Homosexuality And Stereotypes In It's Elementary

830 Words2 Pages

“What’s the big whoop?” asks a cute, blonde, elementary school aged boy when his teacher discusses homosexuality. He didn’t understand why people cared who other people loved. Little kids are perfect examples of how society’s negativity towards homosexuality creates homophobia. Children don’t understand why it matters who you love because they don’t see it as a problem and their opinions aren’t clouded by stereotypes. If LGBT issues were taught to these innocent, uninvolved children in elementary school, it would be more likely they would be accepting as they grew up. It is important to present LGBT in a positive light before parents, classmates, and media influence their perceptions.
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
The teacher originally asked why they had to have the show at the school and not city hall. After seeing the students’ reactions, he changed his minds, saying the students are “ready for a lot more then I give them credit for”. I completely agree with this teacher. I think a lot of the times parents like to shield their children from differences. But what parents and teachers have to realize is that LGBT shouldn’t be seen as an abnormality, but as something that should be accepted in society as normal. Personally, growing up with gay family friends as a normality made learning about LGBT acceptance much

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