Are Schools For Gay Children Necessary?

MILWAUKEE - Forget about segregation and discrimination based on race, gender, religion or disability. Gay children are coming out to the real heat.
In January, Milwaukee strengthened its reputation as being one of the most segregated cities in the nation when MPS established Alliance, a high school and now middle school for LGBT students or any student who feels uncomfortable in a regular school.
Segregation Leads To Ignorance, Not Vice Versa
One advantage of schools for gay children is that they can provide a safe learning environment where children can be free to be themselves.
“Research consistently shows that LGBT youth face far greater risks of harassment and violence from their peers than non-LGBTQ youth,” according to the Cream City Foundation.
This is true, but there are negative consequences. When these kids are taken out of the real world, it’s a lose-lose situation for all children. We can’t expect gay kids to learn tolerance for a bully’s ignorance, or how to learn how to stick up for themselves like any other kids who are different. We also can’t expect the bullies to learn that being gay is not a disease, nor get young people to stop using the ignorant phrase, “that’s so gay.”
When the gay kids start picking on each other in new school, maybe the answer is to just to establish another school to separate them.
The Gay Agenda
A curriculum focused on gay issues and sex is undoubtedly beneficial to these students, but it’s not necessary. The gay agenda, which basically says gay people are brainwashing straight people, can’t exist in schools if kids are getting fair, accurate information from both sides. It’s good that schools bring in special guests to speak about homosexuality, as long as there are speakers on heterosexuality, too.
Or if a regular public school kindergarten teacher incorporates a story about love between two boys, for example, then gay students will see themselves reflected in what is being taught and no special school is needed.
In addition, MPS has the resources to meet the needs of any child, regardless of who they are. Psychologists, social workers and teachers are all trained to support LBGT students. HIV and AIDS among other topics of interest to gay students are something all kids should learn. If the support is provided and students take advantage of it, there would be no need for separate schools. Separate is not equal. It never has been and never will be.
Too young to be sexual?
One argument against gay children in general says that children aren’t sexual, so they can’t be homosexual.
But others disagree. Many gay and lesbian youth identify their sexual orientation at about age 16, according to Ryan Futterman, author of Lesbian and Gay Youth: Care and Counseling.
This all comes down to perspective. In different countries such as China, sexuality in pre-teens is honorable and normal. And many Americans claim to have had feelings for the same sex at a very young age as well. While it isn’t accurate to assume that a boy will be homosexual because he enjoys playing with his sister’s doll, the lines get blurry when distinguishing at what age children become sexual beings.
That being said, the typical age of middle school kids is 11-13, and that seems a little young to draw conclusions about sexual orientation. But since MPS encourages abstinence, there’s no need to address sexuality at Alliance or at any other MPS school, except to provide information. MPS just needs to include abstinence education for gay teens so that gay children don’t need to transfer schools to learn about it.
The Future Of Gay Schools For some kids such as those into the punk scene, being gay is trendy, deviant, and therefore fun. As if young American Idol star Adam Lambert wasn’t popular enough for his talent, he expanded his fan base at the end of the season after announcing he was gay. (If I was a young gay guy, I’d have fun being him!)
The point is that educators need to consider that since the start of time, kids are drawn into radical ideas. This is not to say that kids can’t be gay, but we must be careful to make sure kids stay kids, whether they are gay or straight. Schools like this one in Boston had a prom for LGBT students that may have gone too far.
In general, kids seem to becoming more tolerant of the gay community though. For example, there was an anti-gay rally led by a church during school hours at Alexander Hamilton High school earlier this year. While most of the kids watched out of curiosity, none joined the rally, and a few even protested against it.
In a national survey of GLBTs, 64 percent said there is more acceptance of gays today, according to Tina Hoff, VP of Public Health Information for the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Kids are inherently good, so let’s give them another chance to learn tolerance of people that are different before we decide that a separate learning facility is the answer.
Until there is a resolution, the idea of gay school is more of a slippery slope than a skiing hill during a Wisconsin winter.
What do you think, Milwaukee? What is the answer for our children?
from Examiner.com