Nothing really changes when it comes to certain things in life, except for the fact that there is always some group around to shine a light on things that have been going on forever, and get panicky about it. Case in point: The study by the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence recently conducted at Portland High School, the results of which were published in September.
Now, I’m all for preventing hate violence. Sadly, though, the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence has taken the results of its focus group-based study and made some rather sweeping generalizations in the concluding comments of the report.
Here’s one: “The use of anti-gay slurs as insults appears to be prevalent, directed both at gay students and those perceived to be gay, as well as other students.”
Funny, though, that the section on sexual orientation in the report says, “These students explained that anti-gay slurs are often used to express disdain for objects, activities or behaviors, and are usually not used directly toward gay students.” In other words, things like, “That’s so gay.” The report also says, “Students also reported that they have periodically seen gay and lesbian students targeted directly.”
So let me see if I have this straight. Words like “gay” are often used to refer to objects and behaviors, not people, and comments are periodically used against people, and that makes anti-gay slurs prevalent.
I am over 30 years old, and calling stupid or silly things “gay” was common back when I was a teen. Ignorant, yes, and I did it myself, but I am far from a homophobe.
Here’s another conclusion of the report: “The level of anti-Jewish comments casually made by students is a matter of concern and gives rise to the concern of whether a Jewish student would be safe at the school.”
I don’t think it’s very nice to do things like saying a cheap person is “jewing” someone. But I’m still scratching my head as to where the dots connect between crass use of language and impending violence against Jewish students.
The report also expresses concerns about the potential for escalation of sexual harassment to “even more serious and destructive conduct” against girls, which is apparently based on the facts that some boys reach out and touch girls’ behinds and that crass sexual and gender language gets used frequently. Unacceptable behavior, I’ll admit, and sexual violence against girls is a very real concern, but the use of terms like “bitch” and “whore” is nothing new. There’s also a wide gulf between a horny teen touching a butt in passing and having a penchant for date-rape.
The report does raise some very real concerns about how immigrants may be made to feel uncomfortable and unsafe, and how students are put in awkward and demeaning situations based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and so many other factors. Those are big problems, and I don’t want to minimize the fact that there are dangers to our teens psychologically and physically.
But let’s face it: Teens have always had a social mean streak toward each other and probably always will, and I don’t think that making broad conclusions based on anecdotal data is really going to change that or help us figure out why it happens.
Instead, we get a report that has enough hyperbole in it to really undermine the more legitimate concerns it brings up, and we score another point for promoting political correctness over gaining real understanding of the issues.
