Pascoe and Bullying in Schools

From what I read in Pascoe's book, especially in the conclusion section, a lot of the issues with bullying based on gender and sexual orientation in high school can be traced back to a lack of educate. There's such a stigma against individuals who don't fit into the perfect box, but as we've discussed in the past, most of the world isn't going to fit into two accepted boxes.

On page 169, Pascoe states, "Schools can modify homophobic and sexist social environments in several ways - by placing affirming posters in their classrooms, providing support for GSA's, sponsoring assemblies and speakers, and reorganizing highly gendered school rituals." I remember at my high school that we didn't even have supportive LGBTQ posters in our health classrooms, and the sex education program didn't include support for anyone in those groups. I think adding sex education for couples who aren't heterosexual would definitely help start a conversation about the LGBTQ community, along with bring important health information to those individuals. There's a lot we need to reform about sex education in schools, we really need to accept that abstinence only education simply is not effective...but that's a different conversation.

Bringing feminist and other social activist speakers to schools would also help speed the conversation on these topics. These speakers could address problems with gender and sexuality related bullying in schools as well as break down the stigma against the youth that don't fit into that heterosexual, cisgender grouping. I think if we allowed more of this conversation to happen, especially in high schools, we could help kids understand that it's okay to be different, and that's no reason to discriminate or bully someone else. We need to teach respect for all individuals, and educate everyone on the issues that LGBTQ youth face.

-Bridget