Tolerance.

[sister_luck]

We watched Bend It Like Beckham in class.

When asked what they liked and didn't like about the film, one boy said that he didn't like that Tony turned out be gay. "Why?", I asked. "Gay is not good", he said. "It's disgusting. They should all be burned", interjected S getting all excited. She likes to say shocking things and her fervour seemed a bit put on. D had an explanation for all this: "You're only saying this because it's what your religion says." S, born in Bagdad nearly 18 years ago, retaliated: "You should know that I'm not a Muslim. And you say Foreigners go home because that's what your dad thinks."

Sometimes it's hard to tell how much of this is an act. They listen to their favourite rap artists and they know that most teachers get all flustery that there's sexism and homophobia in the lyrics. They know how to shock us. They like the power they feel when they say: "Bushido and his crew can gangbang me anytime."

Underlying all this is a lot of insecurity about (gender) identity mixed in with all the prejudices and stereotypes they're confronted with every day.

Last night I watched a television documentary about homosexuality in professional football in Germany. The interviews with fans and football officials contained among two or three sane voices an awful amount of crap.

There was the "But the kids need to be protected from a homosexual coach" outcry, but I'm guessing that Mr D has taken up his cocaine habit again and doesn't know what he's saying. Or the guy who wouldn't want to shower with a homosexual team-mate, presumably because he's afraid that he'd like what he sees. Then there was the opposite approach: "Some of my best friends are gay. You can have so much fun with them. And anyway, football isn't just brute force anymore, you need creativity and elegance and that's what they're good at, right?"

edited to add a NOT that had disappeared after I rephrased a sentence and again because that sentence was truly messed up

ETA: Here is a link to an article in English about the documentary and you can watch it on youtube here.

Comments

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

I don't think my students would dare to say that, even if some of them might actually think so...Even the youngest ones who are yet such a pain in the ass, would not.

The school's rules and regulations forbid racist, sexist or homophobic speech. Students may not respect all the rules but I think they're careful about what they say on certain topics when in the classroom or with adults around, despite the fact they'd love to shock teachers too.

Would the same students of yours make pro-nazi remarks ?

Perhaps it's cultural or perhaps it's just because in Paris we live in a city whose Mayor is gay and it is no big deal for anyone so those who think that the gay people should be burned know better than to voice their opinion. It's probably different in the suburb.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

D has been known to voice a certain fascination with Hitler. It's a mix of the allure of the forbidden and the fact that this person still has so much power and as D is feeling powerless most of the time this strange man from the past seems very interesting to him. He would never say anything outright pro-Nazi though.

But some of the kids in this class lack empathy in some serious ways: As long as it didn't happen to them, it doesn't matter. When we talked about how ordinary Germans profited from the Nazis' politics, because it meant that they could buy Jewish houses and businesses for a lot less than their real value some of them were okay with that. Well, the people who bought the house didn't make the politics and wouldn't you want to get a house for a good price? (They honestly asked me that!) It was just bad luck for the Jews. When I tried to give them an analogy they could understand and used eye-colour as an example "Let's say all brown-eyed people are banned from Germany" the boy from the story above became outraged: "I'd hit those people who said that". I asked why and he said it was because he's got brown eyes. So, what if there were discrimation against green-eyed people? "I wouldn't care."

I've encountered lots of prejudice against homosexuality in different German schools. I got into a huge argument with one of my own teachers who maintained that homosexuality was abnormal, but that was more than 15 years ago. At the school where I did my teacher training there was an incident when a Year 11 pupil spewed forth a homophobic diatribe in one of my classes and then I made homosexuality the topic for one or two lessons and I got through to them.

Most of my students are having their last two weeks at this school and I think some of them have stopped worrying about what the teachers will think. The post sounds a bit like I didn't react - I did and gave them a lecture on tolerance. I hope that in a few years S will be mortified at the thought of what she said. She did backtrack and say that she didn't mean it literally. I think I'll need to have a longer talk with her again... She lives in a rather deprived area where social manners are very different and is immersed in local hiphop culture. And she likes to go in for shock value now and again. As far as the boy who started this is concerned, that's another can of worms and I'm sure this is something he hears at home a lot.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

But some of the kids in this class lack empathy in some serious ways: As long as it didn't happen to them, it doesn't matter. When we talked about how ordinary Germans profited from the Nazis' politics, because it meant that they could buy Jewish houses and businesses for a lot less than their real value some of them were okay with that. Well, the people who bought the house didn't make the politics and wouldn't you want to get a house for a good price? (They honestly asked me that!) It was just bad luck for the Jews.

Alas, I am not surprised. It isn't only the kids, the lack of empathy is quite the norm these days in our individualistic societies. Sometimes when there's a big awful event with a lot of media coverage (9/11 in NY or the 2004 tsunami) people seem to express empathy but in the everyday life they're focused on themselves, they adapt to the world, probably because life has become tougher and tougher. Ken Loach showed it very well in "This is a free world".

It's scary to witness the same way of thinking in youngsters who should be, because of their age, more generous.

I know I'm turning ito an old grumpy leftie.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

It very much depends on what they hear at home. I've got thoughtful and considerate pupils who have been taught to respect others. Then there are the parents who teach their kids social darwinism.

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

The students I teach come to college with a lot of prejudices and stereotypical ideas. It's very frustrating at times - most of their views are learned from their parents, but also many from their peers.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it feels like running into a brick wall. I've taught these kids now for more than five years and when they say stuff like that I feel like a failure, because tolerance is obviously one of my most important teaching aims.

But then, as teachers, we're sometimes a lone voice in the wilderness of sexist, racist and homophobic voices, especially when the kids hear this kind of stuff at home a lot.

[gillo]

At my school racism is totally unacceptable, but homophobia is almost the default. They don't say homophobic things in my presence, because they know I both rant and punish for it, but it's there - and amongst enough of the staff too that it's not going to be addressed. There is a presumption that gays will be predatory, and that they are thus a "problem" to be managed in school, and it is also presumed that they are not normal or usual. When I taught Byron a couple in the class were clearly uncomfortable with the fact that his bisexuality couldn't be ignored, since it was so explicit in poems we were required to study.

All we can do is keep plugging away, hoping that maintaining our own standards and speaking up for toleration will make a difference. Not enough and not to all our students, but a difference nevertheless.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Most teachers at my school are reasonably tolerant. Sometimes someone will say something perpetuating a stereotype, but as far as I know there's not any real racism or homophobia around.
With the students it's different. The boys are afraid that anyone might think that they're homosexual, because that just doesn't conform to the aspired ideal of maleness. Most students will tell you that they don't have anything against homosexuals, but it clearly weirds them out.
Racism is only a problem with a very small minority of students, but sometimes (http://sister-luck.livejournal.com/51182.html#cutid1) it will rear its ugly head. On the other hand, it's sometimes also used as a blanket accusation against teachers or other pupils, and in quite a few cases it's used as a distraction: "You just gave me detention because I've got dark hair." Sometimes, inter-ethnic conflict will brew, for example among Kurds and Turks.