Unsigned editorials represent the views of The Spoke editorial board, and not necessarily those of the administration, student body, community or advertisers.

We desire to be addressed and understood for who we are, and when we don’t feel understood from those around us, our lives lose meaning. There may not exist a more powerful way to damage us than by taking a cold shoulder to our differences, by ignoring the beauty of ourselves. To disregard what makes people individuals is no way to behave; all it can do is inflict pain. And, above all, it is no way to teach students in the 21st century.

This should be made abundantly clear to the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District.

Not until students enter Health II does the district’s curriculum explicitly bring up the topic of sexual orientation. Even while there is no minimum age for one to make this personal discovery, T/E feels it only appropriate to talk about orientation issues with students over the age of 15.

But Health II is not enough, not enough to promote the sanctity of one’s identity and not nearly enough to expel the ugly face of intolerance from our schools, from our future community. And the district’s continued neglect of sexual orientation in the elementary and middle schools is a failure to correct a tremendous mistake, one that is costing its students dearly. For prejudice is learned.

The reason we were presented with assembly after assembly on the wrongs of bullying and harassment in our early grade school years is simple: negative attitudes toward people can ingrain themselves within us at an early age. And too often, when reinforced by our environment, these attitudes result in tragedy.

Thus, it is the health of the learning environment in elementary and middle school that is so critical in protecting students from these negative attitudes, in developing inside of students a lasting tolerance for variations among people. As sexual orientation exists as simply another such variation, it is the environment we choose to immerse our younger pupils in that determines their future ability to accept others with different preferences. Knowing this, we must choose to create a healthy primary school environment, not one that confuses the importance of sexual orientation by neglecting to acknowledge it, but one that teaches students how much of a role it plays in shaping one’s identity. By promoting such free exchange of ideas in the elementary and middle schools, the district can protect against the rise of destructive taboos, and it can make sure its students feel secure both among their peers and within their bodies.
A curriculum should be designed to enrich the students, not to satisfy the interests of select community members—however many complaints they send. For the district should know: protecting its students from the treachery of prejudice is more important than protecting itself from criticism. There is no question.

The caution with which T/E education approaches sexual orientation is destructive. It is a policy that breeds intolerance instead of inclusivity. The district must incorporate sexual orientation more earnestly into its primary school curriculum. The consequences of inaction are just far too great.

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