School a place where children go to learn, develop, mold, and grown into who they will become later on in life. A place that is both safe and scary for most children throughout their adolescents. As teacher and faculty try to steer their students towards bright futures and better choices, children just try to fit in. However, for some students the blissfulness of blending in will never come. They are faced with an internal struggle over their emotions and relatability, or lack thereof, to those of the same gender. These students have what is being called GID, gender identity disorder also known as gender nonconformance, gender confusion, gender fluid, gender versatile, or transgender. Sexual stereotyping begins at a very young age. Media and society begins pushing children into gender appropriate activities and roles despite any feelings of discomfort the child may have. The increasing number of children faced with gender associated issues that we see in the media, and the inadequacies of the public school system to help these students feel safe and cope with day to day life in such a public setting is alarming.
Sexual Stereotyping
Humans are naturally social beings and we look for external sources that tell us how we should act in order to be accepted in society. These influences can come from ones community, church, parents, and school. Now, in this technology driven time, the media is playing more and more of an important role in a child perception of the outside world.
Children are spending an ever increasing amount of time in front of the television each day. The image it is presenting to its impressionable audience provides the foundation for what is and is not acceptable in today’s society. It also provides them a disto...
... middle of paper ...
... they are without fear, especially in a social setting such as school where the masses congregate to learn. We should be using this time to educate our children on embracing our differences and empowering each child as an individual. This starts with baby steps, first we must educate our teachers and parents.
Works Cited
American Academy of Pediatrics. Healthy Children. 2013. AAP. Web.
Beasley, Elena. "Television and Gender Roles." 1997. Ed. Elena Beasley. Web.
Breitmeyer, Judy M.A. Interview. Michelle Simmons. 12 November 2013. E-Mail.
Fitzgibbons, Richard. Child Healing: Strengthening Families. 2005. IMH. Web.
Pope, McKenna. Change.org. December 2012. Petition.
The Associated Press. "American Schools Dealing wtih Gender Identity ." 17 May 2013. Newsmax.com. Web.
Trans Youth Equality Foundation. Trans Youth Equality. Ed. Pediatric Endocrinologist. 2010. Web.
White, A. V. (2006). Television Harms Children. Opposing Viewpoints. Television. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Mothering, 2001, 70)
Children in their adolescents years watch a great amount of TV each week and it is almost inevitable that they will start to be influenced by what they see on their television. They will see diffe...
He uses this fictional character to illustrate how students who do not identify within the gender binary still do not have adequate recognition. He notes that most of the terms that these students use stem from scholarly beliefs that gender falls on a spectrum, and that refusing to accommodate these students’ silences and oppresses their “deeply and strongly” felt feeling of not fitting the binary. He compares denying non-binary students rights and services to denying “redheads or people who live in Wyoming” rights, and he cites other countries such as Sweden and Nepal who have already changed policies to accommodate these students. He argues that we need at least five genders recognized, although with the present situation, it might be best to work for
By the time children enter kindergarten, they have assimilated the transmitted sex stereotypes and accept gender discrimination as the norm. The school often encourages this accommodation by exposing the child for thirteen years to a “hidden curriculum” of gender inequality, imparted by instructors who do little to alleviate its effects. The result is that generation after generation of women are prohibited from reaching their full potential as individuals and as members of society. In this nation, education was once regarded as the great equalizer that made the circumstances of one’s birth irrelevant to one’s ability to prosper. Beginning in the primary school, we must teach and practice sexual equality.
Television has become a big part in children’s day-to-day lives especially in the 20th century. Children in this century rely on television to keep them entertained and educated instead of entertaining and educating themselves by participating in activities, which will teach them a lot more in life then the actual television. There is no doubt that children are most easily influenced by television because of the different content that they watch as well as the amount of time consumed watching TV. The television does have an emotional and intellectual development on children but this all depends on the content that they’re watching and the way that they absorb the information that the show is trying to send out. Different programs will portray
Consistently, everywhere, in this century there seems to be some form of a TV screen. These screens appear in restaurants, schools, at work, at home, and quite possibly more. What is forgotten in society is how that screen may affect the lives of the children in this modern world. When children are constantly watching a television screen there may be consequences to their health and education. Most parents do not have the ability to control what is shown on TV. Many programs disagreeably display marathons after school and during holidays. Supposedly, adult shows are only showed late at night, but with movies becoming more and more explicit, even bed time can’t stop the most determined child. Children’s problems in education and health are a direct result of the amount of TV watched.
