This New York Times article has impacted me greatly. I am reminded, as set out in the article “In Search of the Roots of Adolescent Aggression”, that is included in another of my professional reading log entries, “We go through seven profound biological changes during our life, and three of these generally occur from ages 10 to 14 - the middle school years!” The three which occur in a portion of the tween years are; shifting from childhood to puberty (the beginning of reproductive capability), shifting from concrete to formal operations (the maturation of intelligence) and shifting from an authoritarian to consensus morality (the maturation of personal and social identities).” As if this weren’t too much for tweens to cope with already, add grappling with being gay to a tween’s life and it seems daunting!
The author spent time with a 13-year old gay middle schooler named Austin who lives in the heart of America, Sand Springs, Oklahoma. One of the disturbing aspects revealed is that for gay youth, “middle school is more about survival than learning.” A parent of a gay teenager compares her child’s middle school as a “war zone.” This would not sound like an exaggeration when confronted with the statistic that 81% of gay middle-schoolers report that they are “regularly harassed on campus because of their sexual orientation.” The severity of the burden for openly gay students who experience gay bullying is evident in the significant number of suicides attributed to this behavior.
Thankfully present in the article are many trends in schools to positively support openly gay students. Shifting attitudes among teachers is vital. Using the expression “That’s so gay” should be dealt with as seriously as if the expression were “That’s so Black” which would never be tolerated. At least 120 middle schools across the country now have active gay-straight alliance (G.S.A) groups. These G.S.A.’s are providing much needed awareness, anti-bullying programs, gay issues resources and organizing events like the Day of Silence.
As a public school teacher, I feel a need to not only continue my tolerance, but to be more aware of this student population and do everything I can to support them in many of the ways described in the article to assure equality and help students to navigate the incredibly murky journey of being a gay tween. Please click on the link below for a mind opening reading of the full article.
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