All schools must allow ‘gay-straight alliances’ under new anti-bullying bill

[Machjo]

It should apply to all schools- it is not like they are sovereign states- The law has to be clear, include and apply to all schools. Just because they are not supported by tax dollars carries no weight- If they do not wish to adhere to the law they can always leave.

Myself I see some Catholics - protestants- Evagelicals and Muslims having a fit over this. Good- Follow the law or the Govt revives their license. Oh yes and a rather large fine to boot.

for the sake of argument, let's say the govenment should prohibit tax-funded schools from having prayers, or celebrating certain holidays, etc, should even that apply to a privately funded school?

clearly there is a difference on that front between a Catholic separate school and a private Catholic school. And contrary to popular belief, there are in fact a few private catholic schools in Ontario.

 

[Goober]

for the sake of argument, let's say the government should prohibit tax-funded schools from having prayers, or celebrating certain holidays, etc, should even that apply to a privately funded school?

clearly there is a difference on that front between a Catholic separate school and a private Catholic school. And contrary to popular belief, there are in fact a few private catholic schools in Ontario.

I do not see a conflict- all schools have to follow a curriculum- included in that would be that clubs that prevent bullying- such as Gay Straight - Make them all equal under the law- Do we not have laws for equal treatment.

I also believe that schools should have courses on the major religions- from the differences to the similarities- how else do the majority of students learn about another religion unless taught in a positive and neutral environment.

 

[gerryh]

I agree with anti bullying clubs. That would be fine.
as for comparative religious courses, the Calgary catholic school system already offers that in senior high schools. It is not an elective. The public schools do not.

 

[JLM]

I agree with anti bullying clubs. That would be fine.
as for comparative religious courses, the Calgary catholic school system already offers that in senior high schools. It is not an elective. The public schools do not.

I'm not sure that religion is a teachable subject!

 

[Goober]

I agree with anti bullying clubs. That would be fine.
as for comparative religious courses, the Calgary catholic school system already offers that in senior high schools. It is not an elective. The public schools do not.

Thanks Gerry I was not aware of that. My opinion is it should be taught in all schools.

I'm not sure that religion is a teachable subject!

They teach Philosophy -

 

[JLM]

Thanks Gerry I was not aware of that. My opinion is it should be taught in all schools.



They teach Philosophy -

What? Anti bullying or religion?

Thanks Gerry I was not aware of that. My opinion is it should be taught in all schools.



They teach Philosophy -

My knowledge of philosophy is about nil, other than the fact I have one. It strike me as being something like teaching opinions!

 

[gerryh]

Thanks Gerry I was not aware of that. My opinion is it should be taught in all schools.

Let me clarify on the anti bullying in case someone thinks I am back tracking. I do NOT agree with clubs refered to as "gay-straight" alliances or any other variation on that title. More than just "gays" are bullied in schools and there is no reason at all to spot light just one form of bullying.

 

[JLM]

Let me clarify on the anti bullying in case someone thinks I am back tracking. I do NOT agree with clubs refered to as "gay-straight" alliances or any other variation on that title. More than just "gays" are bullied in schools and there is no reason at all to spot light just one form of bullying.

You ain't just whistlin' Dixie, when I went to school I got bullied for 3 things. small stature, big mouth and non athletic. (actually the latter is not quite true, I was good in the sack race) :lol:

 

[Goober]

Let me clarify on the anti bullying in case someone thinks I am back tracking. I do NOT agree with clubs refered to as "gay-straight" alliances or any other variation on that title. More than just "gays" are bullied in schools and there is no reason at all to spot light just one form of bullying.

In your opinion would Gay Teens be at the high end of a list of persons that are bullied-

 

[gerryh]

In your opinion would Gay Teens be at the high end of a list of persons that are bullied-

There's not that many. What do you think, a third of the student body is gay? Kids get bullied for all kinds of reasons, with being gay only being one. I was bullied because I was "thought" to be gay. I crossed my legs and the tough guys had never seen my kiss a girl. Hows that for reasoning? Would I have joined a "gay/straight alliance"? Not in a million fu cking years. An anti bullying club would be just fine. Why the need to concentrate on one group? I can just see the consequences of belonging to said club.

