Lexington C.A.R.E.S.It's been an interesting few months in the Lexington Public Schools.
My 14-year-old Jewish son and his Muslim pal express their friendship in that time-honored adolescent boy way: trading insults. Among their repartee: "Jew bag" and "terrorist." Here's what they learned to call each other at Lexington High School's recent Diversity Day: "towelhead" and, because they couldn't remember the word, "something that sounds like something you call a lesbian."
So much for Diversity Day.
Then there was the National Day of Silence observed at Lexington High School, where participating students and faculty members kept silent to show solidarity with gays and lesbians. Outside the school, some parents demonstrated against the student action.
Next, there was the father of a kindergartner who staged for the media his own arrest for trespassing by refusing to leave school grounds. His gripe? A book about families that depicts, among other configurations, a household headed by two mommies. I can't begin to imagine what he used to do when flesh-and-blood same-sex parents came to the school to read a story, help in the library, or watch their children perform in school concerts.
These last two incidents have led to a predictable string of stand-taking. One side - the side where both my feet are firmly planted - says it is thoughtless at best, hateful at worst, to treat gay and lesbian students, parents, and staff as personae non gratae. The other side says the schools are teaching children that homosexuality is acceptable, and that's wrong. I got to wondering: Why is it important for our children to learn about diversity? And what, exactly, should they learn?
A couple of months ago, the Minuteman ran an exchange of letters to the editor between outspokenly anti-gay citizens and an activist for gay rights. The activist, I've gleaned from news reports, happens to be 16 and a sophomore at Lexington High School, and, incidentally, an organizer of the high school's Day of Silence. In his letters, he wrote simply, civilly, and compellingly in favor of marriage rights for all couples regardless of sexual orientation, and for gay rights in general. In clarity and reasoning, his letters rivaled those submitted by writers many years his senior. I thought about how well-equipped this teenager is to speak out and organize for a cause he believes in, and realized that his competence is due, in no small part, to the education he has received in Lexington Public Schools.
So why is diversity important? Among other reasons, because it is a path to achieving a great American ideal: liberty and justice for all. And what I want my children to learn is that liberty and justice don't just happen. They are the result of deep thought, hard work, and tactically applied skills it takes years to develop. Just look at the movers and shakers of the struggles for civil rights, women's rights, and gay rights. Most had minds well-honed through the study of history, civics,and literature, the logic and rigor of math and science, and ilie politics of teamwork and cooperation. They were, in short, well-educated.
To cope with diversity, children need the imagination to see through the eyes of people with whom they do not share a common history or experience, and the intellect to sniff out - and integrity to oppose - the foolishness and falsehoods that often plague group causes, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum. respect for the rule of law, the wisdom to distinguish between what is and what should be, the ability to speak and write persuasively with eloquence and heart, the initiative to strategize, plan, organize and manage - these are the tools children need to help make America more inclusive. They are all lessons teachable in school.
My son and his friend know I don't approve of the epithet-swapping they think is so hilarious, but there's very little I can do to stop it when they're not in my presence. So I try to be philosophical. When my Jewish son gets a call and it's his Muslim friend offering notes from the science class my son missed when he was home sick with the flu, I take heart.
Now that's a real diversity lesson.
Jeri Zeder is the mother of two children who are being educated in Lexington Public Schools.