That's What I'm Screaming

Read this NYTimes op ed piece for jewels of educational reason such as this:

One of the tests I scored had students read a passage about bicycle safety. They were then instructed to draw a poster that illustrated a rule that was indicated in the text. We would award one point for a poster that included a correct rule and zero for a drawing that did not.

The first poster I saw was a drawing of a young cyclist, a helmet tightly attached to his head, flying his bike over a canal filled with flaming oil, his two arms waving wildly in the air. I stared at the response for minutes. Was this a picture of a helmet-wearing child who understood the basic rules of bike safety? Or was it meant to portray a youngster killing himself on two wheels?

And trust me, it gets better. When will we realize that unstandardizable standardized tests are a complete fallacy?

Anti-Gay Bullying Alive and Well in NY

Via Big Gay News:

The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Mohawk Central School District for failing to protect a gay student from two years worth of harassment, abuse, and bullying. The 14-year-old boy, Jacob had to leave school two weeks early last school year because of escalating verbal and physical attacks by his peers and educators.

According to an article from the Evening Telegram (Herkimer, NY), the lawsuit is trying to change school policies and the way they are practiced and is also seeking compensation and punitive damages for the harassment Jacob suffered. The lawsuit also names several individuals including the the district superintendent, the school principal and an equal opportunity compliance officer for the district.

The superintendent released a statement saying, "Our district has not and will not knowingly tolerate discrimination or harassment of its students by anyone."

The article went on:

But the lawsuit is claiming abuse continued long after the administration became aware of the situation.
The parents contacted the NYCLU, an affiliate of American Civil Liberties Union, in June because the abuse had gotten progressively worse despite repeated complaints to school officials, Stoughton said.
It mostly began with verbal harassment in seventh grade at Gregory B. Jarvis Junior/Senior High School and “in eighth grade is when it turned violent,” [NYCLU attorney Corey] Stoughton added.

This escalation was a result of administrators not formally recording and investigating incidents, which is required by policy, as well as failing to discipline students responsible for abuse, Stoughton said.
There were several measures taken by the district to address the situation, though, according to affidavits.
A “safe room” was set up for the student to use if he felt threatened and he was allowed to bring a cell phone to school to call home.

The student’s affidavit, however, states he was kept from utilizing the measures on several occasions.
Stoughton said other students interviewed witnessed many of the instances of abuse. Some abuse, including one incident of comments made by a teacher, only involved the victim’s accusations, she added.
The NYCLU had been in contact with district officials over the summer, but Stoughton said “half measures” proposed for keeping the student safe weren’t sufficient to address the situation.
Attorneys with the NYCLU will be filing a motion within a short time, she said, and a jury trial is being requested.

Details of Jacob's accusations can be seen in his (NSFW because of language) affidavit, which was published on the NYCLU's Web site. It includes events such as:

In November 2008 a kid who picks on me all the time came up to me in the lunch room

and said "I'm glad your dad has cancer, I hope he dies soon, he's probably a faggot too so

why don't you go suck him off." There were lunch room monitors who were there but no

one said anything to the kid. I was really upset and shoved him. He shoved me back and

I hit him. I know I shouldn't have but I was so angry that he said he was glad my dad is

dying. Even though my dad told the principal what the kid had said to start it all, I got a

one day in-school suspension and I don't think the other kid did. We both got two weeks

of detention where they made us eat lunch together in a room alone and told us we had to

talk to each other. For the two weeks the other student just kept insulting me and saying

the same anti-gay things he always says. It was awful having to sit with him at lunch all

those days, it felt like an extra punishment on top of the suspension and detention.

and

Around December 2008 I was walking to class and as I passed my science teacher, Mr.:

Hartmann's, room Mr. Hartmann called me over and said "Come here, I need to talk to

you about something serious." He said I should be ashamed of myself for being gay and

also said "you should hate yourself every day unless you change."

and

On June 5, 2009 one of the students who is always bothering me leaned over to me in

Spanish class, took a pocket knife out under the desk, and told me he was going to stab

my "faggot ass" and hang me up on the flagpole. I was so scared I left class and ran

home where I told my dad what happened. I told my friend about it on my way out of

school and I think she told the principal. My dad went to the school to talk to someone

about it. No one ever interviewed me about what happened or asked me if anyone else

saw the knife.

