August

Safe Spaces

Gerri August

Quotes

1. “Teachers and peers usher children from the relative protection and insulation of family life into the classroom, where (perhaps for the first time) children encounter cultural and ethnic norms different from those of their family.” (Page 84)

Many students have very different school and home lives. When they enter the school building, they could be entering a different world from what they are used to at home. For a child who at home lives with a mom, a dad, and a sibling, that is what they see as “normal”. It is important for them to come to school and to learn that there are other examples of families. This is why is it important not to avoid talking about the topic of LGBT in schools. Kids should know that not everyone lives with a mom and a dad, and they should be taught that everyone’s home life is “normal” no matter what their family structure is.

2. “So far, so good – until the family is two moms and their children and two dads and their adopted daughter. Such families rarely make the curricular cut – they are invisible.” (Page 85)

I really liked this quote because it explains how most people play it safe when it comes to teaching about families. Why is it frowned upon to read a story to preschoolers about a family with two moms or two dads? It’s very possible that there is a child in that class who has that family structure. It’s important to show that child, and every other child, that there is nothing wrong with that. This quote shows how people are scared to talk about these issues and how they think it’s easier to stay quiet about it and keep these families invisible.

3. “To relegate LGBT books to the counseling center, however, marginalizes the LGBT community and identifies homosexuality with illness.” (Page 91)

This quote talks about when a principal suggested the librarian make a book, And Tango Makes Three, available to “counselors that work with families that maybe have this situation”. She didn’t feel it was the schools place to educate children on the topic of LGBT families. The quote mentions how it makes homosexuality sound like an illness. This is so true. People, like this principal, try to avoid talking about the topic and by doing that it makes it seem like it’s gross or sickening. Students should be taught to be accepting of all people, and I think the librarian was doing a good thing by trying to bring awareness into the school.

This reading definitely connected to SCWAAMP because of how straightness is viewed in society. I also saw connections to Johnson because privilege was mentioned a lot. August said, “Nevertheless, students from privileged groups were not challenged to think critically about their perceptions, and students from marginalized groups were, well, marginalized” (Page 96). People from groups who are more respected in society don’t give it a second thought, while others, for example the LGBT community, gets left behind.

Point to Share:

Why is considered wrong to teach children the different family structures? Shouldn’t we as educators want our students to be knowledgeable about what is going on in the world? Obviously, with the new laws of same-sex marriage, things are starting to go in the right direction, but it’s still important to realize that there are some teachers who will only teach their students the family of a mom and a dad. It’s important that these students learn that there are other forms of “normal”.