I posted this in 'misc' but no bites...so I have *cleverly* changed it to a WDYT and put it here...

I'm interested to know how your high school deals with supporting gay/lesbian students, particularly with respect to awareness raising of the whole student population. I'd like to start looking at resources particularly in Qld that I can recommend to my local school. I guess I'm thinking initially of workshops/talks but any other ideas welcome.
So...WDYT is the best way a high school can support gay/lesbian awareness? Currently our local school appears to have a policy of 'I'm not listening, it's not happening' lol but I might be being unfair there - I'm off to investigate but want to have some suggestions up my sleeve.

Maybe by including gay sexuality in the sex education programme. And employing counsellors who are 'gay friendly' and aware of services and support networks.

TBH Volemort I'm not sure that what you're talking about is really that necessary. I went to an all girls' school and I know for a fact there were students who were lesbians there. We were taught to respect everyone regardless of sexual orientation. So the boys next door, the girls in our own school...both gay and straight.

Seemed to work. Can't really see the need to do more than that if it covers the ground.

Respect is something we should have for all people, and unlike biological gender issues there is no difference/equality dichotomy.

ETA I went to a private school in a well to do area. I'm sure there might be a case for some special education element if there was reason to suspect particular disadvantage but I can't imagine its universally necessary.

Mine are still at primary but recently got a new 'out and proud' principal which I think is great. Would be even better if he was a high school principal.

I also don't know that it needs specific "classes" or talks on the issue, just that it should be an accepted and included aspect of other classes.

I also went to an all girls school. Also Catholic. Homosexuality seemed to be discussed more often in religion classes, and we had really interesting debates that covered not only what the Church thought, but what God thought, and how we should treat the issue in our own lives - tolerance, acceptance, understanding, etc. It also came into the creationism/evolution debate.

Kids will discuss it if they are given the opportunities to discuss it. THey don't need specific times, just teachers/educators that are open.

thanks for the replies. I'd be interested to hear from people who think there is a need for awareness raising on this issue too, and what has worked on that level.

There is a sex education program at our school, I need to look more into what is being taught there but as far as I know it is just the mechanics (which is fine). I am more concerned about the homophobia that is rife amongst the students, particularly the boys. Yes I know that is nothing new. When I see the statistics about suicide among young gay males particularly (most occurring before age 17, and up to 6 times more likely than heterosexual males) I think whatever is being done at the moment or in the past is definitely NOT working, and addressing it at high school is a great opportunity that doesn't seem to happen, certainly not at my local school. They had a sex ethics class the other day which focussed on "celibacy until marriage" and therefore didn't mention homosexuality at all.

Homophobic attitudes amongst young men particularly are a problem for everyone. It leads to risky behaviour amongst young heterosexual men as they strive to prove they are 'not gay'. I'd like to address this at the same time.

Tell that to the parents of gay and Lesbian children!

QUOTE

Suicide is the leading cause of death among gay male, lesbian bisexual and transsexual youth…Gay males were six times more likely to make an attempt than heterosexual males. Lesbians were more than twice as likely to try committing suicide than the heterosexual women in the study. A majority of the suicide attempts by homosexuals took place at age 20 or younger, with nearly one-third occurring before age 17."

http://www.wesleymission.org.au/publicatio...suicide.htm#gay

I don't have kids at high school yet, but I've already spoken to them (in a casual way of course) about families with two mummies, two daddies etc. There is a lesbian couple with a girl at the same school, so this has come up in conversation.

I remember homophobia being a real issue when I was at high school, I had friends who reacted to the idea with such anger and disgust, it really shocked me. I can't imagine what it'd be like to hear people talking like that, if I were homosexual. Awful.

I do think that homosexuality needs to be discussed as a part of sex education at least, I'm not sure what the answer is but something surely must be better than nothing.

I am not sure about what supports would help but agree there is great room for things to be done.

