Seminar on campus addresses LGBTQ bullying in schools

Students have the chance to intimately discuss sexuality with high school students from across the country today — all without leaving Chapel Hill. 

Jessica Fields and Jen Gilbert of San Francisco State University and York University respectively, are among the advocates for LGBT acceptance. The two professors are hosting a seminar titled “Beyond Bulling: Stories of LGBTQ Sexuality in Schools” today. 

 “The question is: How can we think about LGBTQ sexuality in schools beyond the frame of bullying?” Fields said. “We think that framework limits teachers’ and students’ conversations, and Beyond Bullying allows students and teachers the opportunity to affirm that their sexuality is ordinary.”  

The presentation — one that features storytelling in multimedia formats — is the culmination of years of research conducted by the Beyond Bullying program. Beyond Bullying, created by Fields and Gilbert as well as Nancy Lesko and Laura Mamo, conducted research at three American high schools through the use of “Storytelling Booths.” 

The booths are designed to provide students a safe, secure environment to share stories of relationships, friendships, heartbreak and comfort. The stories told in these booths are recorded, and excerpts will be screened at the lecture.

“Inside, students can tell their story — about friendship, breakups, coming out — without interruption or judgment. They can explore their own ideas without interruption from an adult,” Fields said.

The presentation will feature a lecture from the presenters as well as digital storytelling, but the ultimate goal of the event is to continue the conversation about LGBT sexuality at UNC.

“We are hoping the presentation will be somewhat interactive — we’ll have lecture and screen different stories, but ultimately we want to have a conversation with the students in attendance,” Gilbert said.

This conversation, according to Fields, is the key to addressing the changing face of LGBT culture in North Carolina and across the nation.

“I wrote my dissertation on sexual education in North Carolina, and in the last 15 years the conversation has really grown to think about addressing the needs of LGBTQ families, teachers and students,” Fields said. “And as we take on that challenge our project aims to expand our understanding of those needs and create ways to address them.”

For some students, attending UNC affords a rare opportunity for addressing these and other issues, but it also imbues in them a sense of responsibility.

“As a large public university, I think it’s important to have these sorts of events that confront large issues, such as bullying and sexuality, especially as an educational leader,” said freshman Eric New, who plans to attend the event. 

Events such as these encourage a sense of community on campus, according to New.

“Such a large and diverse student population hosts so many different ideas — it’s important to be accepting because you’re accepting not strangers but friends and classmates,” New said.

Ultimately, this sense of community is what the presentation boils down to. Instead of focusing on bullying, the presentation focuses on the positive stories shared by LGBT teens. According to freshman Isaac Cassedy, who also plans to attend the event, these positive stories are the ones that need to be shared. 

“This kind of event is important because hostility towards members of the LGBTQ community exists,” Cassedy said. “It’s still apparent in society. College campuses are centers for learning and acceptance, and it’s important to introduce people to positive stories about LGBTQ life.”

The life of an LGBT teen should not be defined by persecution for their sexuality. To Fields, “Beyond Bullying” aims to reaffirm the fact that the life of an LGBT teen should be an ordinary and a happy one.

“We are trying to say that LGBTQ sexuality exists sometimes in relationship to bullying but not always — and we need to identify ways in which they are separate.” 

arts@dailytarheel.com