 

[lone wolf]

I had run-ins with a group of wannabe toughs in high school - if only for the facts I was from out of town and family rules said no fighting. Eventually those guys found out there's a huge difference between no fighting and couldn't fight.... ;-)

 

[gerryh]

I had run-ins with a group of wannabe toughs in high school - if only for the facts I was from out of town and family rules said no fighting. Eventually those guys found out there's a huge difference between no fighting and couldn't fight.... ;-)

It was the same with my second oldest. Rules are no fighting. He was not to lower himself to the same level as the dicks. He was/is better than that. Finally after 2 years of being bullied and harassed both at school and not he'd had enough and decked both boys( who were bigger than him). Got suspended for 3 days, but didn't have a problem after that.

The thing is, one should NOT have to resort to that to get respect. There's something wrong when beating someone up is a viable way to gain respect.

 

[lone wolf]

It was the same with my second oldest. Rules are no fighting. He was not to lower himself to the same level as the dicks. He was/is better than that. Finally after 2 years of being bullied and harassed both at school and not he'd had enough and decked both boys( who were bigger than him). Got suspended for 3 days, but didn't have a problem after that.

The thing is, one should NOT have to resort to that to get respect. There's something wrong when beating someone up is a viable way to gain respect.

Agreed.... The something wrong is in the bully. Really, I think the only respect I won was for myself. I didn't have much of that all the while I was looking around every corner for them.

 

[Omicron]

All schools, including those in the Catholic system, would be forced to allow anti-homophobic clubs to be called “gay-straight alliances” under dramatic changes to a proposed anti-bullying law.

The change of heart on the minority Liberal government’s Accepting Schools Act — which had allowed school principals a veto on names for any student club — was announced Friday afternoon by Education Minister Laurel Broten.

“We believe it’s up to the students,” she told reporters, saying it’s “important for students to have the freedom.”

The move, which has the support of the NDP, comes as an amendment to the government’s anti-bullying bill — which Broten hopes to pass before the legislature rises for its summer break June 7.

Her amendment follows legislative committee hearings on the controversial legislation, which has been a flashpoint at Queen’s Park since it was proposed following the suicides of two students last year — one gay and another with muscular dystrophy.


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Canada News: All schools must allow

This is giving me a headache on so many levels I dont know where to begin.

Where to begin... hmm... in the first place, how about this:

What if a bunch of gay students want to form a club with no strait members?

 

[gerryh]

What if a bunch of gay students want to form a club with no strait members?

What the fu ck does that have to do with the OP?

 

[Omicron]

All I know as a pencil-neck geek is that I got in less hell from adults for hitting attackers with ensolite-wrapped nanchukas in highschool than when I snuck a pyrex long-stem funnel out of the lab and shaping it into a Z-shape over a gas burner in order to pour nitric acid into their lockers in junior high.

 

[AxeGrrl]

I do NOT agree with clubs refered to as "gay-straight" alliances or any other variation on that title.

`
Because.......? And it's not about 'singling out' gay bullying, because the schools themselves wouldn't be starting these clubs, these clubs are started by students.

Why shouldn't said students be able to start a club with the word 'gay' in it? I mean, they're gay, so why shouldn't the name of their club reflect that if they want it to?

`

 

[Omicron]

Anyway, seriously, kids growning up is like social Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny.

In the womb, humans go through stages of the embyo growning gills, and then scales, and then hair... the body recapitulating the evolution it took to get where we are.

After birth (my theory by the way, so if it's correct I want a scholarship in my name for other nit-wit science twits) the kids go through social-psychological development parraleling the development of austrolapithecine up to homo-sapiens.

i.e., At the age of four kids have brains the size of an Australopithicus Andrethalis, and they act like it, only with the advantage of language and parental supervision. If you're doing a paper on the behavior of Australopithicus Anthropalis, then watch a four year old, subtract the language and parental supervision, and imagine how they'd be.

