Kierra Gipson Draft 1

Characters: Scott the young homosexual boy James, Paul, Tim the bullies Sarah and Jake students on Scotts side Ms. Baker the teacher Ian Warick (source) as the school counselor Catherine Engstrom (source) as the bullys psychiatrist Bus Driver

Setting: Inside Matthew High School. The students have just arrived to Ms. Bakers class. The bell still hasnt rung as it waits for stragglers to mosey in. The students that are already in the room are either at a desk or huddled at one talking about their day or this weekend. The bell rings and at the very last second a boy walks in. This boy in particular caught everyones attention because he clearly dressed like a girl. His shorts were shorter than short, his nails were hot pink and so was his lipstick. The students have never seen such a thing before. In their community boys are boys and girls are girls. They had no idea how to handle their fellow student. Of course this divided the class, some were okay with the young man and his lifestyle choices while others ridiculed him for it. The teacher Ms. Baker being the neutral party did not know how to make the student feel welcome and fit in with the rest of the class.

Scene 1
Classroom at 9:00 Ms. Baker: Welcome everyone to my class. James: Ms. Baker why are you welcoming us we see you every day.

Ms. Baker: I know that James but as you can see we have a new student, therefore I am welcoming not just him but all of you. James: HIM! Ms. Baker dont you mean the new girl. Hey new girl whats your name? Scott: Hi my name is Scott and I am not a girl, Im a boy. Paul: A BOY! (shouting) Tim: WHY ARE YOU DRESSED THAT WAY? Ms. Baker: Boys be nice or I will send you both down to the office. Yes this is Scott who is not a girl. Scott would you please stand and introduce yourself to the class? As Scott stands up everyone starts to notice that he has boyish features, broad shoulders, he is somewhat muscular yet he is dressed like a girl. Scoot stands up at his desk and begins to introduce himself. Scott: Hi, my name is Scott. Im 16 years old. I moved here from California. I know you are all wondering why I look the way I do and that is because I choose to. I am gay and I choose to dress the way I do for personal reasons. As Scott announces that he is gay quite gasp fill the classroom. Scott goes to sit down and the classroom is dead silent. Ms. Baker knew ahead of time that Scott was gay, she gave him the choice to introduce himself as such or not. James: Wait a sec, so you like other boys? Scott: Yes but that doesnt mean I like all boys. Paul and Tim: Thats gross! You are gross! James: Thats weird! You are one of those oh whats the word? Faggots! Yea you are a Faggot!! Ms. Baker: JAMES TO THE OFFICE! PAUL AND TIM GET OUT OF MY CLASS ROOM! (yelling) James: But Ms. Baker its not my fault hes gay. Ms. Baker: No but you knew that term was demeaning yet you chose to say it to him anyway. As James, Paul and Tim all exit the classroom they glare at Scott as if it was entirely his fault that they were now in trouble. Scott slumps down into his seat to keep from being the center of attention. Scott is hurt and wants to storm out of the classroom but it is his first day so he decides to stick it out until the day was over.

Scene 2
End of class. Students are packing up their belongings to head home. Paul and Tim were invited back into the classroom earlier provided that they apologized to Scott and kept their comments to themselves. James was still in the office and his parents were contacted.]

Ms. Baker: Alright class dont forget to read chapter 3 and do the questions at the end of the chapter. Scott would you please stay after class for a minute I would like to talk to you. The students clear the classroom. While Scott stays back he is not alone, just outside the door Jim is listening in on the conversation.

