Safe Spaces - HYPERLINKS

       “Safe Spaces” by Gerri August (who is actually a faculty member at RIC) was a very eye opening read for me personally. As a future educator, I never really thought about incorporating LGBT into my classroom, but after reading this, I found it necessary to incorporate it. Today, despite the somewhat modern times, there are still people who are being bullied for being themselves. And in some places, there are schools doing nothing to help these teens. One example of this is happening in the UK.This article tells of the scary and shocking things going on in the UK. British schools are pretty much refusing to accept homosexuality. The most shocking piece of information was that one in seven students were victims of homophobic bullying, and 60% report said staff witnessed failed to do anything about it. I find this to be so sad and absolutely despicable. These are people who are being bullied and tormented and the only people who have the power to actually help, aren't using their power. It was also reported that LGBT teachers in the UK who were forced to resign as a result of them coming out, while the others who had not come out, had to hide their sexuality. As soon as I read this, I immediately thought of Rodriguez's piece. Rodriguez had to hide his spanish speaking in order to fit in, just as not only these LGBT teachers, but also LGBT students. 

       

Although there is a lot of negativity when it comes to incorporating LGBT, there are also people out there who are working to make positive strides in this fight. This article talks about the thousands of people in Saskatoon, Canada who marched for more LGBT student resources. The main goal of this walk is to get the government to realize that something needs to be done for these LGBT students. The main goal is to get government to allow Gay Straight Alliances in the school. This will create a safe space for the students and a place where they can feel absolutely comfortable. Just as St.Anns church was a sort of sanctuary for the children and families in Mott Haven, a group like this in schools will be just that for students. 

  

The last piece I have chosen will bring you to a website that gives resources and guidance on how to incorporate LGBT into the classroom - more specifically, elementary school classrooms. As a future educator, I found this site to be extremely useful, because before this reading, I was completely clueless on how to successfully incorporate this into the classroom, and this was a great tool for some idea. When I am actually able to have my own classroom, this is a resource that I will be able to go back to in order to create a safe space in my classroom. 

The following are some statistics I came across online that I found to be interesting.