Anti-Gay Attitudes Persist Despite Progress In Society

“how far we have come and how far we still have to go…”
What’s interesting is that in a generation gay marriage and open homosexuality is likely to be pretty much a non-issue.
A majority of Americans now states (for what that is worth) that they would actually vote for a gay President. Which puts gays above atheists in the public image:

http://www.pollingreport.com/

I realize this harassment is taking place among teenagers, but surveys show that the tolerance for gay-ness is highest among youth. I don’t know that you can ‘educate’ people out of bigotry. More school assemblies and curriculum won’t do anything except irritate the students (just ask your kids). So the key issue is simply the strong policy against harassment of any kind, which the school district has done in a surprisingly rapid manner, and then educating the people who implement it.

“how far we have come and how far we still have to go…”
What’s interesting is that in a generation gay marriage and open homosexuality is likely to be pretty much a non-issue.
A majority of Americans now states (for what that is worth) that they would actually vote for a gay President. Which puts gays above atheists in the public image:

http://www.pollingreport.com/

I realize this harassment is taking place among teenagers, but surveys show that the tolerance for gay-ness is highest among youth. I don’t know that you can ‘educate’ people out of bigotry. More school assemblies and curriculum won’t do anything except irritate the students (just ask your kids). So the key issue is simply the strong policy against harassment of any kind, which the school district has done in a surprisingly rapid manner, and then educating the people who implement it.

I applaud Guy Fischer and Richard Carrillo as parents for having the courage to NOT tell their son, “it’s the way of the world…have thick skin.” It takes people such as these two men who are dedicated fathers to speak up when injustices occur.

20 plus years ago there was not enough people speaking up when Thong Hy Huynh was harassed by a group of students simply because he was Vietnamese. The constant harassing and taunting and fights eventually led to Thong being stabbed and killed. It was needless and could have been avoided if there was no tolerance for this at the school.

I also applaud Zach, as a student, for having the courage to speak up and do something about it. Many students wouldn’t have the courage to speak up for fear of retaliation.

And lastly, I applaud Jim Provenza and other members of the Davis Joint Unified School Board for making these much needed series of changes to the discipline code.

Years ago we had a number of students and parents show up at a series of Human Relations Commission (HRC) meetings because they were frustrated that their children were being bullied for either real or perceived sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, or some other reason. They had no luck in meeting with Superintendent David Murphy and were frustrated, so they came to the HRC.

A colleague and I met with Superintendent David Murphy over a series of months assisting him and sharing with him the need to make changes to the discipline code. A few minor changes were made, but no significant changes occurred.

Guy Fischer, Richard Carrillo, their son Zach, School Board President Jim Provenza and fellow DJUSD School Board Members have one thing in common that we can all learn from: they all had the courage to speak up, voice a problem, and make firm and significant policy changes that will address a long-standing problem within DJUSD.

I applaud Guy Fischer and Richard Carrillo as parents for having the courage to NOT tell their son, “it’s the way of the world…have thick skin.” It takes people such as these two men who are dedicated fathers to speak up when injustices occur.

20 plus years ago there was not enough people speaking up when Thong Hy Huynh was harassed by a group of students simply because he was Vietnamese. The constant harassing and taunting and fights eventually led to Thong being stabbed and killed. It was needless and could have been avoided if there was no tolerance for this at the school.

I also applaud Zach, as a student, for having the courage to speak up and do something about it. Many students wouldn’t have the courage to speak up for fear of retaliation.

And lastly, I applaud Jim Provenza and other members of the Davis Joint Unified School Board for making these much needed series of changes to the discipline code.

Years ago we had a number of students and parents show up at a series of Human Relations Commission (HRC) meetings because they were frustrated that their children were being bullied for either real or perceived sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, or some other reason. They had no luck in meeting with Superintendent David Murphy and were frustrated, so they came to the HRC.

A colleague and I met with Superintendent David Murphy over a series of months assisting him and sharing with him the need to make changes to the discipline code. A few minor changes were made, but no significant changes occurred.

