Thursday, June 9, 2011

LGBT Issues

The reading for Monday focuses on issues surrounding lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender kids in schools. Over the past year there have been many public instances of bullying LGBT students; just last fall there were FIVE SUICIDES (that we know of) in one week of LGBT students who were bullied and harassed in their schools. This reminds me that no matter what your politics are, no matter what your religious background is, no matter what your personal opinions are, teachers MUST WORK HARDER to make schools safe spaces for all students. The Meyer article you are reading for this week (sent over email) raises questions about why teachers fail to intervene on behalf of LGBT students and how we can be getter at this kind of advocacy work.

The most extensive collection of educational resources for teachers is the Gay Lesbian Straight Educators Network. GLSEN is full of statistics, information, lesson plans, activities, and other resources for educators. Talk a look at everything that is available for you.

And you may have seen this video from Ellen Degeneres that has been widely floated around Facebook. It is worth watching and sharing.


Further, there is a powerful campaign on youtube right now, started by blogger Dan Savage, called the itgetsbetterproject. Check it out.

We will talk much more about all of this in class.. see you Monday!

LB :)

9 comments:

  1. Dr. Bogad, Wow, what a powerful message from Ellen. I hope she was able to reach those kids that needed to hear it and that others were inspired to act.

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  2. Its important for kids to see Ellen as a role model and that she is encourageing them to find support. She knows first hand...

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  3. Dr. Bogad,
    Thank you for the informative website ..GLSEN. I was not aware that this website existed. There are a lot of statistics, information, lesson plan ideas and activities that I am going to pass on to my fellow teachers. Thank you!!

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  4. Dr. Bogad, I never saw that message from Ellen. You can tell how heart-felt she is about this subject by her voice. She had me in tears.

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  5. Dr. Bogad,
    Thank you for the information and powerful message from Ellen. She would be a great person to educate teachers, students and families on the issue. It is sad to read the statistics of the unfortunate teens....something needs to be done!

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  6. I agree, very powerful message from Ellen...I just wish more people would step out in support of this issue. The more attention it gets, the less tolerated it will be!

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  7. What a touching message. I hope her messsage touches many hearts, and brings action to prevent and stop this act of ignorance that is any kind of bullying and discrimination.

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  8. Professor Bogad I posted blog earlier today but for some reason part of it you couldn't see. So I plaayed around with it and got it the best i could. But I wanted you to know that it was already posted earlier. Thanks

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  9. Dr. Bogad where is the Shor reading located? I can't seem to find it in reserves.

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