PROJECT E (Education for Enlightenment for Everyone)
After attending the T-CHART (Teens Confronting Homophobia, Anti-semitism and Racism Together) conference held in Woodstock, I was deeply disturbed by some of the verbal/physical harassment that occurs on a daily basis directed towards queer youth in the province of New Brunswick. Some of the students I was able to talk to at the conference told me about personal stories of physical harassment resulting in hospitalization; some have had objects thrown at them on a daily basis, while others confirmed verbal harassment on a continual basis to the point where they had to switch schools. This sort of behaviour in a public setting should not be acceptable and makes you wonder if anything is being taught about this issue in the New Brunswick education system.
As this was a workshop, people are expected to go back to their schools and try to share the information they have acquired. Although I will be graduating in two months, I feel as though it is my responsibility to be a voice of the issue of homophobia in the education system, as I have the dedication, the voice, the position, the resources, and the organization skills that other students do not have access to. Not to mention, this is a difficult and touchy issue for students to voice as it could be reflected upon them in a negative manner.
This project will be focussed solely upon sexual orientation education and homophobic harassment. I am aware that many different types of harassment exist in the province of New Brunswick, however I am narrowing my range to focus on this specific issue for a number of reasons.
The number one reason for my specified focus is that no group or person has specifically addressed the issue in our schools. There have been many assemblies, workshops and classes with focuses specifically upon racism, anti-semitism, discrimination and anti-harassment, but to my knowledge, there has not been any education specifically regarding sexual orientation and/or homophobic harassment. This lack of information is probably the explanation as to why the problem exists in the first place!
The second reason for my focus is due to the sensitivity of this subject. I am 100% comfortable organizing and running the project; therefore I believe that I should put as much emphasis on the issue as possible. You also have to take into consideration that it is much easier for any individual to pick up a similar project concerning other issues (i.e. racism). Not to mention, if it has taken this long for someone to pick up this issue, who knows when the next person who is comfortable enough to take on the project will come along.
My final reasoning for this focus is to have my audience's complete concentration upon the importance of the need for education and the need for change concerning this issue. If my goal is broadened to encompass other issues, I believe that it will take away the importance of this section and in a presentation, will not likely have the same effect I would like it to have upon the audience.
I have gathered a committee of about 40 people who hold a strong presence in our school. On April 21st 2004 I held a workshop educating these people about homophobia, including correct terms and definitions, correct and accurate information, and the stresses homophobia puts upon heterosexual and homosexual youth. My intentions are to break these 40 people down into groups and send them out to different high schools during the month of May to teach others about what they learned in the workshop. What I am hoping for are full school assembly presentations at each school.
With the information in line and ready to be presented to other schools, I met with the District 6 Anti-Harassment Committee on April 26th 2004. I presented them with my ideas and intentions for these 40 trained people and they have decided that they fully support Project E. The committee and I have set up another workshop for District 6 high school students, which will take place in the KVHS theatre on May 10th 2004. This workshop will be another training session, however it will extend over the course of the entire school day (9:30 AM until 2:00 PM). We hope that these new students from other schools will help my specifically trained students understand what to expect when they go to their school and perhaps even help my students carry out the presentation to their school.