Gendered Harassment in Secondary Schools

The article this week, Gendered Harassment in Secondary Schools:  Understanding Teachers’ (Non) Interventions, by Elizabeth Meyer is an argument that “educator’s experience a combination of external and internal motivators that act as either barriers or motivators for intervention”.  In Meyer’s research she based most of her study, from what I could gather, on a handful of teachers from Canada.  These teachers taught in the same district but some in different schools.  The teachers experiences with gendered harassment among their students varied depending on whether the teachers were supported by their administration.

There were a number of times throughout the reading that I wrote in my notes “are you kidding me!!”  One such time that really infuriated me was when one of the teachers said, “I don’t stop name-calling if I’m too tired, if there are set things I need to get through in a lesson.  I know my lesson is going to take 60 minutes, I’ve got 70 minutes to deliver it, I’ve got 10 minutes to waste.  Right now my job is being a teacher and I have to get through the math before the end of the year.  It’s not on my priority list” (pg 8).  It sounds like this teacher probably has a discipline problem in his/her room and if stopping for 20 seconds to stop a kid from harassing another is “not a priority” I really wonder why this person is in the teaching profession.  At the beginning of the year, during my norms lesson, I make sure it is crystal clear that name-calling is strictly forbidden in my classroom.  Students know that if I hear a racial, gendered, or special needs slur in my room they will be reprimanded.  Very few times does it happen in my room because taking a class period to come up with norms at the beginning of the year sets the tone for behavior in my classroom.

Another area of concern for the teachers was their teacher education programs and the fact that the teachers did not feel prepared to address harassment in their classroom.  Again, to hear one of the teachers say, “The educational degree was really worthless” (pg 9) shocked me.  I know I could have been better prepared for behavior problems in my room and how to include and communicate with parents more effectively, but I do not believe that my education degree from Providence College was worthless in any way.  I would say I felt mostly prepared and then it was up to me to continue with my professional development both through readings and other means to keep up with the latest pedagogical research in order to be a more effective teacher.  One of the teachers mentioned that she did receive extensive training to handle bullying and harassment issues, which I thought was great.  I did not receive much formal training but I think people can take a common sense approach to these issues and at least be sensitive to the fact that many of our students are hurting and it is our responsibility to at least stop it in our rooms.  If teachers don’t want to get involved in GSA and bullying programs, then that’s their prerogative, but my god at least stop it from happening in the classroom.

The other thing we were asked to do for this week was study the GLSN website.  Because I was a part of the GSA program at my high school a few years ago, I am very familiar with the site.  I remember when we brought GSA to my school, our principal was apprehensive and many teachers made fun of it actually.  I think the principal thought that maybe we were endorsing or possibly encouraging kids to experiment with their sexuality.  I know from my own experience that there is a misunderstanding that people choose to be gay or not gay.  This misconception is the basis and the reason to make sure a good GSA program exists in every school.  Do kids experiment with their sexuality?  I would not be so naïve to say, “no, that does not happen.”  However, there are kids that are in such turmoil with their sexuality that they need a safe place to be able to discuss their concerns.  The GLSN site mentions kits that the schools can order, which we did, and in the kits are stickers for teachers to put somewhere in their room or on their door that shows kids that they are a safe person in which students can confide.  We were emphatically denied the ability to use these stickers and today I don’t even know where they are.  Our school participates in the National Day of Silence each April, which I really like because it brings the whole school into the conversation about what it is like to be a young, gay person.  I base my silent English classes around this silent conversation on this day.

There was link on the GSA site to another site called “It Gets Better” which I am so glad I checked out.  As a heterosexual woman, I can say to a student all day long that “it will get better” and that there is hope for a better life after high school, but to hear one person after another that is gay talk about how life will get better was very, very powerful to me.  I feel I have a new source to recommend students to check out.  The people on the site were not just individuals but many families that are moms with kids and dads with their kids.  It was very, very powerful to me and I can only imagine how this site will help my students.  After spending time on the site, I sent the GSA coordinator at my school the information and she is going to talk about it at the next meeting.   I have a video attached, which I hope you all can check out from this site.  I cannot stress enough how many kids are hurting and when I see teachers ignoring the bullying and name calling (or even adding to it) it just makes me so angry.  

Here is one of many videos on the site:

http://www.youtube.com/user/googlechrome?v=7skPnJOZYdA&feature=pyv&ad=7478932977&kw=%2Bit%20%2Bgets%20%2Bbetter