Granted these are just Jacob's statements, and school officials haven't had a chance to respond to them yet. But these are just 3 of 41 points he talks about in the affidavit. Even if Jacob were (and I'm not saying he is) exaggerating or even lying about some of what happened to him, school officials should have stepped in long ago. Unfortunately Jacob's story is fairly common in schools in the US. How can LGBT students be expected to learn in an environment where they fear for their safety? How can they succeed when they suffer constant harassment? Jacob is lucky in some ways because he has supportive parents who are at least trying to stop the bullying. What happens to those who don't have that support?

GLBTQ Online High School

I saw a post on Queerty a few days ago about an all online high school for LGBTQ students, and ever since, the concept has been on my mind. The basic idea of the school is a safe, inclusive environment for students who don't have access to a GLBTQ-focused school such as the ones in New York or Los Angeles. Because it's all online, students (as well as staff) can be from anywhere as long as they have an internet connection. Their Web site is here. Their mission statement:

The GLBTQ Online High School will provide a safe and welcoming educational community that provides a high quality, comprehensive college-preparatory online high school experience for students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning their sexual orientation or gender using the best technology and techniques of distance education.

The folks a Queerty clearly have some questions about the lack of social interaction inherent in an all-online environment. And I get their point. These students might be separated by thousands of miles and live in different time zones. They won't have opportunities to participate in certain activities like sports teams or clubs that require physical proximity. Dances and pep rallies will be ungainly to organize. And for many people the social aspects of school are what is important. Many people look back on high school as the best years of their lives. And it's not that great paper they wrote for U.S. History class that they're thinking of when they reminisce about their glory days.

But this school isn't for those people.

For many students, too many students in my humble opinion, high school isn't about having a great time at dances or making that awesome play on the ball field or delivering that soliloquy with Oscar-worthy precision. For many students high school is about fear and torture. It's about just trying to get through the day without breaking down into sobs from the damaging remarks hurled at you between classes. It's about praying that you don't get cornered out of sight from any adults and pummeled into a bloody pulp. It's about feeling like there is nothing and no one that relates to you. It's about physical and social isolation, despite the fact that everyone else seems to be having a great time. It's about not living up to your potential because you're so focused on just surviving through the day.

So maybe GLBTQ Online High School isn't for everybody, not even every GLBTQ student. It's for those kids that really need it.

I was talking about the school with the Ex. She was against it from the start. Her argument is that it's just another form of segregation. It's too much like separate but equal. And sure, the idea has its faults. And it certainly isn't the ideal situation. In an ideal world non-heterosexual students would be educated alongside their hetero counterparts in an inclusive, even welcoming environment. But that certainly isn't the case in the U.S. and I imagine it's not the case in most places around the world.

But I don't think GLBTQ Online is a case of separate but equal. For starters, those segregated schools for African-Americans weren't organized or funded by the African-American community. They were more or less "provided" by the white community to fulfill the minimum requirements for educating Black students. They weren't equal because the white establishment didn't really want Black students to succeed.

In this case the organizers don't seem to be trying to segregate students. They're trying to provide education for students whose needs aren't being met by the current system. They're trying to create a safe place where students who have already been failed by the system won't have to fail themselves.

Straight-Only Toilets

Via Pam's House Blend:

According to a Kentucky Equality Federation press release, Fifteen students protested Friday outside Franklin County High School in Frankfort Kentucky. They were protesting a policy initiated by a school "official" communicated to teachers via email that told them homosexual students were not allowed to leave the classroom to use the restroom. 

The Superintendent Harrie Buecker indicated that steps were being taken to "address the students' concerns." Which is pretty much your classic media stonewalling school officials do. 

The email went out in response to an incident where two female students were found kissing in the restroom. 

