During an experiment in 2011, The Williams Institute found that there were approximately 9 million LGBT Americans. That is roughly the amount of people in the state of New Jersey. However, since 2011, these numbers have undoubtedly grown. People often struggle with change which we see here in our community too. Some struggle to understand diverse lifestyles, however, understanding doesn't necessarily have to be the mission. How about human kindness? Acceptance can go a long way toward creating a safer, kinder, environment for everyone. As you walk through our school hallways, consider, does our local culture impact our perspectives of the LGBTQ+ community?
We asked staff members what they witnessed on an everyday basis regarding the LGBTQ+ community in Hilton High, in order to give us more insight into the hallways and classrooms. We asked Science teacher Mr. Gieselman what he thought of our school environment surrounding LGBTQ+ issues. Do we provide our students with a safe environment? Mr. Gieselman said he noticed kids using slurs without understanding the impact of their words, “I see some students using language to be discriminatory, they don't know the slur behind the words.” As students we see this all the time. People often use language incorrectly, using terms that are offensive when they don’t mean any offense at all. Here at Hilton, the word gay is often used synonymously with stupid. Or, the word is also sometimes used without a clear understanding, like when someone calls someone else “gay” because he’s not the stereotypical masculine, jock- type man, is very common. “Gay” has been used as slang for the millennials instead of saying terms such as “stupid” or “lame.” Though the terms aren't usually being used with malice, it reflects on those who use it that way as close minded, in that they accept that some people are gay but choose to ignore how their words could potentially be hurtful.
When talking to teachers about the language they hear in the halls, many agreed they hear our student body using words in this way. Some teachers say they have found this type of language in school work as well. Mr. Pieterinan had to shut down an online message board when comments from students became inappropriate; “we posted everyone's project and you could comment underneath, and now that I remember, it got to a point where we had to shut the board down because there were so many hateful comments, particularly about gender and gay rights in general.”
So what role do teachers play when it comes to recognizing and calling out this type of language? According to Mr. Gieselman, “I don't know what other teachers do. Personally, I make sure to do that [hold students accountable for appropriate language] in my classroom, I know there are other teachers that are proactive in that regard as well.” When asked if he thinks this school is a safe environment, filled with safe havens, he responded that though there are many places that kids could potentially go to to feel safe, there can always be improvement in to increase the number of these safe havens. As a small rural town, not all students feel they can find their safe havens just around the corner. A Safe havens can be defined as a space where people who are accepting and understanding can coexist together. This allows people to be able to express who they are without being fearful of discrimination in their own community. When talking with teachers, Mr. Pietarinen about safe havens in our community, he stated that he could think of a few safe havens, but agreed that there was room for improvement at the High School. Though progress does take time, as society shifts, people still reference and abuse harsh language that has a deeper history than most in high school even realize.
The question now is, how do we fix this? First and foremost, think about the language you choose to use and educate others about the language we use. If you’re looking for a safe haven, consider looking around our school, find a trusted adult who you can talk to, report what you see and hear so that change can be made in our local culture, take steps to be more accepting of others. Also, be a friend. If you see a kid who has been through something, lend a hand, be a smiling face. We are all here to help each other, and it’s never too much work to be kind. Something as simple as a smile can turn someone’s day around. It is human nature to have differing ideologies, it is human nature to judge others, it is also human nature to be kind. If you take away just one thing from this article, let it be acceptance.