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Originally posted by Robert Armin:
The only person who knows the whole thing is me.

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Originally posted by stonespring:
Suppose I actually succeed in becoming a high school history teacher. One day in the minutes before class starts, a student walks in wearing a shirt that says, "Born this way" and another student tells him/her "You know that gay people who don't repent are going to Hell, right?" or perhaps something less proselytizing like "I don't like having your immorality put on display like that in school." The first student tells me to tell the second student that talking that way is wrong and s/he can't say those things in school. What do I say? What if the first student knows (since these things are hard to hide - trust me we knew all about the teachers in my school) that I'm gay and uses that to demand I say that any speech calling homosexuality sinful or immoral is bigoted and wrong? Students may technically be under the control of their teachers and administrators in US high schools, but they are pretty vocal and the adults working in schools know that telling everyone to shut up and pay attention so class can start when something really controversial is happening is likely to make the situation even worse. I need to address the issue head on in some way - but I can't tell someone that their religious beliefs are wrong. I'm not even sure if I can tell someone that they can't speak their religious beliefs aloud in conversation at school. I'm a bit afraid of this situation coming up, and I hear about teachers who try to deal with it and the legal controversies that have ensued.

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Originally posted by infinite_monkey:


I have never fielded exactly that situation, but I think if I were to, I would use exactly the same tactic that would be applicable if the discussion was about religion, not sexuality. My own practice/sexuality simply wouldn't enter into it, confirmed or denied, because I'm not entering into this discussion as a participating party--it's neither here nor there in terms of my relationship to the people having the conversation. As a teacher, in a moment like that, my role would be to direct the students to have that discussion elsewhere, off the class clock, if they wanted to--and to remind them that the school's code of conduct is pretty clear about discussions not becoming attacks.

That is what I would do, in the moment. After the moment, I would most likely want to check in with the Born This Way shirt student, to make sure he or she was aware of the resources available, and to give him or her space to have a conversation if desired.

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This is a very real issue to me at the moment. I'm nearly at the end of my first term at a local comprehensive, so that's probably the equivalent of an American High School, and I'm on the receiving end of a fair bit of homophobic comments. Although I'm out here on the Ship I haven't said anything about my sexuality at all, and the only time I've said anything about homosexuality at all was in a revision class (I explained the RCC was against it, and why).

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Originally posted by Soror Magna:
Oh yeah, and this:

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Originally posted by Porridge:
... I wonder if parents shouldn’t be handed an array of materials by educators, and given to students as homework: “Here you go – this is a whole-family assignment; choose your curriculum, activities, and assignments, and turn them next Monday.” That way, parents have control over what the kids get taught, but there’s a choice of professionally-designed materials to help and guide them. ...

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There are two chances of that: fat and slim.

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We have had a service in which the senior Sunday School (over 8s, the under 8s were in the hall) were told to sit with their families rather than in a group. During the sermon, the minister stressed the importance of parents talking to their children about sex, and, addressing the children in the congregation directly, told them that if they had any questions about sex, they should ask their parents, suggesting that day's Sunday lunch as a good opportunity for frank discussion.

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