It happens. Especially in Kentucky. When I was teaching, there was a lesbian couple who were constantly harassed by teachers and other personnel for public displays of affection. I saw a teacher walk right past an area where several heterosexual couples were being affectionate and yell at the girls for kissing. And yeah, I agree it's pretty nasty for an adult to walk up on a couple of high school kids making out. But when homosexuals are specifically targeted it's a problem. 

The school official who instituted the policy went too far. No one has the right to deny someone access to restroom facilities based on that person's sexuality. That school official and that school should be ashamed. And they should be sued. 

Teaching is Such a Drag

Via Detentionslip.org:

When I was a teacher I used to think I was terrible. I was always slow to get papers back. I never liked calling home for good or bad things. I rarely felt I was accomplishing much. Looking back there are SO many things I could have done much, much worse. 

According to a Cincinnati television station Web site, a Marketing teacher at Edgewood High School has resigned after she admitted taking four teenagers to a gay bar. 

The story indicates three of the young women were old enough to get into the bar (18), and one wasn't (17). However NONE of the girls was old enough to drink alcohol legally, which they apparently did. 

The teacher, Lori Epperson obtained permission from the students' parents to take them to the bar. Officials are still pretty much going to go for her jugular anyway, which they probably should for being so very stupid as to take underage girls to a drag show. 

From Local12.com:

Stevie Moon-Mom of other Edgewood students, "She's a teacher, they're her students. They're not her friends. She's there to teach them, not to take them to clubs and party. That's ridiculous." 

Jeremy Moon-Dad of other Edgewood students, "There's a level of professionalism that needs to be kept between the students and the teachers and she crossed that line, I think. I don't think that she may be wrong, I definitely think she is wrong." 

The bar, Club Masque in Dayton, OH may face charges related to giving alcohol to the young women. The students were punished using an zero tolerance for alcohol policy. They were not allowed to attend a cheerleading competition in florida. 

Now, I did know a teacher who hung out in strip clubs back where I used to live. (They called them titty bars back there.) But as far as I know he went separately from the students. And if he provided them with alcohol, they were smart enough to keep it quiet. Me, I never met a student I'd want to hang out with in a bar, gay or otherwise. 

Tennessee Student Fights Unfair Site Blocking

Via Good As You:

A 17-year-old Tennessee student was shocked to find he couldn't locate LGBT-related scholarship information on his school's computers. He discovered sites like PFLAG, GLSEN, and HRC  were blocked while anti-LGBT sites like this one and this one were accessible. So he sent a letter to the ACLU, smart kid. 

From the ACLU's press release regarding the student:

“When I found out about this web filtering software, I wasn’t looking for anything sexual or inappropriate – I was looking for information about scholarships for LGBT students, and I couldn’t get to it because of this software,” said Andrew Emitt, a 17-year-old senior at Central High School in Knoxville. “Our schools shouldn’t be keeping students in the dark about LGBT organizations and resources.”

[snip]

“One of the problems with this software is that it only allows students access to one side of information about topics that are part of the public debate right now, like marriage for same-sex couples,” said Karyn Storts-Brinks, a librarian at Fulton High School in Knoxville, pointing out that the software blocks access to organizations that support marriage for same-sex couples like the Religious Coalition for Freedom to Marry or the Interfaith Working Group while allowing access to organizations that oppose marriage equality. “Students who need to do research for assignments on current events can only get one viewpoint, keeping them from being able to cover both sides of the issue. That’s not fair and can hinder their schoolwork.”

This Video from WATE.com shows Emitt talking about his experience. 

The ACLU responded by sending a demand letter to the school systems requesting they unblock non-adult LGBT Web sites so that student could have equal access to information. 

From the ACLU:

Blocking students’ access to content that is protected speech under the First Amendment as well as the Tennessee state constitution, and only allowing access to one side of an issue by blocking certain websites is illegal viewpoint discrimination, according to a letter the ACLU sent to the districts and the Tennessee Schools Cooperative. We’re asking them to come up with a plan to restore access to the LGBT sites or any other category that blocks non-sexual websites advocating the fair treatment of LGBT people by the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.

