ST. ALBERT- Trustees with St. Albert Public Schools are preparing to debate a stand-alone policy to protect discrimination against students and staff with sexual minorities.
"The worst thing you can still call somebody in schools today and get away with is to call them a 'fag' or a 'dyke.' And we have to ask why is that kind of casual homophobia the most commonly heard derogatory language in schools today, but the least responded to by teachers?" said Dr. Kristopher Wells, a former St. Albert teacher and the associate director of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services. "It's often because teachers don't feel supported in addressing that, because there's no policies in place."
Growing up as a gay student himself, Wells can relate to what many other young people are going through.
"I was that gay student going through the school system and my experience was one of profound silence and isolation and alienation. I wasn't bullied, I didn't stand out, but I learned how to hide and be invisible to survive."
After graduating, Wells turned the desk around and became a teacher himself. Unfortunately, he says, the situation didn't change.
"This was the 1990s. I couldn't be out in the classroom because there were no human rights protections. I could be simply fired from my job, so I couldn't reach out to those other students that needed a teacher that could be supportive, that could be their ally, that could just be somebody safe to talk to."
Wells ended up leaving education because he says he couldn't be himself. He believes the discussion over drafting a new policy in St. Albert Public Schools is an important step in the right direction.
On Wednesday, St. Albert public school trustees will gather to discuss the possibility of drafting a policy that will ensure the safety and well-being of sexual minority students, staff and families.
"This has kind of been a process that we've been working on for a while, and hopefully this is the next step in that process, looking at a stand-alone policy in this area," explained Joe Demko, a trustee with St. Albert Public Schools. "The thing about bringing a policy to the school board is it gives the board a chance to actually get behind some proactive educational initiatives and say to the public this is an area that we really need to pay attention to."
Last year, the Alberta School Boards Association (ABSA) rejected a sexual minorities policy. The proposal came from Edmonton Public Schools, which has already approved such a policy- the first of its kind in Alberta. The ABSA said a stand-alone policy would single out a specific group and there are already policies in place that protect all children from harassment and discrimination.
Demko says that is a valid stance with some validity, "but, you need to know that a stand alone policy on these issues doesn't just protect LGBTQ people. It protects everyone. It's just not gay people that have derogatory slang terms used on them."
"It's not always in a negative context, but it shows, I think , a lack of understanding," Demko said. "I think (a stand-alone policy) will heighten awareness in a proactive way that we need to help people to be more compassionate, more empathetic and also to understand that there are certain things that you can say and do and there are other things that are inappropriate."
Wells agrees, and wishes there was a policy like this in place when he was in school.
"What a policy like this would have given me as a student and as a teacher is hope and support that I could be myself, that I wouldn't have to go to school in fear, I wouldn’t have to hide in the classroom closet, that I could be myself and devote all of my energies and my attention to learning and being the best student or the best teacher that I could be."
The board's five trustees will discuss the topic on Wednesday, which is also national pink shirt day, a day aimed at raising awareness against bullying, discrimination and homophobia.
With files from Jenna Bridges.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.