Posted on 09/15/2002 11:12:26 AM PDT by Rightly Biased
A workshop that focuses on training educators to work with gay and lesbian students as young as kindergarten concerns some local educators worried about "labeling" students.
Others say that counselors need to be able to help young homosexuals when they ask for guidance.
The seminar, titled "Working with Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Students K-12," is scheduled for 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Friday at the headquarters of Hutchinson-based educational services consortium ESSDACK.
Scheduled at the request of guidance counselors in the region, the workshop will teach educators how to better serve the needs of gay and lesbian students, officials said.
After seeing the tri-fold brochure advertising the conference, however, some educators - particularly those who work in early childhood development - worry that the session might also encourage the "profiling" of gay students.
"We shouldn't be looking at the sexual orientation of students," said Chris Rocco, a longtime early-childhood educator who works with preschool children at a child-care center in Hutchinson. "We should value individuals for who they are and focus on what we can do to educate all children the best, regardless of their sexuality."
Like Rocco, Betsie Andrews, a longtime educator who has taught in elementary schools and now works with young children as the artistic director of ArtisTree, was unnerved by the "K-12" reference in the conference's title.
Andrews said her experience has taught her it's important to let children develop with positive reinforcement in their formative years. Defining kids in any way while they're developing is an unhealthy practice, she said.
"My eyebrows do go up when I look at the title," said Andrews. "I would hope that teachers aren't looking for these things when they're in front of the classroom."
Those kinds of concerns, however, come as a surprise to the workshop's two presenters, as well as to officials at ESSDACK, who say the workshop's purpose is to promote awareness, not to teach educators how to identify gay students.
With bullying a major issue, scheduling a session to deal with the unique issues affecting gay students - reportedly an oft-harassed minority - made sense to the group of about 20 counselors who advised ESSDACK to schedule a workshop on the issue, said ESSDACK at-risk specialist Linda Schmidt.
"We want all kids to get the best possible education and feel safe in the school setting," said Lyons Middle School counselor Vicki Cavit, who is considering attending the session. "When kids are worried about somebody putting them down, belittling them for any reason . . . it ultimately impedes their learning."
The rest of the article is at the link posted
It is only for abused children do questions of sex arise at that early an age.
Also there is a special technique of the change agents in schools. If you answer an unasked question in the guise of informing children, you get kids prematurely curious about topics such as sex and drug use.
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