I could see why many childhood education centers would want
to avoid including books about gay and lesbian individuals. This is a very
touchy subject for many people in the United States and they want to have the
opportunity to take to their own kids and share there beliefs with them.
However, I feel it is very important to expose children to many things and
allow them to make opinions for themselves. I think especially if you have
children inside your classroom that would have parents of the same sex it would
be even more important to have these books. If the children are around other
children and see these families they often have many questions which books
could help give more unbiased answers than by them speaking to a person.
I think the term that I hear the most often when around
children is when they say gay. I hate it when children use the term “that’s
gay.” They are using it in the context of meaning stupid but it is not a word
that should be used. I also think that in sports you often here children refer
to each other and say don’t be a sissy especially in sports like football. I
think it is important that adults make sure that they stop children from saying
these things because it could offend someone. There are many children in our
society today that are growing up with parents of the same sex so it is
important to not make them feel uncomfortable.