There are a few 'out and proud' kids at my daughters highschool as I am sure there are at all highschools.

Positives are that it is already school policy and noted in various ways throughout staff communications with students that all diversity is supported (including reference to gay and lesbian students). Also obviously it is not a problem amongst their friends whatsoever, nor is it a problem amongst a reasonable percentage of the greater school community.

However there is no denying there are still those who bully, marginalise and generally make life difficult and traumatic for kids with any difference. And the results of that bullying and marginalising can be catastrophic. And despite all the positives, there is still too much tolerance or ignorance of that bullying and marginalising.

Just saying, there is work to be done. However as to specifics of what extra supports would help, I am pretty clueless.

My kids will probably go to a Catholic high school, and this is currently their approach. I guess it might change if there is parental pressure, but I can't see too many kids being openly gay within a Catholic school environment?

At my (public) high school, I don't remember there being any mention of homosexuality at all, but these days it is probably more common.

I went to a catholic school .................. I didn't know lesbian women existed.... part of why I didn't find myself until after a failed marriage of 14 years. All those wasted years !

The suicide rate for young gay people alone, should be enough to tell people that something needs to be done where the majority of young people are ..and that's in schools.

Here is a very helpful link .............not Australian but alot of it applies !

Creating Safe Schools

I think anything would help. The more schools the better. A campaign, a policy of a part of curriculum would be blanket and therefore mean something was in all schools.

A poster somewhere in every school might be a start. The U.S has a program called gay/straight alliance that is supossed to be in all schools. Kids join and sit around. One private school has appointed someone with a sensitivity o kids coming out as part of the job.

A private company that did a week-long module that could be done every year at say year nine (that filfilled part of the values/requirements/accreditation) that could be bought in could make a big difference to culture at many schools.

The religion and schools is difficult in Australia as it is an example of a really poor division of religion and the state.

It is huge, but every bit would make a difference.

Well, according to commonly accepted statistics, 1 in 10 people will be gay, lesbian or bisexual, so there's a pretty good chance that quite a few kids at your Catholic school will be gay and it's also highly likely that they will closet themselves for protection so you may never know abou it, but you might read about them contributing to the 3 times higher suicide rate than straight peers.

These kids that feel they have no option but to kill themselves are EXACTLY the reason our education institutions need to do more to build truly inclusive environments for all kids and have a no tolerance policy for bullying on the basis of sexuality. Sadly, mostly it's just ignored.

Thankfully, there are some parts of Australia (Victoria and Tasmania) doing good work in our schools in this area. One such program is the Pride and Prejudice Program for primary schools:

http://www.prideandprejudice.com.au/#

The Pride & Prejudice package has successfully addressed an evident gap in the education system. It genuinely excites school communities because it is practical and accessible for teachers and students. Same sex attracted young people, both current and former students, have advocated strongly for initiatives that impact students directly in the classroom, rather than just discussions in staff rooms and development of policy.

But... the majority of Australian schools struggle with providing a truly inclusive environment for GLBTI kids and it's so, so, sad.

There's also this guy; Daniel Witthaus:

http://www.samesame.com.au/features/5090/D...wn-Near-You.htm

He is on a 38 week journey all around rural Australia, taking his anti-homophobia training, called Beyond That’s So Gay’, to schools, organizations and individuals. It's great stuff, but of course, how does one person cover every school? There has to be an interest to start with.

Maybe those here who could see the benefit of Daniel's training could contact him to appear at your own kids' schools?

I wrote this in the other forum, so thought I would post it here. Not much help, but I do agree strongly that there needs to be more done and more awareness.

I'm not sure whether it was my school in particular, or most Catholic girls schools in the mid-80's, but we had amazingly open discussions about homosexuality, as I said in an earlier post. It cropped up in the "sex-ed" classes, as well as religion, ethics, etc. Whether it was "does God not accept gay people?" (to which most disagreed.) or "If God created us, why did he create some people to be gay? And then encourage the church to kick them out". etc etc etc. Our school taught tolerance and acceptance. It encouraged debate and critical thinking, and for us to challenge our own beliefs. Our priest actually said that he did not agree with the church stance on homosexuality, and he would be happy to perform marriages if he were able.

