So I have been going through the GLSEN website for awhile now. I spent some time reading a bunch of other blog reviews and going back and forth through this site. Honestly. I'm shocked. I've always been a numbers guy. Then make everything easier to understand for me. Almost half of all transgender students reported skipping a class at least once in the past month (47%) and missing at least one day of school in the past month (46%) because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. 47 and 46% of students afraid!!! The idea of those percentages alone scare me!
What really ticks me off is the first "number" i read. 90% of transgender students heard derogatory remarks, such as "dyke" or "faggot," sometimes, often or frequently in school in the past year. These terms really get my blood boiling. I hate hearing the name faggot or dyke. No matter how many times terms such as those enter my ears, my skin can't seem to stop crawling. "Gay" was a term that I mostly heard in a negative sense back in school. I had one teacher who would hear this term and yell, "My Brother is Gay, what's wrong with that?" I could be wrong, but i think everyone is getting way too comfortable with all of these terms. I remember back in elementary, the meanest words were like "jerk" and such, which today don't even cross our minds because they are so meaningless. Now a days it seems like Gay is an essential part to every teenager's "dictionary" and never in a good sense. They always yell that this is gay, and that's gay, that lesson was gay and all other inappropriate ways. I know I was even guilty of that until my teacher made me realize that gay doesn't have a negative meaning at all.
These terms are becoming more and more apart of our vocabulary. Nobody realizes just how much they hurt people. And the people being called them, can't stand up for themselves or else they'll just get beat up themselves or worse. This world is becoming a terrifying place to be apart of unless we start doing something now. GLSEN has so many programs which help address anti-LGBT behavior such as the day of silence, which I do remember being practiced in my High School in warwick, and No Name Calling Week, just to name two of the programs. I think programs like these should be practiced in every school. Even if it was like one week for every month of classes. We need to all become aware that all people are born the way they were and there is no reason to single them out for that very reason!!!
I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but this world is becoming a scary place. Especially with technology now a days. Harassment isn't something that is just done in school, or even just in person. Who hasn't heard of cyber bullying. Whether it be threatening text messages or facebook comments, or just mean blogs written about you, it is impossible to avoid being bullied depending on your situation(gay, straight, lesbian, transgenders). Am I the only one who sees this as a major problem???
What really ticks me off is the first "number" i read. 90% of transgender students heard derogatory remarks, such as "dyke" or "faggot," sometimes, often or frequently in school in the past year. These terms really get my blood boiling. I hate hearing the name faggot or dyke. No matter how many times terms such as those enter my ears, my skin can't seem to stop crawling. "Gay" was a term that I mostly heard in a negative sense back in school. I had one teacher who would hear this term and yell, "My Brother is Gay, what's wrong with that?" I could be wrong, but i think everyone is getting way too comfortable with all of these terms. I remember back in elementary, the meanest words were like "jerk" and such, which today don't even cross our minds because they are so meaningless. Now a days it seems like Gay is an essential part to every teenager's "dictionary" and never in a good sense. They always yell that this is gay, and that's gay, that lesson was gay and all other inappropriate ways. I know I was even guilty of that until my teacher made me realize that gay doesn't have a negative meaning at all.
These terms are becoming more and more apart of our vocabulary. Nobody realizes just how much they hurt people. And the people being called them, can't stand up for themselves or else they'll just get beat up themselves or worse. This world is becoming a terrifying place to be apart of unless we start doing something now. GLSEN has so many programs which help address anti-LGBT behavior such as the day of silence, which I do remember being practiced in my High School in warwick, and No Name Calling Week, just to name two of the programs. I think programs like these should be practiced in every school. Even if it was like one week for every month of classes. We need to all become aware that all people are born the way they were and there is no reason to single them out for that very reason!!!
I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but this world is becoming a scary place. Especially with technology now a days. Harassment isn't something that is just done in school, or even just in person. Who hasn't heard of cyber bullying. Whether it be threatening text messages or facebook comments, or just mean blogs written about you, it is impossible to avoid being bullied depending on your situation(gay, straight, lesbian, transgenders). Am I the only one who sees this as a major problem???
I definitely see this as a problem as well. People don't think about other people's feelings, and I feel that they bully other out of enjoyment. It makes them feel better to bully someone else. It boosts their confidence. Why? I do not know. It really bothers me. We also had the Day of Silence in my High School. And you are right. Bullying is not just in person or in schools anymore, it is EVERYWHERE! It is very scary.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. I refuse to describe something as "gay" or call some one that. I also hate when people call each other retarded. I will usually make a smart remark to my friends who use those terms out of appropriate context and tell them not to do so. It is not necessary to use those potentially hurtful words. Society is becoming worse as the years go on and will continue to go I downhill i think. This site is useful as long as they make themselves known, maybe something will change.
ReplyDeleteRachel, I completely agree with you about people saying "retarded" casually. This video is a little bit grainy, but it's the best one. I heard this kid speak at a national conference. It's an amazing speech about "the R word"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zFKFshINuw
I totally agree with your statement about us getting "too comfortable" with words. I would get YELLED AT by parents if I said crap or suck and now I use those words daily. Negativity is associated with peoples sexuality when it's NOT someone straight. It's just not the norm in so many peoples eyes but just because people don't view it as the "norm" doesn't make it scary or "bad"
ReplyDeletei completely agree with everything that you said! it's so sad that people use these names so often that it keeps kids from wanting to go to school. that's not the way it should be!!! we need to be more aware of the things we say because you never know whose around!
ReplyDeleteI feel so bad for the kids that feel like they cant go to school, a place that's supposed to be a safehaven, due to fear of getting harassed or attacked. People should always watch what they say because you never know who may be near you or who what you say will hurt :(
ReplyDelete