The Knox County School district referred the letter to the Knox County Law Director's office for review. They haven't indicated weather they will take action or wait for the lawsuit to be filed before they allow students unrestricted access to unbiased information about LGBT issues. 

6 1/2 Minutes of Hate

Via Joe. My. God. This is just too heinous to wait 'till Monday.

We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control. No, you can't throw away my Bible. Hey! Teacher! Leave those bigots alone.

And I thought the "Gathering Storm" in all its half-truths and fear-mongering was bad. Here is how the Illinois Family Institute explains their video:

The "Day of Silence", sponsored by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) will take place Friday, April 17th in schools across the nation. Participating teachers and students are told to remain silent during class time to protest discrimination and bullying felt by students who believe they are gay and/or transgender. 

It is our firm opinion that these claims of discrimination, intolerance and bullying (aimed at people of faith who believe God's Word that homosexuality is sin) are diverting attention away from GLSEN's main purpose which has been and continues to be the normalization of homosexuality among impressionable youth. 

This 6 minute video, made by a Bible believing church here in Illinois, exposes how our children are being indoctrinated, held captive and forced to accept an unproven and dangerous ideology while Biblical Truth is undermined.

It kind of makes me wonder if these people know anything about the Day of Silence. Do they really think it's going to be some kind of forced-participation event? Jesus, I had to go to numerous evangelical indoctrination assemblies when I was in school. Things like bodybuilders for Jesus and teenage alcoholics who turned their lives around. Yes, it was public school. No, we weren't offered the choice to opt out. Yes, these people told us all about how believing in Jesus would make us able to rip phone books in half and marry beautiful women. Do they think the gays really work like Christians do to make mindless zealots out of school children?

I just love how this video "exposes how our children are being indoctrinated, held captive and forced to accept and unproven and dangerous ideology" when in fact what goes on in this video resembles nothing in public schooling except that it was shot in a classroom. No one is being forced to participate in the Day of Silence.

It all boils down to the unwritten tent of Christianity that is persecution. They are taught to believe from an early age they will persecuted for their faith. There are biblical examples of early Christians being abused and killed for their beliefs. So in order to be the true faithful they have to be persecuted in some way too. When no persecution actually exists they have to make some up, to turn simple disagreement into persecution. "I am being threatened by a handful of people in my school not talking for one day." It's ludicrous. Only incredibly stupid people could view this video as anything but malicious deception. 

Teens and Sexting

Via Susie Bright:

The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a story over the weekend about an 18-year-old girl who hanged herself after nude photos of her were shared via text messaging. The girl hanged herself in her bedroom in July after months of phone and cyber-bullying from people who had seen and/or heard about the photos. 

The practice, referred to as sexting, is fairly common among dating adults. And unfortunately it's also common  among teenagers. Of course, when those teenagers are younger than 18, what they're technically doing is producing and distributing child pornography. And they can get into serious legal trouble for doing it. After they turn 18, it's just consensual adult behavior in the eyes of the law. 

Apparently young women get pressured by their boyfriends into sending them explicit texts. What many of them don't realize is that once they send those texts, those who receive them can do pretty much anything they want with them, including (as in this case) forwarding them to others. 

There is an immense amount of trust and optimism involved in teen relationships. They often believe that the person they're with is the one and only and that they'll be together forever. When the relationship turns sour or their partner turns out to be less than ethical teens are often devastated. 

In the case of this young woman, not only were the photos widely circulated "to hundreds of teenagers...in at least seven Greater-Cincinnati high schools," but her peers began bullying her. She was called names, thrown out of parties, and made to feel unsafe in school. 

From the Cincinnati Enquirer article:

Now, Jessie's parents are attempting to launch a national campaign seeking laws to address "sexting" - the practice of forwarding and posting sexually explicit cell-phone photos online. The Logans also want to warn teens of the harassment, humiliation and bullying that can occur when that photo gets forwarded.

