a great deal of conflict, cruelty, and violence is committed in our schools because of intolerance of various types...
"Let's beat up the little fat kid!"
"Let's beat up the black kid!"
"Let's beat up the four-eyes kid!"
"Let's beat up the little swishy kid!"
... I heard a lot of 'fag' jokes and insults when I was a kid in the sixties, and they helped to shape my attitudes -- on the irrational, 'gut' level I feel a certain queasiness, if not outright disgust, for the basic concept of homosexuality, and no matter how liberal or liberated I am on the rational level, I don't think I will ever totally eradicate those intolerant attitudes on the gut level. This is why I think it is important to get to kids early and actively teach tolerance for those who are different. |
