Among American youth 10-24, suicide is the second leading cause of death (Project, 2016). Perhaps, this is best explained with Meyer (2003) Minority Stress Model, which is based on factors associated with an array of stressors and effective and non-effective coping mechanisms that have an impact on the mental health of members of the LGBTQ community (Dentato, 2012). Because our American culture can be perceived as more heteronormative, meaning that more value is placed on straight relationships and perceived gender rolls, members of the LGBTQ community have a harder time adjusting to school environment, where they may be bullied or made fun of for their sexual orientation.
This weeks reading taught us about the importance of cultural competence when interacting with others who have different values, thoughts and practices than us. Working in a high school, I often hear the phrase “that’s gay” or “don’t be gay” when what students really mean is “that’s dumb” or “don’t be an idiot”. Many of the students who say these things don’t mean to be homophobic, they just grew up in a culture that associates gay people with a lesser value in life and thus, words like these come out. But what how does the student feel when he hears things like that and he is gay?
When I talk to students about this, a common response is that others shouldn’t be so sensitive, or “I didn’t mean it like that”. To me this is a prime example of ethnocentrism, the concept that ones own values, thoughts and cultural experiences are more important and more accurate than those of others (PSU, 2017). This outright disregard for the experiences of others proves that high schools can be hostile environments where gender identity and sexual orientation non-conforming youth for victimization (Toomey, Ryan, & Diaz, 2010).
The question that is raised with this information and the vast literature is how do school leaders and mental health practitioners create an environment that is safe for the LGBTQ community? How do we create social acceptance and responsibility for people who are different than us? I don’t believe that the answer is simple or easy to come by, but I do believe that we have to do something to ensure that schools, a place where adolescents spend the majority of their time, is a safe and affirming place that values them as well as education.
Bibliography
Dentato, M. P. (2012, April). The minority stress perspective. Psychology and AIDS Exchange Newsletter . Washiington, DC, USA.
Project, T. T. (2016). www.thetrevorproject.org. Retrieved 1 21, 2016, from The Trevor Project: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/pages/facts-about-suicide
PSU. (2017). Penn State University World Campus . Retrieved 1 21, 2017, from psu.edu: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1826457/modules/items/21654085
Toomey, R., Ryan, C., & Diaz, R. (2010). Gender-Nonconforming Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: School Victimization and Young Adult Psychosocial Adjustment. Developmental Psychology , 46 (6), 1580–1589.
Hi Gabriel,
I think that you bring up a great point regarding a much-needed approach for school professionals to create a safe environment for the LGBTQ community. Considering the history of minorities in the U.S., I feel that the best approach to improve this environment would be to educate all students about LGBTQ culture and history.
For example, schools in the U.S. were racially segregated from the 1930’s until outlawed 1954 (School Segregation and Integration, n.d.). Pick up any U.S. history book from this time and you are bound to learn about this topic. I bring up segregation to demonstrate that some of the progress that we have made regarding active support for the racial minority, may also benefit members of the LGBTQ group.
One interesting fact that I discovered while researching this topic was: that at about the same time as integration, notable historical strides were made on behalf of the LGBTQ community. For example, the first known groups to recognize cultural oppression of the gay/lesbian minorities are: Mattachine Society in 1950 and Daughters of Bilitis in 1955 (Morris, n.d.). I am sure if we speak in high-school about why these groups had to be formed, what effect it has on us today, and how practicing cultural sensitivity could benefit society, it may lessen the hostility and ethnocentrism of school environments.
Steph
School Segregation and Integration (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2017, from https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/school-segregation-and-integration/
Morris, B. J. (n.d.). History of Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual Social Movements. Retrieved January 22, 2017, from http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/history.aspx
“The social world of young adolescents comes into the classroom with them” (Cushman & Rogers; pg. 14). You post reminds me of the conversation and talk of the almost one thousand middle school students I shared the hallways with for the last two and half years. It amazing how much the talk between adolescents have since I was in school. What I think we often forget is that these student are like walking sponges. They are exposed to whole new dimension of information that sometimes comes out in their form of expressions, like the one you mention. It amazes me how one term can be used in such a fashion. It seems the meaning of language has become distorted and misused and the occurrence of such use is increasing. The traditions of yesterday are becoming that of the distant past. Take for instance a conversation I had with my principle. I am the head coach for the girls’ basketball team. Every year I allow the team to have shirts made with their jersey number and school appropriate nickname on the back. One of my players decided to include “baller.” I didn’t find anything wrong but the principal however, did, she found the term derogative and asked that I no longer allow the team to use nicknames. Who thought? Baller? It’s a basketball term that I had never found inappropriate until now. We need not to forget that, “Culture is a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the member of one group or category of people from another” (Hofstede; pg. 9).
References
Cushman, K., & Rogers, L. (2008). Middle School Students Talk about Social Forces in the Classroom. Middle School Journal, 14-24.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hello Gabriel,
The post does make a lot of sense to me as I have in middles school and a lot of the stories that he comes home with are similar to yours with high school students. This is actually pretty alarming taking that what you mentioned what you hear from high school students, we are hearing about from children in middle school. Comments that the kids make, then saying that they don’t mean it like that they fail to realize that other people can be very offensive from a comment like that. Everyday that we pick up our children from school we always talk about how their day in school went. When my son tells me dad we have talk to about my day in school it normally means that he encountered something not so good in school. The consistent name calling in schools can lead to deadly consequences as you mentioned and even if the other person says the they “didn’t mean it like that” after the damage is done there is no going back. When I was in school I remember the vicious name calling on a regular basis, especially in urban areas. This is one of the reasons why it tell my kids that naming calling is no good, even when you think you are playing with the other person. Even though the other person might go along with it, their feelings could still be getting hurt in silence.
This post eloquently explores the diversity of culture within the United States through the lens of high school students and their behaviors in relation to the LGBTQ community. It’s been a decade since I’ve been in a high school, but the descriptions we read about in this blog post (as it pertains to students using the term “gay” to bolster a connotation of negativity) are in line with my own experiences. In the concluding paragraph of this post, you ask “How do we create social acceptance and responsibility for people who are different than us?” (Delong, G., 2017). While I agree that there is no easy answer to this problem, I think Moran, Abramson, and Moran (2014) provide us with a positive way of looking at culture (in terms of differences between groups and difference within groups) when they write about “worldmindedness”.
They (Moran, et al., 2014) explain that “worldmindedness” is a “global awareness of other cultures and people (in many ways, the opposite of hate and fear) – is a trait that can be taught, just like language”. If this worldview were to be embraced by more people, as it relates not only to those outside our culture but those within (in this case the LGBTQ community), perhaps using the word “gay” to imply a negative connotation would not be so widespread and seen as an acceptable replacement for the word “stupid”. My question in response to reading this post, is how do we reach those most responsible for the early-life education of a person, their parents or guardians? While teachers and other education leaders can instruct and educate children in schools, is there any way we can address this issue before the children even get to school?
References
Delong, G. (2017). High school culture. OAD 410: LEADERSHIP IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT
Cultural Leadership blog. Retrieved on January 22, 2017 from http://sites.psu.edu/global/
Moran, R., Abramson, N., and Moran, S. (2014). Managing cultural differences. (9th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.