The movie “It’s Elementary” does a great job showing the positivity reaction kids have to presenting LGBT issues in the school system. The documentary showed that all age groups can benefit from these lessons. For example, a heterosexual, 8th grade social studies teacher felt it was very important to teach his students to be respectful and not afraid of their sexuality. This teacher started his lesson by asking students to share stereotypes. He then related these stereotypes to LGBT issues. One student shared with the class that he uses slurs “out of ignorance”. This
It may be hard to admit, but television has become an intricate part of our everyday lives. People children often find themselves sitting in front of the television screen for a longer period of time than before and this has evolved immensely over the past few years. In this article, “The Trouble with Television,” by the author Marie Winn, mentions that addiction of television is negative effects on children and families. It keeps the families from doing other things and it’s a hidden competitor for all other activities. Television takes place of play and on top of that kids who watch a lot of television grow uncivilized. Also, the author mentioned that televisions are less resourceful for children and have negative effects on children’s school achievement and on physical fitness. Although there are so many other types of addictions but the author Marie Winn’s points of argument of watching television is a serious addiction that our children and families have negative effects.
Bilodeau, B. (2003, October). Genderqueer: Understanding transgender student identities. Presented at the American Educational Research Association Research on Women in Education Annual Conference, Knoxville, TN.
Riordan, C., Faddis, B. J., Beam, M., Seager, A., Tanney, A., Dibiase, R., et al. (2008). Early implementation of public single-sex schools: Perceptions and characteristics. Retrieved 9/6/2009, from http://web.ebscohost.com.
It is clear that the children in Jill’s classroom (please see scenario tab) are influenced by negative views and confusion around gender equity and sexuality. MacNaughton (2000, p. 21) explains that children’s ideas of identity (including gender and sexuality) are developed through social interactions, whether inside or outside school. An educator must be a positive advocate of gender equity and sexuality in order to influence positive ideas of gender equality to their students. The Melbourne Declaration outlines its focus of providing an equal experience for all children regardless of gender or sexuality, and educators must be an advocate of this equality (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008, pg.
The media in our society has a huge impact on the behaviors of children. These attitudes and manners of students towards teachers and elders are influenced greatly by television, as they initiate behaviors they have learned on television.
According to Bohm, students learn to relate and work well with each gender from being in a mixed school. This is because students have the chance to mingle and adopt good personal relations as they talk, learn, and interact with each other. In the real world these students will eventually have to communicate with their coworkers who will more than likely be mixed gender and going through the mixed education system will allow them to feel more prepared for when the time comes. Jackson from “Dangerous Presumptions’: how single‐sex schooling reifies false notions of sex, gender, and sexuality” argues that students in single-sex classrooms may find it quite difficult to relate, work and live with members of the opposite sex (230). Although this cause is due to that they are not used to relating with members of the opposite sex and are now finding it challenging. One may argue that communicating with people of each gender is an easy task, but it is only easy because it is something that they have been doing since they were young. This is not the same case for people coming from single-sex environments. Research indicates that personal relations are one of the most difficult challenges among people that are built through time and experience (Marisa 6). According to the American Psychological Association, this could affect the students in same-sex
Coeducation advocates claim that gender oriented facilities, content and methods create a gender-stereotypical environment. Any segregation sends a message of inferiority, which results in perpetuation of stereotypes. Advocates of coeducation believe that much of the boys’ crisis, a belief that boys are far behind girls in achievement, is based on gender stereotypes or mistaken notions of the sex/gender distinction that may dangerously be seen as real biological differences (Cable and Spradlin 6). “If researchers claim girls are better than boys in verbal skills but are behind in math, and vice versa, then the students will believe it . . . There is concern that stereotypes will be treated as real biological differences, which would have negative consequences, particularly concerning students’ confidence, motivation, and classroom engagement” (Cable and Spradlin 8). Single-sex education maintains and can even exacerbate sexist attitudes and gender
Some of the most controversial issues in society have historically revolved around matters relating to gender and sexuality. As gender plays an integral part in how we function in society, we quickly learn what is expected of us through our gender roles at a young age and our sexual scripts as we get older. We are expected to conform to our respective gender roles of femininity or masculinity depending on the sex we were assigned at birth. We learn that certain characteristics and expressions are attributed to each gender but are never taught that gender is fluid but instead it is binary. We also become subjected to assumptions of our sexual desires and attraction based on our sex and our gender and are expected not to deviate from it. We become