People often ask me why I decided to create Global Village School. It usually goes something like “Starting a school is a massive undertaking, what on earth made you do it!?” The intertwined goals of protecting kids from bullying and teaching kids to respect personal differences were the impetus behind the founding of GVS. I wanted to provide a safe, supportive environment where each student is free to focus on learning instead of worrying about making it through each day unharmed. I was acutely aware that most schools were not doing enough in the way of bullying prevention aimed at reducing school violence in 1999. The fact that we are recently engaging in a national conversation about school bullying and cyber bullying is great, but it shows that the majority of schools still have a long way to go in addressing this issue.
In the early days of Global Village School we paid a price for our inclusive mission – some people would not enroll and some schools would not refer students to us because we explicitly stated that we supported the rights of GLBT youth. Many people tried to talk me out being so open and upfront about it, but it felt essential to say it – how can you send the message that you value and will be there for GLBT kids when your support for them is in the closet? So openly supporting gay and lesbian students has always been non-negotiable at Global Village School. Times have changed in the 10 years since I started the school; these days few people raise an eyebrow at the mention of our support for GLBT students.
Overall, GLBT adults have more rights and feel safer, but there are still so many places where people feel entirely justified in saying and doing all kinds of horrible and hateful things to GLBT people. I have friends right here in Southern California who are afraid to come out to their children because they fear that they won’t let them see their grandchildren. I know people who still get hateful threatening comments hurled at them from passing vehicles. At a NO ON 8 (the anti-gay marriage initiative) rally a couple of years ago, some were not content to merely voice their disapproval of gay people getting married – a big truck revved its engine and swerved extremely close to the crowd. All of these things happened in a so-called progressive area of the United States. In other places in the U.S. and around the world, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people are beaten, fired from their jobs, harassed unmercifully at school, and kicked out of their homes. Some of them kill themselves because of these circumstances, and some are killed by their own governments.
Clearly there is still a need for GLBT visibility and education. At GVS several of our teachers and staff are GLBT, as are a growing number of our families (students and parents alike). We offer courses like History of Civil Rights in the U.S., which addresses the struggles of GLBT people in the context of other civil rights movements, and we also have classes like GLBT Literature, which focuses exclusively on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experiences. Distance learning is a very good way to reach people around the world in addition to being a valuable resource for students who are struggling with feeling isolated in small towns or hostile environments. Peace and diversity focused coursework is good for achieving all sorts of positive social change, and it is particularly important in the process of teaching kids that differences in gender identity, religious affiliation, race/ethnicity, or sexual orientation are not an opportunity to harass and de-humanize each other. Global Village School students learn how to co-create a better world in which respecting differences and understanding cultural diversity are accepted as being an essential part of life.
Posted under Activism, Culture, Current Events, Education, Homeschooling, Politics