I do agree that there needs to be more openness and acceptance taught in schools. But having been to a school that was pretty open, even back then, I guess I have missed many of the real issues that exist.

Ruffles, I don't think your experience is typical.

Out of interest, how do you think a closetted lesbian would have felt during those "amazingly open discussions about homosexuality"?

I think there is a huge gulf here between what might be possible in government schools, and what many private schools would agree to.

I have a bit to do with our local Christian school (not the school DD attends, she goes to a public school) and there is no way that the Principal would agree to any sex education beyond 'sex outside marriage is wrong'. There is no way there would be any discussion that could be seen to be condoning or supporting homosexual relationships. And the parents would, on the whole, support the Principal on this. I don't think this is the right position, but I think it is a common one in Christian schools.

So, discussions that might be generally possible and supported in public schools would not held in many (most?) private schools. And I'm not quite sure how this gulf could be overcome.

It is a never ending problem - and your assessment of the situation is largely corrrect. It goes to the heart of relgious organisations having exemptions in anti-discrimination laws.

I was going to say Pride and Pred too! Thanks Muriels
And aaawwwwe Daniel I miss him he is tops!

I wouldgo with posters to kick off and heaps of positive inlusion in the WHOLE school curriculum (sp? lol)

I'd very much like to see these "commonly accepted statistics" if you could provide a link. Thank you.

I hate the comment that christian schools would never do it.

Not all christian schools are like that.

I can imagine a catholic school being anti it, but not all christian schools are catholic.

The first "sex ed" talk (which wasn't sex) for DS for the grade 1 and 2's had discussion about different sort of families, including families with mum and dad, mum only, dad only, and families with 2 mums . So quite clearly lesbian couples were thought of clearly as a family.

Milkwood is referring to this organisation: www.glsen.org

They are very proactive and have some great resources.

JRA I think you're being a bit anti-Catholic here.

I went to a Catholic school (co-ed) and the nuns engaged one of the parents who was a GP to come and do the sex ed talk. She was VERY factual and not at all censored from what I recall. She copped some flak from some of the parents later but most thought it was great. She didn't have a child in that grade, her kids were older and younger. The nuns were quite good on the follow through afterwards too, looking back much better than my lay teachers at high school. Maybe they were just better teachers per se rather than it being about being nuns.

I think Catholic schools tend to deal with things as they find them. IF there are kids with 2 lesbian parents or 2 gay parents they'll deal with it, if they won't they probably won't...but that doesn't make them anti- it just makes them practical. Focus on what the class's experience actually is. I mean back in the early 80s believe me the church was very very anti-single parent at all (and gay parents...well). Yet my class had a LOT of children from single parent families including me and it was dealt with very sensitively and well imho. Mum was a bit apprehensive about what they'd say but I think actually when its left to the nuns (Josephites at least) there is more nuance than people expect of a world church. I don't think our parish priest could have done it. I think actually that Catholic WOMEN are better at this than Catholic men.

Actually I went to a catholic school (finished in 82) the sex ed talks, abortion discussions etc were brilliant. Very fiery and informative.

I am not sure if they would approve of gay/lesiban though

I have a copy of a CD Rom "celebrating diversity in schools" that is focused on gay/lesbian/bi/trans issues - it's a few years old but you can probably still get it free somewhere...

Also did a quick google for the cd name and found this link - it's a pdf with lots of information on supports etc from Tasmania. I'm sure there are similar state resources for up north

www.education.tas.gov.au/school/health/...out.../Talking_Out_No_7.pdf

I am not sure about what you can do to stop the bullying to be honest. Bully's will exist regardless of who they target and the reason for it.

