Your response to
those who believe that early childhood centers should avoid the
inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex
partnered families
First and foremost I would listen respectfully to their thoughts and concerns. My response to this would be based on my belief that avoiding the subject does not mean it does not exist. The families in any child care center are very diverse. We want our children to be exposed to the different family structures, within this is also same-sex partner families. If we are going to provide books that display single parent families, families headed by a grandparent, then we also need to include gay/lesbian headed families. We want to help our children develop an openness for all families.
If
you have ever used or heard homophobic terms such as "fag," "gay,"
"homo," "sissy," "tom boy," or "lesbo" as an insult by a child toward
another child? Or, by an adult toward a child? Describe what occurred.
How might these types of comments influence all children? (Note: if you have not had a personal experience, ask a family member, friend, or colleague)
These comments use to occur a lot in my previous classroom, often in places I did not hear it, like privately on the playground or in the restroom. I clearly remember one time when this was happening to one of my girls in the class. The young girl went home to mom and let her know she was being called a gay and lesbo by a group of girls in her class. Of course, the mother was furious. The mother stated that while she did not think the other girls knew the meaning behind that word, it was still inappropriate ( I agreed). After this incident we had a class meeting because common situations had become very problematic. When I asked my students, one student stated that being gay was something bad, but no one could give any further information. Because I was not sure how parents would feel about me having this conversation, I was very cautious in stating only that the word "gay" or "lesbo" does not mean anything bad. I tried my best to explain, but I was honestly very nervous about the conversation myself. It was clear that some of my students had already made a correlation that being gay was something bad. When we use terms like these as a way to talk down to someone, it sends the message to others around us that it is a bad thing. This could influence all children to believe that using these terms is okay, and possibly lead to learned biases toward gay and lesbian families and individuals.
