First public gay high school to open in NYC.
This story is all over the place at the moment, but when has that ever stopped me throwing in my tuppence worth…
The main question: Is this a good or a bad thing?
Well I think, short-term, for the kids involved it is a good thing. It will allow them to attend school in a fear-free environment.
Long-term this is bad (well not bad, more … wrong) on a few counts. The kids are not experiencing a real world environment. Prejudice will greet them when they leave school, unfortunately that’s just fact. The protective environment the school will offer will leave them unprepared for the harsher realities of real life.
I also fail to see how this school will help tackle the key issue that underlies this whole matter.
What really bothers me the most about this, if I may focus on myself for a moment (hey it’s MY site), is that I should really be supportive of this kind of thing, but more and more frequently I find myself almost, almost, reaching for the ‘positive discrimination argument. That really worries me.
I do hope that this school works, and I realise the driving issue behind it is a good one, and I really should stop over analysing these things. I think I’ve been reading too much Vaughan…