Today in my Learner Diversity class we talked about a hate crime that I hadn't heard about before. Some of you probably have heard about it and know more than I do on the subject, but I was completely disgusted after hearing about it.

We had an assignment to read Gordie, a chapter from the book Pay it Forward. In it there is a boy who is a cross-dresser and goes out to meet a guy from the internet. When he gets home his step-father beats him because of the way he is dressed and the make-up he's wearing. Never in the story does it state Gordie is homosexual, but we got on the topic of homosexuals and how our society views them.

So we got to talking about Matthew Shepard who was a 21-year-old homosexual college student in Wyoming. He was beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead. A lynching more or less, and this was in 1998.

His death is linked with Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas of whom Fred Phelps is the pastor. I don't see how they can claim to be Christian while their words are so full of hate. The first link I listed below has a counter on it of how many days Matthew has been in hell. Is that really necessary?!

Here are some links to WBC's sites.
[url="http://www.westborobaptistchurch.com/library/memorials/matthewshepardmemorial.html"]WBC's Perpetual Gospel Memorial to Matthew Shepherd[/url]
[url="http://www.godhatesfags.com/index.html"]Westboro Baptist Church[url]


Now I know Shepard's death was not directly related to school or even happened in school, but students are ridiculed all the time for their sexual orientation or any other choice they make that causes them to stand out from the majority. How can we as teachers help to prevent hate crimes like these and create a welcoming, safe environment for all students?

I had previously heard about this, but I also found it appalling. I agree with Dani (and Kari in her other post) that the message these radical groups are sharing give Christianity a bad name. Their words are not that of God, yet that is what they hide behind. It isn't fair that Christians have to be associated with such hate. Hopefully, more and more people are realizing that these groups are not what most Christians are like.
Anyway, I think as teachers it is our job to be as alert as possible. Students will often give us signals, whether verbal or not, as to what is going on in their lives. In another class we learned about journaling as a way to keep up with our students lives, and allow them to vent and let us know how things are going. I know that we can't catch EVERY student who is being abused/bullied but we can try.

I think a lot of creating a safe enviornment is letting your students know that you are willing to go above and beyond for them. For example, if someone is going to commit a hate crime, typically it will be talked about around school. If your student feel as though they can talk to you, they will come to you and let you know that something is going to happen. It is your job to act on what they tell you. Of course, I would assume, that most all teachers would want to do whatever they could to help prevent something this horrible, if they can.

I think it is sort of like what we talked about in class today. As a teacher no matter what the situation at hand, you as the teacher must let you students know that you will do anything to creat a safe place for them. Hopefully by doing so they will feel like they can come to you at anytime, which could lead helping them in many ways, in and out of school.

This is an awful situation and something that deserves some thought. I agree, it's most important to create a safe environment in the classroom. I liked Amanda's journal idea and also Erica's thought of letting them know you will go above and beyond for them if they need it.

I also think this is the perfect opportunity for the positive side of the hidden curriculum- teaching ethics, critical thinking, and scruples. In my school system we taught "TQE" or total quality education. This meant each month we had a character word. My teachers went to the extent of hanging up a sign with the word and definition in their classrooms.

Perhaps a more affective way to teach students those things is through discussion. One of my teachers in high school would start every class with a brief discussion on what was going on in the world. The more the students knew about the issues, the longer we could discuss them. Thinking about the fundamentalist pastor example in Dani's original post, I think this could be an affective way to get students to think.

One of the reasons that there are Christians(and other people in other religions) who have extremist views that become associated with the entire religion they are a part of, is ignorance. It seems that some people believe blindly whatever comes from the pulpit without examining the issue themselves to see if they agree with it. If it was said at church, it must be right. If a person doubts what is said, he or she may feel that they are being sinful, but that is not always true. I think this is a huge reason why people often agree and go along with a view that may be wrong.

Opening up a discussion floor in the classroom, even for ten minutes gets students interested in what is happening in the world around them. It forces them to think; to think in a safe, neutral as possible environment. Learning the skill of critical thinking is something that hopefully they can take with them and use to analyze in other situations. By practicing this daily, my hope would be that students would learn to think for themselves in other aspects of their lives.

After reading the few previous posts, I decided to comment on both concepts, homosexuality and safe school environments. I strongly believe that homosexuality is NOT a choice. Afterall, who would choose to be homosexual with all of the ridicule that is received towards those who are. I completely understand that everyone has their own opinions and beliefs, but to each his own. Everyone has the same rights, and why should it be different for those who are homosexual? It is ridiculous how they are viewed by much of the world.
As for safety in schools, I feel that it is partially the responsibility of the teachers. As teachers, they are obligated to keep their students as safe as they possibly can. I know that some things are out of the control of the teachers, but if they do everything in their power to help keep their students safe from harm. I know from past experiences, when crises occured in my schools growing up, I looked to and counted on my teachers to keep me safe and I think that it is very important for all students to be able to do the same while they are at school.

I believe to some extent that it is our job as teachers to impart basic morals to students. These lessons come from the way you act as a teacher just as much as what you say. In other words, even if you have certain biases towards specific groups (and everyone of us does) its important that you teach your students to be accepting of other ways of thinking and believing. I may not agree with a particular opinion, but I will accept that other people think differently from me.