Blog Post #4

Speaking the Unspeakable in Forbidden Places
Allan, Atkinson, Brace, DePalma, Hemingway

CONNECTIONS

One part of this piece that really stuck out to me was the few times the authors mentioned "protecting the students' innocence".  They were referring to the discussion and lack of discussion about sexuality within a classroom.  When I read this I was immediately able to make a connection to Why Can't She Remember That written by Terry Meier.  In this situation a young student turns to another adult in the room and asks why the teacher is unable to remember the answer to a question that she has asked several times before.  This, I thought, is a great example of how student's even at the younger levels are not as innocent as we may believe them to be.  Students understand, observe, and know a lot more than most people think and give them credit for... especially teachers.  Whether it is at the grocery store, on television shows, in a movie, or whatever else children and students, even those in preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade and so on, are exposed to both heterosexual and homosexual interactions and relationships.  Often times, if it is not something they are used to seeing (for example if they do not have family members or family friends who are LGBT) they are curious about it, and want to talk about it.  Young children are curious by nature, and asking questions is something they often do.  Sometimes the questions they ask (such as those referring to LGBT) get defused or ignored by adults, and many times that is because it is assumed they will not be able to understand the answers or "are too young to talk about it".

I also saw a big connection with this piece and The Silenced Dialogue by Lisa Delpit.  In this piece it mentioned LGBT teachers refrain from discussing their sexuality within the school setting. And why is that?  The authors mention that the possibility of losing credibility, privacy, and even sometimes the loss of their jobs.  As a result they don't speak of it at all, and these can negatively affect those students who might have benefitted from discussions such as these.  The school's have silenced many of these teachers and the topic itself in general in order to avoid bringing any attention (positive or negative) to the school and the topic.  This is a very difficult topic to address as individual families and parents have their own beliefs on such a sensitive topic however, the world we live in today makes discussions like these unavoidable.  I think that this is a topic that can no longer be silenced, whether you are for it or against it, it exists and it has become a part of most every day life.


In my high school I remember, I think it was my sophomore or junior year, there was a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club created as an after school club.  Many students at my high school, including myself, weren't really sure what to think of it.  My school never discussed the topic formally or within a specific class, but the topic did exist.  For those who joined the club this was a place for them to discuss their feelings and ideas in a comfortable space. Also while I was in high school I remember having a day each year where students could choose to participate in a "Day of Silence". This is not something just my school did but I believe it was a national event.  The purpose was to raise awareness for anti-LGBT bullying and harassment.
All teachers, at least in the classes I was in, respected the students choice (as those students who were participating wore a sticker to indicate they were silent for that day) and did not make an issue of the students choice. I could see however, how this could have caused issues between a teacher and student.