http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2010/09/02/mother-anoka-hennepin-school-policy-contributed-gay-son%E2%80%99s-suicide
This article relays what happened to Justin Aaberg who hanged himself due to bullying. It brings up the Anoka-Hennepin's neutrality policy. This policy was adopted in 2009 to replace a policy from 1995 which stated that homosexuality not be taught/addressed as a normal, valid lifestyle and that district staff and their resources not advocate the homosexual lifestyle," the neutrality policy now says that staff must remain neutral on the topic of sexual orientation and that they must address it respectfully and use age appropriate, factual, relevant information. There have been a number of hangings in this district, so the policy has been brought into the public eye to be looked at and enforced more heavily to protect LGBT students.
I think that when you realize your district has one of the highest suicide and suicide attempt rates, you need to take a look at what is causing this. You cannot tell me that if kids are being bullied (for whatever reason) to the point of committing suicide, that no one in the district (be it students or teachers) noticed what was going on. No matter what one believes about sexual orientation, they should still stop bullying because each person has rights and no one deserves to be harassed. If a little girl is being sexually harassed by a boy in her class, one of the teachers will probably step in right away, the same should happen for any bullying in any situation. Things need to change.
No comments:
Post a Comment