A typical
teenager may have hard issues to deal with through high school. If that teenager happens to be gay/lesbian,
it can make things even more difficult.
But, how are we supposed to make things “get better” if we avoid the
issue. So many kids are misinformed on
this subject. A better education could
mean a better future for all the gay/lesbian teens who are contemplating suicide. I feel discrimination has a lot to do with experience. Unfortunately there are many people who are
having no experiences with this issue and learning nothing about it. There are also religious groups who continue
to teach hatred against gay/lesbians.
McFarland
(2008) stated that professional counselors at high schools have the ethical
duty to serve all students including gay, lesbian, and bisexual students. He feels that they need to understand why
this hidden minority is at a high risk for suicide in order to develop and
implement interventions through a developmental guidance program.
Gay/lesbian
teens may end up contemplating suicide because they are not behaving in ways
that conform to their gender roles.
After watching the video tribute for gay/lesbians I thought to ask my
teenager children if they have ever spoken of this issue in their health
class. They all answered no. They have spoken about dating and how the male
and female bodies work but never anything on this issue. They have never discussed this topic in
school. I wonder….would any teenager
still be alive today if an adult at their school had opened up a conversation
on the topic? There has to be someone reassuring
these teenagers that it really will “get better”.
McFarland, W.P. (1998). Gay, lesbian, and bisexual
student suicide. Professional School
Counseling, 1(3), 26-29.
Molly, That would be a good situation for High School health teachers to allow open discussion on being true to one-self whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. I believe more teachers would not fear talking to students and letting these kids know that things will get better for them, but nowadays schools fear most about getting sued or fired for allowing candidness into classroom settings. It makes me sick to see how these poor kids’ ends up committing suicide, because they don't believe that life will get better. I hope that somehow we can truly make some changes with how things are said and done.
ReplyDeleteI also was never presented with that topic in health class, in general I think it is the job of educators to present at least the basics of sexuality to teens so that they can be informed rather than figuring things out only on their own. Health classes only present sex as a heterosexual experience, at least from what I am aware of, and this is leaving out a large group of teens who, chances are, feel isolated enough as it is. In fact, I think health educators should not only include homosexual relationships in their curriculum, but transgender and biracial relationships. The more we enrich children with knowledge, the less likely they are to perpetuate stereotypes based on ignorance.
ReplyDeleteIt's very sad that kids don't have an outlet where they can express their feelings about sexuality; especially if they are feeling differently than their friends and schoolmates. So many kids must feel trapped and alone. I can't imagine how they must feel. It is hard enough to get through life as a teen these days...very hard!
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