay.” That happened last week. I cannot allow that sort of hateful language to happen in my class, so I immediately told the student that he shouldn’t say things like that, and that because I heard him say it, we’d be getting a lesson on why it isn’t appropriate. However, as the words were coming out of my mouth, I realized I had no plan as to how to achieve that. In past years, I pretended I didn’t hear it. But, that’s irresponsible of me, and I am holding myself to a higher standard this year. So, I did some research.
I found the think b4 you speak website( http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/) dedicated to providing educational materials to combat the spread of hate language. So, spending my afternoon planning time to print out the teachers guide, and the transcript for some PSA’s (that are also available in videos- show below), I planned my crusade on bullying. I wrote “That’s so gay” in the planning space of the offending class as they left, and was pleasantly surprised by what happened as a result. The next class that walked in commented, “Ms. B, what is that on your board? That’s so mean, why would anyone write that?” Needless to say, I was pleased. I explained what happened, and the teens in that class got into an impromptu discussion about why people need to cut it out. One jumped in and even referred to the PSA’s that I had bookmarked to show the offending class. Other students hadn’t seen the PSA’s, I quickly put them up on my screen. After the videos were over, the students agreed that I should definitely show those videos to the other class, because the point hits home. Then, they assured me that they would never use language like that, and that they were glad I was going to teach that lesson.
As the next few periods came through and saw what was written on the board, I got many remarks about it. By simply writing that phrase on the board, and answering the question about why it was there, I let all my students know that such language would not be tolerated. I had to step in to watch another teacher’s class while he had to attend a meeting, and one of the students (who is not one of mine, but, as it is a small school, I had met before) asked me how the lesson on stopping bullying had gone. I hadn’t taught the planned lesson yet, and already, the kids were interested and talking about it. My conclusion: by addressing the issue, the student body as a whole was supporting the need to tell offenders to cut it out. It was important enough to them that it was the topic of conversation outside of the confines of my little classroom world. I only hope that someone learned something positive in their lunchroom discussions.
I haven’t taught the planned lesson yet, because the boy who made the statement wasn’t present in class that day, but already it is making an impact.
A note: I have a family member who is homosexual that shared a link to an article (http://allthingsqueer.co.za/archives/religion/60.html) that effectively slammed Christians who use a faith-based argument to put down the decision (or state of being, depending on who you ask) to be gay. I have as big a problem with that as I do with my student saying something like “that’s so gay.” In order for everyone to get along and be at peace, attacks need to stop. Instead, both sides should be focusing on love and acceptance, or, at the very least, tolerance. To his credit, after I told him the article offended me, he responded that he didn’t think of it as an indictment on Christian faith, but rather as a defense against an argument. Truly, I believe he didn’t think before posting that article. However, that’s really the problem with my student too. I don’t think he was trying to be hateful. I believe he just didn’t think. The lesson today? Think before you speak. Think before you post. And, think before you write.Hilary Duff - Think Before You Speak ("That's So Gay") Official (HQ) - Click here for this week’s top video clips
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