I've been in school a long time (considering after high school I decided to be a masochist and go for three undergraduate degrees). So when the subject of teachers bullying students came up, I wasn't very surprised. I've heard my teachers, instructors, and professors say things that I interpreted as anywhere from sketchy to outright hostile. The worst part is that I'm pretty sure most of 'em didn't interpret what they were saying as such. But since I'm in one of those kinds of moods, I figured I'd post them and why they aren't appropriate.
They're not all LGBT, either... although most are.
(In an eighth grade lesson about genetics, in which the words "heterozygous" and "homozygous" came up.) "Heterozygous means both alleles are different, and homozygous means they are the same. Which is sort of like hetero- and homosexual. Homosexual means same-sex, whereas you are all heterosexual... I hope."
I didn't even identify as gay or bi at this time and I was still like "What?" This is one of the teachers who recognized me as depressed and bullied rather than antisocial and actually tried to help me, so for him to bring up this little gem was shocking.
Loved ones say stuff like this all the time. Loved ones also require some process-time, so although it's not appropriate, it's also expected that they will do weird things like mourn even though you aren't dead. In the case of teachers there is a special level of inappropriateness to saying something like this, though. First, it assumes that an entire class of twenty-five students is straight, which is statistically unlikely. Second, it assumes that not only are all of the students present straight, but that it's the teacher's place to judge that as appropriate or inappropriate. And third, and most importantly, it makes the environment hostile for LGBT students in attendance, which there probably are.
An immature "ha ha gay" comment coming from a student is immature, ridiculous, and hostile... but coming from a teacher, it's not only immature, ridiculous, and hostile; it's immature, ridiculous, and hostile from the authority figure who is there to teach and in many ways protect you.
(In ninth grade history class, about censures.)
"Say there's a senator who keeps insulting all the other senators. He keeps calling them... what do people call each other now?" (Student: "GAY!") "OK. So he's going around calling other senators gay. 'Senator Kohl, you're gay!' And after a while everyone else goes, 'OK, Mr. Senator, we're tired of you calling us all gay. You're censured.'"
Oh dear I can hardly contain my laughter. Constantly having to hear "gay" thrown around as an insult is one of the most constant forms of indirect harassment LGBT youth have to deal with on a regular basis. People who use it say all sorts of stupid things like "Oh, we don't really mean gay people, the word has changed."
The word "gay" came to mean "homosexual" because of effeminate stereotypes. It came to mean "lame" or "stupid" as an extension of a gay effeminate stereotype. So yes, it is in fact insulting.
By going on this little rant, my teacher succeeded in normalizing that insult by being complacent in its use and actively using it as an example.
(In sixth grade history class, about ancient Egypt.)
"The ancient Egyptians believed in many gods and goddesses. Of course, we know now that there are... how many gods, class?" (Class: "ONE!") "Very good!"
Sixth grade was around when I converted to Paganism, and I have focused on Egyptian Gods. Not only that, there are an increasing number of kids this age who are being raised Pagan and Wiccan.
Imagine what kind of controversy you might stir if you made a similar comment about Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, or some other religion which--while definitely a minority in this country--is still in many ways considered a mainstream religion. "The Jews believed that the savior of Earth would come in the future. Of course, we know now that... what, class? Yes! The savior already came! Praise Jesus!"
And yeah, I get that there are devotedly religious teachers. That's perfectly fine, but don't teach at a public school if you're planning on teaching Christianity.
(In ninth grade sex education, about barriers.)
"This is true whether you are having sex with penis to vagina, penis to anus, mouth to penis, mouth to vagina, or mouth to anus... although why you'd wanna do that, I don't know."
I am relatively content with my sex education. It wasn't perfect, but I had it, and most of the time sexual contact was talked about like the above... as a set of parts, not as a heterosexual act of coitus. Still, there are two things that stick out as "WTF" from my lessons, and this is one of them.
Alright, we get it, not everybody is into the analingus. And it may be your gut instinct to make a comment about how gross a particular type of sex is.
That's not your job. You're dealing with people who are just discovering their sexuality and they don't need your commentary. They get enough of that from other students.
(In ninth grade sex education, about abortion.)
Alright, I don't have a quote specifically, but I'll tell you that my teacher seriously stood in front of us and read "Diary of an Unborn Child," a piece of pro-life propaganda.
(Also, in eleventh grade ag science.)
Another one without a quote, in ag science--yes, I took ag science--we all got handouts from the Iowa Pork Council talking about how pork is the most awesome thing ever and all the health advocates are just lying about it.
Propaganda is usually a string of half-truths meant to elicit an emotional response. OK, you're not going to just not give your opinion on anything, ever, but if you do, don't use this trash.
(In college Anthropology class.)
"Alright, if we look at this pile of debris here, what can we say about the inhabitant? There's a pair of sneakers, a football, a pile of laundry... and a pair of high heels? A transvestite, maybe?!"
As I remember this one I get a flash of the scene in Idiocracy where the narrator talks about "big gales of stupid laughter" coming from the audience of a courtroom. Because I was the only one not laughing at the apparent hilarity of a transvestite.
First off, most people don't use that word anymore (some do, and more power to them, but generally speaking it's not politically correct). Second, why is that funny? Why do you assume there are no trans or crossdressing students in your class who maybe don't find that thing very funny?
(In high school Sociology class.)
There are too many incidents here to quote, but during our lessons on gender I was regularly pulled to the front of the class to have my feminine features pointed out as an example of how all women do certain things, even the butch ones.
Another case where a teacher who had such potential to be a safe teacher blew it with this kind of crap. I had all sorts of stuff pointed out about me. The way I wore my hair, the fact that I wore earrings, how I held my books, the fact that I had a pen case.
Trans people who either don't know they're trans yet or who are young or new do not handle this sort of thing very well because it reminds us of what we and often society see as flaws. It's like pulling a fat person up to the front of the class and pointing out how fat they are, or pulling a gay person up to demonstrate how swishy they are.
(In high school cooking class.)
"You're going to be all antisocial again, I see."
I was not antisocial in high school. What I was was shy and badly bullied... I was the kind of person who would be turned down regularly if I asked to do group work with most other students. So I just stopped asking... and my teachers usually would assign me a group and they could blame my teacher for the nuisance of dealing with me instead. Not my cooking teacher. I sat there through an entire lesson reading my book because I was too detrimentally shy to join a group. Rather than even ask what was going on, she called me "antisocial" instead. The next class I did get assigned a group, but only after missing a whole class period.
I actually really hate it when teachers allow students to pick their own groups. Not because I think it's bad to work with friends, but because there will always be students like who I was in high school who are othered to the point of being unable to pick a group without being insulted.
Whatever the case, don't assume that it's the student being antisocial or lazy. It often isn't.
