Empty Promises: What are we really doing?

 Looking at the scope of sex and gender in school environments as it relates to policy was extremely eye opening to me this week. After reading through both RIDE and Providence School Districts Policy I found myself still asking a lot of questions. Both policies, similar in their descriptions, lay down the framework of the expectations of how schools should support student’s gender identity or transgender student’s (I don’t like my wording of this, students should be before transgender, but I did not know how to properly word), but this is where the questions begin. What is actually happening beyond the policy? What are administrators, faculty and other students doing to support ALL students? The policy at face value is great, but what is actually happening to allow students to feel safe? 

This feels like another educational trend where we slap a big policy on something, wipe our hands clean, and say we did it. It’s like putting duct tape on the old leaky pipe, yeah it fixes it for the moment, but the leak is still going to happen, and the functionality hasn’t changed. Yet, we would claim we fixed it. Will students' behaviors change? Will students be more educated and better equipped to support their peers? 

I decided to investigate what my school is doing as it relates to policy for students as it relates to gender and sexuality. After a google search and a little investigation, I learned that my school's policy mirrors that of the department of education. There is no write up of specific guidelines as it pertains to the composition of our school district. As I read through the short policy, I came to the end where it says that the policy will be reviewed and updated every two years from the previous adoption or amendment date. The most recent adoption date as noted in the policy is 2018. That means the policy has not been amended to any length beyond its adoption. Is it just me or is there a problem with that? 

This trickles back to my earlier point that, well we checked the box back in 2018 so we are good. A lot has changed in 8 years as it relates to gender and sexual identity, and two large scale political battles relate to transgender athletes and guidelines as well as bans on youth and adult gender medicine. As more policies and guidelines are being put in place at a larger scale, locally things stay the same. So what change is actually happening?

That question relates to the article “Queering our Schools”. Following the events that happened to Sasha the student from Oakland, their parents didn’t want law and order, they stressed educating. Being reactive rather than proactive won’t necessarily stop future scenarios like what happened to Sasha. How can everyone work together to educate youth so that their behaviors actually change? When looking at behaviors we know that there is some external route cause whether that be trauma or learned behavior. In what ways can we shape that behavior through discourse regarding the subject. I watched the video named in the article It's Elementary although dated, I found it very interesting. In the video teachers are asking young elementary students what does it mean to be gay or lesbian. The plethora of knowledge students shared was fascinating. It is worth the 4 minute watch.

A quote from the article reads, “Talking about “bullies” makes it seem like an individual problem and glosses over homophobia, sexism, racism, Islamophobia—all the critical issues that underlie conflicts among children and adults” (Rethinking Schools, pg.23). The point that the authors are making is that it is not just one behavior but it is a societal issue that continues to perpetuate itself from generation to generation. This relates back to Johnson’s article of Privilege, Power and Differences, where groups who are unprivileged and don’t hold power as created by those in power continue to be oppressed. Until we dig out the root, the weed is still going to grow back. Creating a policy is just picking the flower off. The root still exists and the flower will grow back and plague the rest of the garden. 

I feel like I have asked a lot of questions and named that policy is not enough, but I do not know how to defeat the challenge. I myself am not educated enough to know what the solution is. I do know that educating students is important and having real conversations. Glossing over the topic is not going to fix the problem. For me where the question really comes in is where do I fit gender and sexuality into Math? How does it connect to the curriculum? Could I create a project based learning activity around gender and sexual identity? What does that look like? I have a role in the system, but knowing what exactly it is I have not answered.     

   

What it looks like creating a policy with no actionable steps to make students lives better