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Originally Posted by dak -edit - Soriak : Typical "Anti-bigotry" curriculum in the United States that I experienced in a public school took place mostly in the 7th/8th/9th grade. They bombarded us with holocaust/slavery material, made the main characters heroes and told the students to put themselves into the "heroes" shoes. Maybe it's because that's how I was presented "anti-bigotry" material that I fear having pro-gay lifestyle being brought up in schools. If I was sure that people in the books were "gay heroes" rather than "heroes because they are gay" I'd have less of a problem with it, it's just for every other minority we "learned" about it was always the former. The "they are worth talking about JUST because they were gay/black/jews" mindset doesn't help anyone. |
I have to admit I never had any sort of "minority hero" book in jr high/high school... we read mostly books describing every day life that were dark themed and with a protagonist who's actions were at times questionable. That I always thought made for good discussions. Also interesting how some books actually got you to sympathize with the "bad guys" (ie some nazi soldiers) because you got the feeling they were just regular people trying to get by in a bad world. Good stuff.
But we were a class of 6 (private school, though not a religious one), so there was plenty of time for this stuff.
I can see how a person belonging to a minority turning out to be the hero who saves the day every time can get incredibly annoying - that's definatly not how it should be tought in school.
On the other hand I also don't see why the book should be BANNED from the library. If it's not a class assignment, shouldn't it still be available to someone who wants to read it in his spare time? Maybe there's a kid who has a problem with a topic covered and tries to get help from it - someone dealing with his problems without taking medication, that sounds like it should be encouraged. Requiring parental approvement is just like requiring it for abortions - no kid is going to ask their parents for approval and they'll just find different ways of dealing with it, or even worse not dealing with it at all.
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The US as a whole will never be ok wih it, that is why I am not ok with it.
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Fixed that for you. It's much more acceptable in europe already and I think even the "progressive" parts of the US aren't causing problems for gays. Once you go to the conservative states, well... bigotry is only part of the problem. Lower education, less income, less urbanized living conditions, less tolerance, strong belief in religion and moral guidance - all kinda goes hand in hand. Ironically not just in the US...