From the age of 8-12, ontology recapitulates phylogonetic social development along the australopithicus-erganomaster/homo-habilis lines of loving to sleep in tents around a fire after a good day of chasing gophers with sticks. It must have been a wonderful time, when the climate had relativly stabalized... when everyone could actually be as an adult what we call a kid, and for that to be the way to survive against stupid animals... All you had to do was get up in the morning and run them down and kill them... then cook and eat them (speaking of cooking, what happened was a few got hypnotically attracted to fire which kept them away from leopards, and some others prefered the taste of cooked meat, so they didn't get worms, then they mated, and we came from them).

The tricky part is when kids hit the age of 12-...

Paleoanthropological evidence indicates it was a time when the climate did a mega-change and survival depended on getting along so extreemly that their societies seriously did to the death any girl who did not look pretty and any guy not cool.

*THAT* is the time of socio-psychological development I, as the greatest pencil-neck science geek of southern Alberta history, is thinking about something which I, humbly, feel is interesting.

What really bugged me as a teen at that age regardless of my imature development was getting kicked in the balls or getting punched in the stomach, therefore given how all males that age have about the same small flat bellies etc. imagine a sort of plastic-silicone shield covering the nuts and belly.. something indiscreet and fashinable by Quebequis and non of anybody's business if some bullies kick you in the nuts or belly and it doesn't break you down.

When one is 17 or 18, they toss it away and grow up.

`
Because.......? And it's not about 'singling out' gay bullying, because the schools themselves wouldn't be starting these clubs, these clubs are started by students.

Why shouldn't said students be able to start a club with the word 'gay' in it? I mean, they're gay, so why shouldn't the name of their club reflect that if they want it to?

`

Because the kids aren't grown up yet, and are not yet thinking beyond the level of that thing between Homo-Erectus and Homo-Neandertalis.

 

[damngrumpy]

What the hell is the fuss about? First of all is not education the aim of both the
private and the public system? If the results of education were being practiced
then the ignorance being demonstrated by the private system wouldn't be so
evident.
The fact is that even Catholics are split on the issue of gay lifestyles and if we are
to believe the evidence of errant priests etc, many attempt to put their victims into
gay lifestyles, according to the convictions for the crimes we have seen so far.
Religion seems to have forgotten the word compassion in the teachings of Jesus
and replaced that compassion with repetitive dogma.
I think it is time to understand that we live in a society that accepts diversity and its
time that all have rights and privileges of living in an open society. It was only half
a century ago that people were upset because little white children and little black
children would be sitting in the same classroom. Today its not even mentioned
except for those who belong to something like Aryan nations.
The same holds true for the gays and other marginalized kids that are presently being
bullied. Our children will tisk tisk us for our narrow view of the world as it were.
I think if this helps even a small number of kids to be safe and have an equal chance to
be part of society its a good thing. NO One should be isolated and bullied by anyone
else in our society, and any groups who would not understand that speak to their own
ignorance.
Even by the measure of their own faith they cannot defend their position, as Christ himself
would condemn bullying, he would have condemned the marginalization of others in any
form and he certainly would not have condoned children being picked on to the point where
they want to kill themselves.
Its not just those of a religious vent, however, all those who don't believe children should be
kept safe, and given a chance to pursue their potential should really look inside themselves.
In the last few days discussing this with people that I know, I have not found one person who
defends those shrill voices opposed to the anti bullying bill, even my conservative friends.

 

[Omicron]

Okay, listen... please understand this is just theoretical thinking outloud...

But...

What if you took the bullies and the ones they picked on into a gym, and armed the weenie with some armor.

I'm thinking armor like white-plastic silicone-epoxy stuff that's light, and lines their arms and bones not like ancient shell-armor, but like where a hit is likely to hit.

One side has natural beefy size and strength, and the other has modern spider-armour such that now both must use brains to win.