Before Bullying

by Laura Matanah

Creating a Safe Climate for All Children by Building an Early, Age Appropriate Understanding of LGBT Issues

Have you ever tried to get your child’s school to talk about family diversity? Have you taught young children about different types of families? Twenty educators and parents gathered at the Rainbow Families Conference in April to learn about the various curricula available. Rainbow Rumpus executive director Laura Matanah facilitated a discussion about the challenges in talking about family diversity and participants shared strategies to ensure that children from LGBT-headed families (and all families!) feel safe and included in the classroom.

What Can Be Challenging?

The group identified fear of talking about LGBT issues as the primary challenge. They noticed ways that this fear affects both others and themselves. For example, some people perceive that discussions about LGBT headed families will end up being conversations about sex. This is not true. Just like we aren’t talking about sex when we talk about heterosexually headed families, we aren’t talking about sex when we talk about LGBT-headed families. Children (and adults!) need vocabulary to describe the world around them, and to be able to understand people’s families and life experiences. The group watched the film That’s a Family, which builds understanding and vocabulary related to a wide range of family experiences including adoptive families, mixed race families, and LGBT families. Participants and the facilitator also shared experiences of feeling (or having felt) vulnerable as LGBT educators. Parents talked about not wanting to have to hear others speak badly about their families. The group then generated the following strategies for dealing with these fears.

What Makes It Easier?

●  Launch a family unit by sending home an assignment where all kids learn more about their families and interview adult family members.

●  Explicitly state the connections between a unit on families and state standards.

●  Talk about the importance of creating a climate of safety where all children can learn. Children from LGBT-headed households need to see their families included to feel safe and recognized. Additionally, LGBT family education can help prevent bullying and/or depression among teens in later years.

●  Share the books or curriculum you will use with administrators or board members, and discuss its relevance to both state standards and a positive learning climate.

What Resources are Available?

●  AMAZE: “Families All Matter” Curricula for Early Childhood and Elementary Students

●  Rainbow Rumpus: Printable Picture Books (Free!)

●  Groundspark: “That’s A Family” Film and Curriculum

●  Welcoming Schools Curriculum for Elementary Students