A recent thread on Plastic addresses the apparent rabid political-correctness of a Colorado middle school, and most likely, in schools natiionwide. canadadrugcenter.com
The issue? A young boy used the word "Gay" as a negative term in response to a call he disagreed with while playing four-square.
Kids still play four-square?
In all seriousness, is thins kind of language harmful to kids, or are we just overreacting? On one hand, I think that it was a bit extreme to suspend the boy. On the other hand, I think that it is a bit extreme for the boy's parents to bring lawyers into the picture.
One reader makes the point that
"Turning it into a casual term of derogation is a worse insult to gays than making it an outright insult to our sexual orientation."
Another reader states
"Turning teachers into thought police and forcing a worldview on kids that censors their slang, however wrongheaded, is not going to win hearts and minds."
Oh, but there are too many good points in this thread, not just on the same lines as those above, but encompassing all points of view. You must go read it yourself.
I think that it is a matter of kids being uneducated and not really knowing what they are saying, and the meanings behind the words. That's what it boils down to. They're saying it because all the other kids say it. Yeah, I cringe a little when I hear kids using terms such as "gay", "retarded" and the like as derogatory terms, but I don't hold it against them as making a statement against said groups of people. They just need to be educated.
The discussion also turns to mentions of adults using derogatory terms in different ways. For instance, african american people calling each other "nigger".
The meaning of such terms seems to all be in the context.
What do you think? Is it proper for kids to use such terms on the playground? Are you offended by use of such terms?
kids will be kids and so i say leave em be.
i think i used "gay" as a derogatory term when i was young too but i used geek and nerd as well. pretty-boy and princess too - jokingly chink and jew and etc as well probably.
when the kids grow up they discard those words by themselves. if you go to extra efforts to aboloish it the more in vogue they become.
find a way to teach kids about gays, blacks and etc and they'll be more sensitive by themselves because they'll know why those words are hurtful.
transmitted by Jack on April 15, 2003 04:43 AMIt always makes me wince when "kids" use those expressions, but what makes me reallyupset is how those types of situations are handled by the so-called adults. Take the case outlined in Courtney's original post, for example. What they SHOULD have done (in my opinion) is taken a little class time to explain why such expressions can actually be more hurtful than the children may think. On the parent's side of things, they could have had a similar conversation with their child (if they're open-minded enough not to infect the kid with their own bigotry). Unfortunately, I don't see this type of schoolyard language diminishing anytime soon. Two of the main culprits are parents and television. There are still a lot of parents who "pass down" their views to their children rather than letting them develop their own, and there are too many children who have access to TV shows like South Park (don't get me wrong, I like South Park) before they're old enough to figure out for themselves that certain things are, for want of a better word, wrong.
Sorry, this is getting long and I'm trying to avoid being preachy. What it boils down to is this: There needs to be a bigger commitment from parents, teachers, etc to help kids understand what they're talking about, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Instead we get instances like these, where suspension and litigation is used because it's "easier".
Bah, enough of this. Courtney, let's you and me go see TMBG in concert sometime. hehehe
transmitted by Mikey on April 15, 2003 05:03 PMThe situation is out of hand all around. IF the school doesn't like the use of derogatory terms, fine. Good even, kids should watch their mouths. BUT there are ways of punishing, w/o going to extremes. Don't let him have a recess in the afternoon, make him right 100 sentences on the board, whatever. As far as offensiveness goes, kids refer to each-other as "Wussy" "girly" "big baby" etc.etc. Are babies all over the world offended when some child calls another child a baby? It may sound silly but sheesh, aren't there better things to get all worked up about? What a bunch of hyper-sensitive bit--es we've turned into...uh no offense.
transmitted by Ginny on April 21, 2003 08:34 PM