Guy Fischer, Richard Carrillo, their son Zach, School Board President Jim Provenza and fellow DJUSD School Board Members have one thing in common that we can all learn from: they all had the courage to speak up, voice a problem, and make firm and significant policy changes that will address a long-standing problem within DJUSD.

Don:

I strongly agree with you on several points. First, that this will be a non-issue in a generation. Kids these days are raised and growing up knowing gay people. So a lot of the stereotypes of the past are less salient.

Second, I fully agree with you that school assemblies are not the answer–that is one of the reasons I was so critical of the district early on.

Third, the school district led by strong leadership from people like Jim Provenza but also Keltie Jones and Sheila Allen was very quick to respond and I think they have moved this to where it needs to be.

Don:

I strongly agree with you on several points. First, that this will be a non-issue in a generation. Kids these days are raised and growing up knowing gay people. So a lot of the stereotypes of the past are less salient.

Second, I fully agree with you that school assemblies are not the answer–that is one of the reasons I was so critical of the district early on.

Third, the school district led by strong leadership from people like Jim Provenza but also Keltie Jones and Sheila Allen was very quick to respond and I think they have moved this to where it needs to be.

Get the problem out there, “engage” the community don’t be afraid of some controversy and this town(and its people) respond in a manner that is pretty special. Let’s see if it also is true with regard to some “corrective measures” in our police department.

Get the problem out there, “engage” the community don’t be afraid of some controversy and this town(and its people) respond in a manner that is pretty special. Let’s see if it also is true with regard to some “corrective measures” in our police department.

My thoughts are the same Davisite. I too am hoping that the same can happen with our police department. We need to engage the public and have ongoing dialogue. Disagreements labeled as controvery are only a bad thing when people stop talking.

My thoughts are the same Davisite. I too am hoping that the same can happen with our police department. We need to engage the public and have ongoing dialogue. Disagreements labeled as controvery are only a bad thing when people stop talking.

If you want to “sell” an anti bullying program, the program should do two things-

First, it should cover all forms of bullying, rather than trying to cover only specific types of bullying.

Second, the program should start very early – no later than first or second grade because that is when the roots start growing.

My daughter teaches third grade in a public elementary school on the Stanford campus (part of the PA School District). She has a little boy in her classroom who has been picked on for cutting his hair. The hair used to fall over his eyes but recently the hair was cut by his parents to “prevent him from hiding from the world”. A group of third grade girls from another class started to pick on this child over his short hair – the bullying lasted for several weeks and included some hitting. The child ended up with bruises on his head (from punches) and bruises on his legs (from kicks). This had nothing to do with race, religion or gender – just meaness.
Substantial effort went into stopping the abuse through one on one discussions with the third graders and meetings with all of the parents. Kids find all sorts of reasons to be mean to each other. None of the reasons are good.

My intention is not to diminish the issue being discussed, but to simply add to the bigger picture.SAH

If you want to “sell” an anti bullying program, the program should do two things-

First, it should cover all forms of bullying, rather than trying to cover only specific types of bullying.

Second, the program should start very early – no later than first or second grade because that is when the roots start growing.

My daughter teaches third grade in a public elementary school on the Stanford campus (part of the PA School District). She has a little boy in her classroom who has been picked on for cutting his hair. The hair used to fall over his eyes but recently the hair was cut by his parents to “prevent him from hiding from the world”. A group of third grade girls from another class started to pick on this child over his short hair – the bullying lasted for several weeks and included some hitting. The child ended up with bruises on his head (from punches) and bruises on his legs (from kicks). This had nothing to do with race, religion or gender – just meaness.
Substantial effort went into stopping the abuse through one on one discussions with the third graders and meetings with all of the parents. Kids find all sorts of reasons to be mean to each other. None of the reasons are good.

My intention is not to diminish the issue being discussed, but to simply add to the bigger picture.SAH