"Same Love," a hip-hop song by Macklemore, follows the life of a gay man and the life he built with his partner, has been praised by Ellen DeGeneres and has become an anthem of cultural acceptance since its debut, rapping lines like: "When kids are walking 'round the hallway plagued by pain in their heart/A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are." A good song with a powerful message.
The same song got Susan Johnson, a teacher at a Michigan middle school, suspended without pay after playing it for her eighth-grade performing arts class.
Decisions like this call for awareness from both sides. The teacher's three-day suspension as a response was over the top, but despite having good intentions, there's no reason to believe she shouldn't have stuck with protocol. At the same time, LGBT education in schools needs to start being, at the very least, fair and balanced.
Johnson, who originally was put on a three-day suspension, was reinstated after the story garnered attention from the media and the American Civil Liberties Union. The reason for the teacher's suspension, as cited by the school, is a rule from the staff handbook regarding recorded material that requires the instructor first preview any taped material and then submits a completed form about the proposed clip to the administration for approval.
Despite the rule, most of the people outraged by the suspension came in response to the content of the song, standing with the common belief the school suspended Susan Johnson because of the message the song delivered. The administration became aware after a student complained, and the already-hot issue made its way into the headlines of The Detroit News and national outlets. Unfortunately for Johnson, she was punished after playing a song about tolerance rather than hate, but she should have realized that, especially because this is such a hot topic, it was going to cause controversy and someone was going to get offended. In this case, she should have made the push to be approved for the song before playing it in class.
But while schools obviously should monitor the content that is being played or performed, especially for children of a young age, it's 2012. If a song about LGBT rights is still enough to cause dishevelment, then we have a far more serious problem than just violated staff codes.
LGBT students still haven't found a safe haven within the walls of their schools because they are ignored in almost every form of education or point of history. And because they are forgotten in the shadows by their administrations, they often feel like they won't be missed by anybody else. According to a study last year, gay teens are five times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers. The City of Buffalo still hasn't forgotten about Jamey Rodemeyer, the 14-year-old freshman at Williamsville North High School who committed suicide after relentless bullying from his peers.
At the beginning of the year, the Future of Sex Education (FOSE) composed a report claiming that teaching children about homosexuality would increase tolerance and reduce bullying in schools.
Any side you look at it, the advocates, the opposition and the administration need to really begin putting the students first and realize that whatever decisions they make actually affect what the students take away from the situation. These students are at a malleable age. We shouldn't necessarily be punishing good intentions, but it would be hypocritical to say one side should be allowed to do something but not the other.
That is the entire thought behind LGBT education - teach both sides fairly and let the students ultimately make their own decisions. It's, of course, hard to progress with this education in schools. Sexuality, specifically in regard to the LGBT community, is still perceived predominantly as a religious topic, and with that spin, it immediately goes against the arguments to keep religion out of schools.
Susan Johnson should have received punishment for breaking staff code and should have played the song in the next class after receiving clearance. But whether or not the content of the song was the cause of the suspension, the kids at the school were still directly affected. There's no way to prove this was an LGBT issue, but the very concept needs to stop being an issue we tip-toe around or we further risk having it pulled out of every story and exploited.
Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com
