In my little corner of the world (Alberta, Canada) there has
been a big push -- championed by the media -- to pressure the provincial government to pass a bill supporting gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in all schools to combat bullying. The bill passed.
A problem with gay-straight alliances is that they are too narrow in their emphasis and scope.
One Gay-Straight Alliance website stated that GSAs are needed for LGBTQ students (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
queer) because “Far
too many face pervasive harassment and violence at school because of their
actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.”[1] Pervasive harassment and violence (bullying) in schools is not
unique to homosexual students. In fact, gay bullying is only one small facet of a
larger bullying problem.
Students
are bullied for any number of reasons (and sometimes no reason). They are bullied
for being too fat or too skinny or too weak, for being too pretty or not pretty
enough. Some students are bullied because they are too smart and bookish or being low intelligence and
falling behind. Others are bullied because of their race. Disabled students are
bullied, so are kids with speech impediments, or bad complexions. Bullies will take any opportunity to mete out cruelty.
Many
students are picked on simply because they are deemed “uncool” and "geekish" and don’t fit it.
Why single out the LGBTQ students for special protection and higher profile when many more students are bullied for other
reasons? Government initiatives against bullying must be wider in scope. NO BULLYING IS EVER ACCEPTABLE. It always hurts the child it targets.
We
do not need gay-straight alliances, we need anti-bullying alliances!
I
don’t want to see any child ostracized or bullied. All our children are precious.
[Click on image below or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvvJ7MYaK8o]
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[1] This quote was taken from a GSA website this past January 27th. The quote can be found on numerous GSA sites from various jurisdictions..
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