Hi guys, Looking for some opinions from teachers or others who work with kids. Im about to be out of a job and have no idea what i plan to do after (very stressful situation!!!) I currently do a job i find very fulfilling, working with kids. I enjoy it most of the time as everyday is different and kids are hilarious. I sort of landed in it by accident and was suppose to be working with adults (im in healthcare). Now for the serious part... I dont know if i should stay working with kids, something im decent at and that makes me happy sometimes, or to go back to working with adults and older people. The reasons i feel i need to get out of working with kids are: 1) ever since day 1, ive been terrified people would find out i was gay. There are a lot of people who wouldnt react too well if they new a gay person was looking after their kids. I know its bullshit but lets face it people are idiots, and this is not a problem that is going to cease to exist any time soon. 2) I still have trouble accepting that im not going to have this normal life, a wife with kids. This eats away at me everyday. Its something ive never mentioned to anyone before. But knowing i will never have my own kids is probably the most crushing thing to me above all else. I dont need a lecture about how in some parts of the world lgbt people can adopt. I have pretty rigid views on the whole thing. Anyway this has eaten away at me every single day in work. Im great with kids. Im good at my job. But im not sure i can take the torment of seeing happy families anymore. Any teachers out there cope with this? Whats your thoughts? Thanks!
I feel for you because one of the things I really hate about being gay is the fact that I’ll never get to have kids. It sucks. I can remember back to being 10 years old and I already knew I wanted kids then.
Future teacher here. I'm not very openly out, so I don't worry about it too much when I go into a classroom, but the worries are still there. The thing that keeps me going is knowing that a school cannot legally discriminate against me for being gay. If I'm qualified for a job and that's the only reason a district doesn't hire me, they'd be in for a lot of issues. I don't mind seeing happy families, because I know that one day I'm going to have that happy family. There are ways for gay men to have kids and even if it's difficult, it's still something.
I've known quite a few teachers who were LGBT and based from the questions that i ask them regarding this, they don't seem to make their sexuality too big of an issue, since the students are more focused on the person being a role model and a teacher first and foremost, rather then what you do outside of your work. It might be a different issue when it comes to high school or middle school because kids will be curious about it no matter what and they will be exposed to it. I think it's more of how you decide to approach the situation rather than worry about how you're going to get "discovered". The teachers who were LGBT that I've had were open about it but they didn't seem to make it that big of an issue because they were willing to learn. Some families wont be as happy as others since everyone is fighting a battle that happens behind closed doors, but people's reaction to it, can't be controlled, no matter how well you perform your job. you'll definitely succeed in what you want in life, and just like teaching, it takes patience. I think self acceptance plays a big role here and it can affect you in a lot of ways that you might not be able to see.
