Chicago school officials are recommending the creation of a “gay-friendly” high school to accommodate rising numbers of gay and lesbian students and reduce harassment in the school system. I have long been opposed to the increasing specialization and balkanization of the public school system. While I support this worthy purpose, I believe that it has a negative impact on the goals of a public system as a whole. It is hard to oppose such schools like School for Social Justice Pride Campus, but I believe that the solution is to expel abusive and homophobic students — not remove the victims.
While I have been long supporter of gay rights, I opposed the creation of the Harvey Milk High school in New York, click here and here.
The School for Social Justice Pride Campus, will not be exclusive to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, but it aimed at that target population. For the full story, click here.
Very happy to see I am not the only one who feels that homosexuality is immoral, wrong, unnatural, and should not be supported by my tax dollars.
SEGREGATION
You know as well as I, gays/lesbians is an unnatural act. To support gays in High School is outrageous. This clearly shows how the USA has lost its morals and why other countries laugh at us.
Hey I hear that black kids sometimes get bullied at school and have high dropout rates- so why don’t we send them to there own school where only Black kids will attend?- Yea right, who comes up with this stuff and whos job is it to approve it? It seems like people no longer stop and actually think things through anymore.
one more thing, those of you that are comparing to being black to being gay….or overweight, let’s be real these are all separate issues……no struggle is the same.
This isn’t fair to other students who have to deal with other social issues, additionally, it will only set them up for failure once they enter the real world. Diversity is important and it I agree that it adds to the educational process as well, it’s important that all these students stay in close quarters so that maybe, just maybe one day, we will all learn to co-exist….happily, under one roof.
I pray to God that the city of Chicago approves this school.
If in the 60s black students were being persecuted at integrated schools would we then go and make a black only school to end persecution? Seems like in 5-10 years they will be trying to integrate the gays back into society. What they should do is add more counseling services, and a campaign against bullying.
Why not just take the gay students and convert them to be normal? Might be cheaper…Or ship them to an island so they can live together without being a bad influence on normal students?
This is a tough one, but any social psychologist will tell you that segregation is NOT the answer. Creating a separate school not only ignores the real problem, but creates more opportunities for victimization. Now, anyone associated with the new school will be targeted and “outed” by the victimizers. Chicago has a problem with gangs; how does creating more isolation fix the problem? The only way to truly solve the problems of abuse and mistreatment in the schools is a twofold process – provide more counseling within the schools for students who feel victimized and introduce more education for all students specifically aimed at increasing tolerance. Americans in 2008 are still so unkind and intolerant of one another, no matter what the issue. What are the schools doing to solve the problem??? When children are raised by parents who are socially unjust, is is up to the schools to pick up the slack or the problem continues. Creating safe havens is fine, but do it within the existing structure. MORE integration will show we are not so different from one another. All schools should be “schools for social justice”. Otherwise you are simply condoning the unjust behavior.
I am absolutely shocked that this idea would even come about in my home city.
Having a school for minors, based on sexual preference just does not seem right.
More importantly that that, it introduces segregation at a young, impressionable age. That’s not what this country is about, and that’s not what our ancestors fought for. Our schools need diversity, because the world is diverse. We can’t keep these kids in a bubble. Instead, while all kids go through some sort of struggle at that age, let’s invest more of our time teaching the beauty of diversity and tolerance to our students: a value that all can share together.
Prof. Turley,
Why not a Bully School? Take the students that are a problem and put them in a school of isolation. Pre-Prison?
I think it’s a bad idea. People need to learn to get along. What if overweight kids want a school where no one will pick on them? Should a school for over weight children be built?
I wouldn’t want my tax dollars paying for something like this. Some school systems lack the funding for so many programs as it is, having another school will only make it that much harder.
Life will always be faced with challenges, Running away from them doesn’t make them go away. Kids need to learn to deal with the problems they are faced with. What will happen to them in the real world when they are in college or working?
Teach them to fight their battles, don’t do it for them
I grew up LDS and a nerd/geek. I liked school, I liked learning, and I liked computers (that was a bigger issue in the mid-eighties to early ninties than it is now). For both of these reasons, I was subjected to constant humiliation by teachers and my fellow classmates. No, it wasn’t many, but it only takes a couple each year. In elementary and middle I was regularly beat-up for being a nerd (going so far as to even have someone pull out a knife to slit my throat the one time I did fight back – thank goodness a teacher just happen to walk in). I and many other people I know who suffered from the same abuse managed to graduate and go to college. How is sexual orientation any different?
Prof. Turley, I agree that this should be an alternative not the solution. But there needs to be that alternative when the school superintendents, principals, and teachers are not educating students about gay issues.
For you to advocate gay rights, but don’t see this as the solution is like saying you don’t agree with spousal or child abuse and not having city safe havens for the victims.
I agree with the Chicago for a gay friendly school. I’ve been there done that in the St. Louis Public School system, when I was a teenager in highschool, it was terrible. I eventually dropped out and got my GED instead. Times may have changed a little in the 30 years since I was in highschool, but not much. I’ve lived in Chicago and the kids are more gang oriented there. Kids of every orientation should have the right to be protected while pursuing an education and a likewise support system.
WOW! This seems like a terrible idea! Let’s just segregate those who are “different” instead of punishing the intolerant idiots who are the perpetrators. I used to be quite an optimist but am finding it more dificult this past decade. Homo sapiens really is a sucky species. Hopefully nature has graced this universe with a nobler species somewhere else. Perhaps we’ll have a chance to contact them before we destroy ourselves. In the mean time maybe we’ll learn to understand what true “deviant” behavior is and stop the hatred. Probably not.
Not cool. Building a gay-friendly is a nice idea with good intentions. But the Real World is not so easily divided and diversity helps the educational process. Rather than building a new school as a haven for gays, authorities should clamp down on those who abuse gay students in school. They should also encourage and assist gay students in defending themselves. It may sound harsh, but in the long run it is for the better.
Prof. Turley,
I agree with you that the good students who happen to be gay, should not be shuttled off to a separate location that includes only gays. The school officials may have good intentions, but it will diminish the education of them and of the straight students at the other schools. The diversity of the student population adds to the educational process and this is a copout that tries to make it easier on school district officials to deal with the real problem of improper behavior by the bullying students.