Safe Spaces- Argument

“Safe Spaces” makes a ton of arguments for LGBT in our societies school system.  The stories told in this article about the troubles LGBT students go through are a tragedy.  I personally would've never thought our countries education system would let this happen to its students.  One story that particularly caught my attention is Patrick's story about a student named Derek.  Derek is a student that called one of his classmates "gay".  Patrick is the teacher that had to intervene the situation.  Patrick could've sent Derek to the principles office, told him to stop, or simply have a talk with him after class.  Patrick went a different direction to fix the problem.  He told his students to pull out their dictionaries and look up the word "gay".  Then he told Derek to read the definition of "gay" to the class.  Once Derek read the definition, Patrick asked him if that was the "proper" word he wanted to use?  Derek replied with a no.  Then Patrick told him to use the appropriate language; after all he was in school.  Patrick could've handled the situation in a variety of ways.  If he handled it differently, it wouldn't change anything.  Derek will still call that student gay.  Patrick's way put Derek on a pedestal, it made Derek question his use of vocabulary and change his thinking of the word gay. Students can't be told to stop cause they won't stop, they need to question their judgment and in a way feel embarrassed about their actions.  Patrick’s method causes the students to question their actions and create discussions, which makes students understand what they are talking about.  I consider this method to be the proper way to handle the situation.  Students tend to be more rebellious and speak their mind freely because they think they know everything.  In order to diminish this issue with LGBT students, students have to understand LGBT.  

There are three sections in this article called Curriculum, Communication, and Good Intentions Are Not Enough.  I argue that these are the categories that need to change in our society.  We need to change the curriculum of schools to educate students about LGBT.  The education system has to incorporate more and safe communication amongst LGBT students.  The "Good Intentions Are Not Enough" category said it all.  I am a firm believer in that good is never good enough.  Being antiquate is being lazy and showing that you aren't doing enough to change the problem.  One quote that states the "solution” to this situation that isn't good enough is on page nineteen. 

"Good intentions are not enough; trying to see all students as the same is not enough.  Being a fair-minded individual is not enough.  We argue that educators must publicly commit to creating classroom climates of inclusivity and respect with the pledged cooperation of all students.  Only then can we begin to create classrooms that are safe for LGBT youth."

 

Our education system believes that they are doing enough.  Enough is never enough; it's simply an excuse to ignore the problem at hand.  What is wrong with having students understand more about LGBT? What is wrong with students being LGBT?  The answer is short and simple. There is nothing wrong with being LGBT.  We are all human and we all go through life.  My mom once told me that we all have the opportunity to create our future and be treated fairly because we are all human.  There is nothing wrong with being LGBT, if only the education system can accept the truth.  

 

This is a video from More Equal Union, which is an LGBT Civil Rights group.  They created an album supporting equality of every human being.  The song "Your Time Has Come" is a great song that states the fight for equality. Please enjoy the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xki5ofeX40&list=PL1A632CC33DFAC392