Scott: Ms. Baker I swear I did not mean for any of that to happen. You gave me the choice to
tell my classmates who I amso I did. Im not going to hide who I am. Ms. Baker: Scott I realize this. I did give the choice but I should have warned you about those three, they can be harsh and blunt. I dont not regret letting you be yourself but I am warning you now this may only lead to more problems to come. I know it is hard for you now and I am sorry that it may get worse but I will be here to help. Scott: Thank you Ms. Baker. Yes it is hard for me and I now know that it may be an issue. I just dont want it to get out of hand. I havent done anything wrong to them for them to judge me so harshly. Thank you for being there for me and allowing me to be myself. That night Scott went home to tell his parents about his day. For a while he failed to mention the issue that happened in class. Scott didnt want his parents to know that yet because he felt as if he could deal with it himself. Next Day: Scotts bedroom 8:00 a.m. Scott wakes up to the smell of pancakes and bacon. He putts on his clothes which this time where a tank top, skinny jeans and flip flops. Scott applies his make-up and runs downstairs to eat before he misses the bus. As Scott walks toward the bus he notices students in the rear of the bus, they are all staring at him. Scotts mother doesnt notice at all because she is worried about getting him on the bus. Scott gets on the bus and he makes his way to the middle where there is an empty seat. Immediately James comes up to sit next to him. James: Hey Faggot sorry I meant Scott. Its kind of a reflex if you get what I mean. I just came to say Im sorry that you are gay. I know you didnt chose to be or anything, its probably your parents fault. They didnt teach you how to be a man did they? Scott is boiling with anger as he tries to refrain from punching James square in the face. He answers with haste.

Scott: James shut up you dont know what you are talking about. Its not anyones fault it is just who I am. My parents taught me to be me. James: Yea but they didnt teach how to be a man or a boy for that matter you Scott interrupts him Scott: No one has to teach me how to be a man or a boy I am a boy. James shut up and get away from me. You dont even realize how nave you sound right now! (raising his voice) All the other students close enough to hear are listening in on the conversation. When Scott raises his voice slightly at James, Paul and Tim get angry. Everyones heads are turned to see what is going on. James: Oh Yea! Well at least Im not GAY!! At least I know how to be a boy and like girls Scottopps I meant Faggot! James shuffles back to his seat. As he sits down him, Paul, Tim and other students join in making fun of Scott. And so the bullying beganScott thought he could handle the problem but he now knows that it is about to get 10 times worse! The bus arrives at the school and everyone heads to their classes. The last student finally gets off and so does the bus driver, he heads straight for the principals office. Scott notices how fast the driver is walking towards the office, its as if he really has to go to the bathroom. The bus driver informs the counselor of the situation that went on, on the bus. Bus Driver: Good Morning Mr. Warick. I unfortunately have some unpleasant news this morning. TO BE CONTINUED

Draft 2

Kierra Gipson Draft 2

To be or not to be, this is a question that most teens ask themselves when they are feeling extremely dramatic. Unfortunately for homosexual students they ask themselves that question everyday especially when they are the target of such hate and aggression of peers. In middle schools and high schools homosexual students experience the fear of being bullied because of who they are. Students are judge based on the way they look, the way they present themselves and the choice of whom they date and/or love. Lets say a young man who considered himself to be gay walked into a new class wearing short shorts with his nails painted bright pink and lipstick the same color. The students in the class have never seen such a thing, they immediately think he is a she. Now if I were to see a young man walk into my class room wearing bright pink lipstick and nails and short shorts I would assume that he is a she with masculine features. It is human nature to assume, that cannot be avoided but assumptions can sometimes be more hurtful than criticism. Back to the classroom, the young man walks in and is immediately judged by his peers, some students can already tell he is not a girl and they are surprisingly fine with it yet there are those who are a little less open minded and observant. The young man is asked to asked to introduce himself, he is referred to the class as Him and a couple of the students are completely shocked. It is quite normal that they would be taken by surprise and act aggressively, according to Dr. Rosemary Iconis discrimination towards lesbian and gay students. is often intensified by lack of knowledge and understanding between heterosexuals and the [LGBT] community, meaning they dont understand so they are unpleasantly surprised and act accordingly (Iconis). A student who has no problem speaking his mind makes it know to the teacher that they are clearly mistaken and he is definitely a she. The young man stands up to introduce himself and points out that he is a boy and that he is gay. At this point it is easy to infer that some students are astonished to find out the news while others are disgusted. The student that tried to correct the teacher confronts the young man to the class and tries to understand his sexuality. While doing so the student calls the young man a faggot, this opens up a world wind of problems and confrontations. This kind of situation is encountered by many homosexual and heterosexual students every day and every day there is a new way it is dealt with. The most common way a teacher would handle that situation would be to punish the heterosexual student and comfort the homosexual student. While this is a simple way to handle the issues it is not fair. Yes homosexual students are harassed and bullied every day by their peers in your typical classroom setting but that is one side of the story. We cant always target heterosexual students because of their behaviors and attitudes toward LGBT students. For those who are unaware or misinformed

LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgendered. The finger needs to be pointed at the teacher as well. Teachers are quick to punish students for homophobic slurs or bullying but what teachers dont realize is that they are a stimulant as well as a solution to the problem. To help better understand what I am talking about I will provide another scenario. Say a female was verbally bullying a homosexual student, she would call the student names like dyke, man-hater, and such. A caring teachers first reaction would be to reprehend the student doing the bullying. Teachers are quick to punish because they dont want to have to take the time to educate the students as to why they are punished, as a result the problem reoccurs. Teachers can become the solution to the issue if they took the time to educate students on homosexuality, and instead of punishing one party they should sit both parties down and discuss the problem. Dr. Iconis states that faculty can do something but first [they] must examine [their] own biases students experience discrimination when faculty take a passive stance I too believe that teachers can create a welcoming environment. Some feel that it is not the teachers job to make homosexual students feel comfortable. A student responded to my survey question of whether or not teachers should make homosexual students feel welcome by saying No I feel like [LGBT students] should be treated the same way as everyone else. Just like all races, genders and religions should be treated equally (Iconis). I agree with that student they should be treated equally and if that were actually happening I wouldnt have a paper to write. LGBT students should be treated just the same as other students because it would one show false favoritism or something of that nature and it make others student feel less important. At the same time we all know it can harder for LGBT students who are openly out to the public, and if a teacher can lighten that load by just making them more comfortable to be who they are in class then I say let them be treated different. Getting back to the issue, the young man is called a faggot by another student. That one word is the start of numerous counts of bullying for the young. It all starts with one word whether the word was said intentionally or not. Calling a homosexual student something like faggot is basically the same as a racial slur. People dont realize how much some of the words they say hurt to others. The student and the young man start to get into it almost every day. They would never argue much but the young man would constantly receive verbal abuse by the student and his followers. Eventually the problem is brought to the counselor. The counselor in this situation plays mediator, all she can do is listen to both sides of the story and then assess the situation from there. The counselor already knew from the start that she was dealing with bullying. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for bullying to take place in schools and it is not uncommon for a homosexual student to be bullied. In fact according to Catherine Engstrom Incidents of [LGBT students] who face prejudice, violence, victimization and defamation on college campuses because of their sexual orientation have been wide spread, bullying for LGBT students is everywhere (Engstrom). On my survey I had a question that said How would you feel if you were constantly bullied or harassed because of your sexuality? The students that answered all replied by saying

It would make me angry, I would feel depressed, and Depressed and sad.., that is exactly how homosexual students feel when they wake up every morning to go to the same hostile environment and see the same cruel people because they are just trying to live there life like everyone else. If I were answering my survey I would say, I would feel an gry, sad and depressed as well but I would also question it. When it comes to sexuality, gender choice, and love who are we to decide what is wrong and right or what is and what cant be? Bullying a homosexual student is pointless, you cannot change who they are or who they choose to be with by calling them names, bringing physical or mental harm to them or even alienating them.

TO BE CONTIONUED.

Iconis, Rosemary. Reducing Homophobia Within The College Community. New York. May 2010. 67-9. 16 March 2013