GLBT

After reading the book "Boy Meets Boy" and viewing the movie "It's Elementary" I have been forced to really think about the life of someone who is a GLBT. I haven't necessarily been oblivious to those individuals but it hasn't directly effected me, therefore I haven't really had to give it much thought. Because of a religious standpoint I don't necessarily agree with the lifestyle, but I in no way, shape or form discriminate or even steer away from people that are GLBT. I don't know if its because I don't know many older GLBT individuals, but I always kind of viewed it as a younger fad. I didn't really think about the possibility of having a student who came from a family of two moms or two dads. Not that this would effect the way I would treat the child who came from that family, but as a teacher I would like to make my children comfortable and like they are understood and represented in my classroom. I'm not sure if I'm quite comfortable teaching GLBT in my lower elementary classroom yet, but I have at least been exposed to the ways of teaching about it and incorporating it into my classroom, even if it does just mean including a book in my classroom collection about GLBT. Listening to the children in the movie, and the preconceived notions of GLBT that they already had, I could see why it's important to address these issues early. The children learn from the media and the people around us, but sometimes the things they learn are stereotypes and discriminatory thoughts that need to be reversed early on. I have realized the importance of this issue and want to further explore the best way to address it within my future classroom.