If we can get more tolerance for people who are gay/lesbian then that is fantastic. But we may find that something else becomes the 'hot topic' and bully's focus on that instead.

This is a really interesting question OP and I have absolutely no idea what our chosen schools policies are. I am off to find out!

Oh, here we go. Had to be one.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_...country_or_area

Remember of course that I said 1 in 10 identify as G, L or B and this link is for G only. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly, because sexuality is not included in Australia in the census and besides, a married woman or man would hardly admit to being ss attracted in a survey that was filled out in front of his/her wife/husband, would they?

You'll just have to trust me that the common view is that 10% of any population idendifies as G, L or B.

I thought it was common knowledge that 10% of people are not "exclusively straight". I was watching David Attenborough the other day and he was saying that homosexuality is very common in animal populations too, especially primates. Many higher order mammals are only hetrosexual when they are "in season" too, so it's hardly an unnatural societal construction.

The state high school I went to from years 7-10 was massively homophobic. I was beaten up a couple of times due to rumers that I was a lesbian (I'm not). The girls' school (Anglican) that I went to for years 11 and 12 was very supportive of the students who were "out" and had a "no intollerence" policy.

I would hope in this day and age that schools would be supportive of their students and pro-active in discourageing bullying based on gender and sexuality.

surely you can acknowledge that given we have a huge problem with suicide in the group that is young and gay, I think we absolutely need support and education in schools, ALL SCHOOLS. It is still not ok in much of our youth culture, especially for young boys. They are dying from it not being OK with a large part of mainstream society.

I don't know that homophobia is a "hot topic", its been around for years.

I think it is more prevalent in certain areas, since moving to this area, which is lower socio/ anglo area, I have heard so many of the kids using "gay" as an insult and it is obviously one of the worst things you could possibly be. I really hadn't heard that sort of thing from kids in a while.

OP, I have actually wondered this too. I noticed at our school a while ago a girl who was gay and she seemed pretty ostracized amongst her peers. I had always meant to ask, thank you for reminding me. Would it be a specific policy?

My thoughts exactly. I'm sure a gay person listening to the bigots in the class would have felt really accepted. My high school used to have these discussions too. They were very spirited with one group thinking that gay people should be shot and it's evil and the other end thinking it wasn't.

These sorts of discussions happening in catholic education classes are for one reason only and that is to get students round to their line of thinking. Which is being gay, having an abortion, changing your gender etc is a sin in the eyes of God.

I don't have any children in high school yet, but I read an article a while ago about a school with a gay-straight alliance. More schools should follow in their footsteps

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/coming-o...00424-tklo.html

I had very similar experiences at my Catholic school.

wafflecone- what an inspiration for other schools!!!!

Thankyou to everyone for interesting posts; I have bookmarked the links you gave and they are all excellent. I wish there were more in Qld! The chap Daniel Witthaus doing the tour would be fantastic to have drop in, but I'm afraid I have a lot of groundwork to do in the school community before that would be strategically useful. (and is it just me but I found the website hard to navigate in terms of finding out where he was going and if you could request a visit ... maybe I was tired LOL!).
In terms of establishing an ongoing program in schools I agree with this quote from the 'Pride and Prejudice' FAQ:

It sounds like a great program.
The link to one of the articles led me to an article about a study by La Trobe Uni about 'Beyond homophobia' and that looks promising; plus there were some resources I can follow up in the brochure: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/ssay/Beyond%20Homophobia.htm

That has not been my experience, in either my own (state) school during the Triassic period, nor currently in any of my children's schools or those that my work takes me into (some of which are religious). It is ignored totally (at best) and I suspect actively. I also find anything which is 'tolerated' or 'accepted' is generally subliminally labelled as something bad that needs to be put up with...like I tolerate and accept cockroaches in my kitchen.

OP this link might also be of assistance

link

thanks annasue, that is worth a look too