Schools need more LGBT "education"

Wow, American school are really like that?

I go to a catholic school and we still have a whole term in year 10 dedicated to sex ed. They tell us about contraception mostly and STD's so on. And also the races to put a condom on a banana.

 

texas sex ed: a powerpoint featuring pictures of diseased genitals, and a brief discussion about how this happens when you have sex so don't have sex until you're married because then that doesn't happen anymore

 

wow
thats just dumb!

 

Yeah I get that question a lot. I think there should be a class for lgbt information as well as just different races and cultures in general that everyone should have to take...kinda like a tolerance class...that way everyone is educated and hopefully learns to accept each other better

---------- Post added 12th Jan 2015 at 10:57 PM ----------

Sounds like missouris sex ed class too

 

I agree completely! I know that when I was younger, perhaps 8 or something, I thought that people who were trans, were only trans to "correct their orientation". So a lesbian could become a trans guy, solely to be straight. Of course, I learnt a bit later, that it's not true at all. I was completely wrong about it!! :eusa_doh:

And I live in a LGBT friendly country, and I had no idea about it. I know better now, but there are still people who think like I did when I was 8. There should definitely be more LGBT education, I completely agree.

 

I can't say I'm surprised :dry:

 

Yeah, things could definitely be improved. Belgium was the second country in the world to grant marriage equality, and one of the forerunners in criminalising sexuality-based discrimination. So you'd expect our sex ed to be accurate.
Instead, what I got was "some of you may feel attracted to your own gender. In a very few rare cases, that might remain. In the vast majority of other cases, it's just a phase!"

...I waited until I was 24 before I realised it probably wasn't just a phase after all xD


On the other hand: I do think there's only so much schools can do. Most kids won't open their mouth duing sex ed, even to ask very relevant questions. And many others will have forgotten the relevant stuff by the time it's of immediate use. We had sex ed by the time we were 14, and most of my friends ended up having actual sex only by the time they were 20. By the time I ended up barenaked with another guy, sex ed was 15 years in my past and all a vaguely remembered haze. so the most helpful thing I remembered about condoms wasn't how to put one on: it was to always read the manual

So, sex ed should give all of the basics in a decent manner, and be open about all of the variations that exist (and that it doesn't matter whether you're gay, straight, male, female, or anything in between or a combination thereof). But I'd also like it to give kids decent pointers where to find this information at the moment it's relevant in their lives, or where to find people to talk to who aren't connected to school, friends, or family.

 

Schools definitely need to improve LGBT education in health class. I don't even remember it coming up in any of my classes to be honest. Thirteen years of public schooling and I don't remember a single time homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, pansexuality, gender fluidity (correct term?) were ever brought up in the classroom. I think this is partially why I was so confused about my orientation for so long and maybe even why I was in such extreme denial over it for so long. I think the school's justification was that LGBT students were learning vital information about safe sex practices which are important but they ignored the sociological and psychological difficulties that can come with being an LGBT person especially during puberty. Even taking it a step further my school district violently opposed even the slightest hint of homoeroticism, so for all but an insanely brave few it was either keep your mouth shut or become physically and socially ostracized from the community; something that nobody wants. Having said all that education about these topics has to start young. I see no reason why parents can't explain to their children even before schooling starts that "some boys like girls and some boys like boys and that's perfectly okay" etc etc. I think society as a whole is becoming more tolerant though. Who knows? Maybe with enough early education there won't be any need for "the closet"

 

This is exactly what happens in Buffalo, as well. And then they wonder why teen pregnancy rates and divorce rates are so high across the country. I have personally known people who have gotten married young, just so they could have sex. :eusa_eh:

 

I've had sex-ed recently and they didn't even mention it. I'm gonna have it again in two days and this time I actually asked them anonymously to talk about it. Let's see if anything happens.

 

I totally agree, I feel like even the teachers at our school don't know anything about LGBT community. My history teacher told a story about when he went to a sex show in Thailand ( totally appropriate to tell 13 year olds) and referred to transgender people as "trannies" and "lady boys" which I found really offensive, but not being out I didn't say anything. Also, when we did our sex ed class, we talked about LGBT a little, but mainly homosexuality, we were told that pansexuality was an attraction to inanimate objects and we didn't talk about transgender people at all. There aren't any other LGBT people that I know of at my school, but the lack of education is why people ask offensive questions, or hate the community, because of lack of understanding.

 

Don't think anyone can disagree with that one! Might have helped me figure things out years ahead of time!!

 

I completely agree with you on this, schools do need more "LGBT education". FlowerChild556 and I were actually talking about this the other day (mostly about - the lack ot - sex education). In my opinion high schools/middle schools probably don't talk about/go in detail about lgbt people because of immaturity and the risk of upsetting parents... College however is a different story, I took health my first semester and we talked about everything except trans* people (I just realized this *hmpf*).

 

BINGO! Kaiser got it right.

 

Having an actual education on LGBT and really, any actual sex ed at all (all i got was "you insert into a woman, and if you dont want babies, then put a condom on first"), then it would have made my past years alot easier in dealing with it and finding out who I am. Most of the schools I grew up in (moved around alot) pretty much avoided LGBT matters completely. To solve this I had tried to start a LGBTS Alliance club, but it was rejected for "not having an educational value to the student body"

 

I agree about the GSA part but I don't think a class dedicated to LGBTQ issues is necessary (maybe in university but not high school). However, I do think how to have safe gay sex should be discussed within a sex ed class.

 

I agree in maybe incorporating LGBT education into health/sex ed classes and promoting clubs.

My school in Michigan was certainly more progressive in teaching more than just abstinence. They took the stance that teens were going to have sex anyway so they should make sure they are prepared. But there was no mention of transgender, bisexuality, or asexuality, and the only day that homosexuality was even mentioned was in connection with AIDS, in that gay men were the first hit (thankfully they did not misconstrue that it was a "gay" disease. It's been 13 years since I had that class though, so things may have changed.

If there had been some education available, maybe it wouldn't have taken until college to figure out what was going on with me.

 

My school was religious and didn't have any sex education, and homosexual statistics didn't apply to us. I don't think that's going to change anytime soon but it should be a mandatory part of public school education. It's 2015 and the amount of ignorance still in this country blows my mind.

 

Bill 18 in Manitoba actually did pass. There was significant opposition to it from the provinces "bible belt" and the Conservative Party but at the end of the day it passed because the NDP hold a majority here.
Measures to curb bullying now law - Winnipeg Free Press

As a side note this applied even to private religious schools, which is where a lot of the controversy came from.

I also agree that awareness of the LGBT community should be visible, just as students should learn about things like religion and racial concerns. If we want the next generation to understand the world and be good global citizens they need to be exposed to as many ideas/aspects of society as possible.

 

Nice! I'd read it hadn't passed, thank god that was wrong!