Read: RI Laws and Policies
Read: Queering Our Schools- Written by: The Editors of Rethinking Schools
Watch: Woke Read Alouds: They, She, He Easy as ABC
Reflection: After reading both articles and watching the short video I question the reality that all schools abide by these policies listed. Growing up in western Cranston, many children did not identify as other genders besides male and female. The reality of those concepts was not common so when having a child identify as something different that child was looked at weirdly. I wouldn't say that the specific child was bullied, however the likelihood of seeing that through my schooling was low. I feel now in the past couple of years more and more children have been identifying themselves more publicly and proudly. I believe that social media has a big influence on this in both positive and negative ways at times. I believe that in some cases schools can make a child proudly express themself or on the other hand, have the child completely shut down being afraid to show who they really are.
To share with the class:
When discussing this topic I feel a sense of awkwardness. I am not heavily educated on many of the policies of gender identity when it comes to schooling. We live in a generation now where these concepts must be a reality to all. One specific question I have is, how can we get younger children to express themselves more freely at a young age? How can we support them to feel comfortable in their own skin? I believe young children are the most understanding, less hateful than adults. If we can get the younger generation to learn and understand at an early age we might be able to shift the mindset of so many. Growing up and coming from an extremely Italian household, I was never educated in this area. Coming from this, I would like to help as many struggling people as I can, understanding how difficult it can be to find who you really are. Expressing yourself without the rude and hatefulness of others!
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10063975/
I agree ensuring that we discuss this topic when our children are young is extremely important.
ReplyDeleteI think one way to get young kids more comfortable/acquainted with this kind of expression to to openly talk about it with them. I remember when I was little, my mom very nonchalantly explained to me that the then-mayor in Warwick was married to another man, and that some people are like that. With a simple explanation, I was able to easily take in and accept that knowledge.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who grew up in western Cranston, I agree there were not too many transitions. However, there was a student who went by "they/them" and although I could tell my teacher respected this. Often, he would forget this students pronouns.
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