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 Mathew Sheppard play 
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In class we talked about teaching the Mathew Sheppard story to drama students. We also talked about how location makes a difference whether you are able to get away with this or not. My question to you is if you are somewhere that is a little bit risky and your school does start teaching an issue like this, which causes chaos amongst the community, what do you do? Should you stop teaching or supporting it and let the issue go away? Or should you support it and fight against the protesters? And if so what if you are one of the only ones at your school supporting the issue what will you do?

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Samantha Neader


Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:08 pm
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I would think that the most important thing that you can do to prepare yourself for such drama would be to plan and get the support of your school. If you have the support of your fellow teachers and administrators then when the stuff hits the fan you'll have lots of backup.


Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:27 pm
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I think that it would be most important to stress to the faculty, students, and parents that this play is not to glorify the life of a homosexual. The point of the play is promote tolerance among people in your community. You do not have to agree with the persons sexual orientation, but no violence like what happened in Laramie should be repeated.

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A. Kyle Whisenant


Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:53 pm
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Seems to me that the primary message behind this play is tolerance and violence prevention. I think that a school should maybe create their own version of this drama, maybe pick a different issue and talk about its ramifications, rather than just use Matthew Sheppard's story. While a useful tool the Laramie project is just a stepping stone for more projects like this.

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Ben


Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:06 pm
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If I were to support a play like "The Laramie Project" I would try to de-emphasize (but make it known) the fact that the play centers around a homosexual. LIke others, I'd emphasize that the play is about teaching tolerance and acceptance while dissuading violence.

If I was one of the only people in the school promoting the production of a play like "The Laramie Project" I'd probably keep attempting to send a positive message about the moral of the play. If it jeopardized my standing with my co-workers or bosses, I'd let the issue fall by the wayside, but I figure, more good will come from trying than not trying at all.

If the sole reason people were opposed to having the play produced was the issue of homosexuality, like Ben I'd use "The Laramie Project" as a stepping stone to find other plays with similar morals to teach the children, and offer those suggestions to the relevant parties

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Jonathan M. Sykes


Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:16 pm
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The issue won't go away even if the play does. In fact, dropping the play will probably only escalate the issue because students are going to immediately assume homosexuality is wrong/something that shouldn't be talked about. Furthermore, I feel like I would be compromised as a teacher. Dropping something I believed in because other people didn't like it...I feel like that would send a message to my students that they shouldn't stand up for what they believe in. I don't want to teach them to back down in the face of adversity/obstacles. This isn't to say I would force any student to be in the play or any person to come see it. For those who were interested, awesome. For those who weren't, that's their choice. They're entitled to make that decision, just as any teacher who wanted to put on the play is entitled to their's.

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Natalie Brady


Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:56 pm
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