Talking about Homosexuality in the Secondary School

Citation

Seex, J. (1998), "Talking about Homosexuality in the Secondary School", Health Education, Vol. 98 No. 3, pp. 116-117. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.1998.98.3.116.1

Everyone benefits when homosexuality is discussed in the secondary school … by reducing intolerance and bullying.

This is a quote from the press release launching this book and it accurately describes what Talking about Homosexuality in the Secondary School is aiming to do. It addresses discussing homosexuality with governors, teachers, parents and pupils.

The authors’ perspective is:

1. 1

   That prejudice against lesbian and gay people because of their sexual orientation is wrong. They believe it is wrong in the same way and for the same reasons as prejudice and discrimination against people on the grounds of sex, race or religious belief.

2. 2

   Young people are already talking about homosexuality at school. The issue is whether schools engage in this or not: We talk about it a lot. But not in class. There’s always films and television programmes with gay and lesbian people in them. I think it’s interesting because you want to know more about it. What it’s like to be gay or lesbian and how people are prejudiced. It’s something I want to know about but the teacher sort of avoids the subject ‐ maybe they think they shouldn’t talk about it (Sarah, 15).

The book is in three sections:

1. 1

   how schools could benefit from talking about homosexuality;

2. 2

   information about what homosexuality and homophobia is; and

3. 3

   strategies for talking about homosexuality.

It also raises the links between homophobia and bullying and the need for extra support for lesbian and gay pupils.

The information section is excellent. It covers:

• •

  what young people are interested in;

• •

  definitions of homosexuality;

• •

  language;

• •

  how many people are homosexual;

• •

  homophobia;

• •

  coming out;

• •

  homosexuality and HIV/AIDS.

It is concise and well written. It uses popular references, quotes from interviews with young gay people and historical references to illustrate how homosexuality is a part of our society and is very much a part of young people’s culture.

The information on what sexuality is and young people’s concerns about sexual identity is very clearly explained without being simplistic.

The last section is on strategies on talking about homosexuality. It covers how to raise a discussion with governors, staff or parents and how to make a safe environment for talking about homosexuality with a group of young people.

One of the most impressive aspects of this resource is its open, exploratory stance. Rather than aggressively attacking prejudice, it models what it says in encouraging schools to engage with the issues rather than use prejudicial beliefs as a way of avoiding them. For this reason, it is very accessible and user friendly, encouraging people to acknowledge their fears rather than deny them.

Schools have a choice. They can either ignore homosexuality, leaving young people to talk about it on their own (often with limited information and a lot of prejudice), and allowing bullying of pupils who are different to continue. Alternatively, they can take part in this discussion and aim to make the school a less hostile and more inclusive environment for both staff and pupils.

This is an invaluable resource, well worth the money, which would give schools and teachers who want to talk about homosexuality ideas and support in how to do so.