Cynthia Logan [the girl's mother] and Parry Aftab, an attorney and one of the leading authorities on Internet security and cyberbullying, plan to attach Jessie's name to a national campaign to educate teens about the dangers of sexting.

Aftab, based in New York, is the catalyst for a network of volunteers working to stop cyberbullying. She operates two Web sites: wiredsafety.org, the world's largest and oldest cyber safety organization, and stopcyberbullying.org.

"Schools need to understand our kids are targeting each other and how technology is being used as a weapon," Aftab said. "None of them (the schools) know what to do. Many of them ... think it's not their problem. They want to close their eyes and put fingers in their ears, saying it's a home issue."

I'm all about a national campaign to educate teenagers about the dangers of cyberbullying, sexting, and other nefarious modern practices. Technology shouldn't be used as a weapon against teenagers. And sure, schools need to do what they can. But I think Aftab, like too many people, is expecting a bit much of educators. Teachers have their hands full just trying to teach through the din of teenage hormones, modern technology, and a culture that undervalues education, especially with heightened stakes (thanks to NCLB) and gross underfunding. 

Teaching students about avoiding the pitfalls of modern technology has to begin in the home. Only massively irresponsible (bordering on negligent) parents would be so uninvolved in their children's lives as to give them a cell phone and unlimited internet access without making sure they understand the risks involved. 

Yes, young people need to know that when they put themselves out on the internet (or out in text-message land) there's a certain amount of danger. Anybody could end up with their personal details, their photos, or their contact information. And schools should do what they can to curb bullying in all its ugly forms. But schools are already expected to parent children too much. Parents have to be involved too. 

In this case maybe tragedy could have been avoided. I truly feel horrible for what Logans went through. But when this girl's parents start laying the blame on the school's resource officer for not letting them know what was going on, you have to wonder why whey weren't involved enough in their daughter's life to know. 

Lesbian Student Allowed to Wear Tux

Lebanon, Indiana school Superintendent said the district would back down from its biased policy of forcing students to wear "gender-based" formal attire at prom. The Indianapolis Star reported yesterday an unidentified 17-year-old lesbian senior would be allowed to wear a tuxedo to prom after the school board changed its policy in a meeting last night. 

From the Indianapolis Star:

"School policy for this year's prom will be that all attendees shall wear appropriate formal attire with no gender-based attire requirements imposed," the statement [from Superintendent Robert L Taylor] said. "Female students will be permitted to wear tuxedos if they choose."

Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and the student's attorney, said his client is pleased with the decision and will attend the April prom in a tuxedo.

"We think this is what the decision should have been all along, that there was never any justification for the policy," Falk said. "It's unfortunate that we had to go this far."

Indiana is making progress. Similar cases involving biologically male students wearing dresses to prom have had mixed results. One district received a court order to allow a student to wear a dress in 1999. Another case from 2006 involving a transgendered student is still pending. 

OK Teacher Fired for Laramie Project Project

Via PageOneQ:

Debra Taylor, 50, a teacher at Granfield High School was fired after showing her students the 2002 film The Laramie Project based on the murder of Matthew Shepard. 

According to an article in USA Today, it sounds like Taylor did everything right: she got permission from her principal before watching the movie and halted the project when her principal told her to do so. Taylor was fired after she and her students held a mock funeral for a canceled in-class project in which they filmed their own versions of scenes from the play. 

The next day, Taylor says, Superintendent Ed Turlington canceled the class. After she complained to a school board member, Turlington put her on paid leave and recommended that she be fired. The school board approved her resignation Friday.

Taylor says she was let go for complaining to the board member, but others say it was a result of the play's subject: homophobia. "They don't want something like this addressed in our community," says senior Matt Ebner, one of Taylor's former students.

[snip]

John Moyer, an attorney representing the district, says Taylor was dismissed not because she wanted to put on a play or because of the subject matter. "If someone is saying that adverse employment action is being taken against Ms. Taylor because of homosexuality, they're wrong."

Representatives of the school district, however, weren't quoted on exactly why she was fired. Their silence speaks volumes.