(Sorry I am having trouble finding my link to the actual song lyrics, so I will have to add them tomorrow when I can get to a physical copy, but you should still be able to give an answer)
Sunday, November 1, 2009
LGBT
Deliver Us From Evie by M.E. Kerr is one of the first novels published to outwardly deal with the topic of "coming out" for a recent high school female student. The main character Evie had always been more masculine in the way she dresses, talks, and even walks. When she meets a younger girl who takes an interest in her, Evie starts to outwardly display the fact that she is a lesbian. There is a part in the book where Evie and her "girlfriend" go to see a concert. She brings home a tape from the concert which accidentally gets played for her whole family to hear. The lyrics of the song basically out Evie in front of her whole family. As teachers we will more than likely come across students who are contemplating "coming out", but may not know how. What would be some advice we could give to these students to make their "coming out" easier than it was for Evie?
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I think that being approachable and comforting are qualities that any teacher should possess, and they are also qualities that someone who is coming out might seek out in a person. I personally don't think that it's our job to give them advice to make coming out easier. I do think it is our job to provide education and awareness on topics like gay equality and others similar to it. If a student specifically approaches you for advice, tell them what you think. But I wouldn't talk about coming out to an entire class unless it was specific to a book we were reading and discussing, such as Deliver Us From Evie. Using the literature to draw out these important issues for discussion and providing awareness is a good way to put seeds into our students' heads. Issues like these should be discussed generally in the classroom and probably more specifically in the home with family. ASHLEY
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough topic for me to respond to, especially considering that I myself went through the whole coming out process. High school was a near-constant battle for me, and I really don't think my burden would have been eased at all if I knew that there was a teacher I could go and talk to about what I was going through. In fact, I probably wouldn't have gone just out of fear that someone would have seen me. I agree with Ashley that it is not a teacher's job to give coming out advice to entire classrooms, and I also agree that it is the teacher's obligation to inform and educate students about equality, fairness, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think that if a book like this were to be used in the classroom, it could open up ideal opportunities for general discussion about sexuality issues. I think teachers should avoid being too "preachy" since students pick up on that immediately. Adolescents are more apt to accept something that they feel they came up with on their own. A book like this could lead to a great open conversation with hypothetical questions asked like, "If you were in Evie's shoes, how would you have reacted to having this deep, dark secret and coming out?" or "How would you react if someone came out to you?" or "How do you think you would react if one of your children came out to you?" If the class is allowed to discuss issues openly, then the teacher (provided it's not some religious private school) can deftly add comments and suggestions to get the students to think more about the "truth" behind their feelings, and nudge them in a more accepting and open direction.
It is important for teachers to be extremely understanding in this type of situation. Students who are considering coming out in school may feel frightened, nervous, excited, depressed, angry, anxious and vulnerable- perhaps all of these things. If a student asks for advice from the teacher- perhaps the student is afraid that students will make fun of him/herself-then the teacher should be prepared to say something like, "I do not allow for any discrimination in the classroom, and I support any student no matter what race, religion, or sexual orientation." Sadly, in our generation, there are those who have prejudice- and prejudice is an uneducated assumption. It is important that the student understand that he/she has the innate knowledge of what it is like to be in a society where a certain group has not been granted equal rights. By teaching novels like Deliver Us From Eva and pointing students to past historical events, in which citizens stood up to injustice, then the student can be reassured that they are living in a time of revolution.
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