First Trans Awareness Week- IES La Rosaleda

Assigned sex is a label that we are given at birth based on medical factors, including our hormones, chromosomes, and genitals. Sometimes, our genetically assigned sex does not line up with our own perception or our feelings regarding our gender. Researches show that a person, who feels like that, has suffered, at least on time, bullying and social exclusion. LGTB at School Erasmus+ project contributes to decrease the number of bullying and social exclusion cases, aiming to open a dialogue in the participants schools in order to remove taboos related to gender.

According to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights 2019 Report, based on a survey about LGBTI people in the EU, the school still is far from a safe place for LGBTI students. The 45% of the survey participants felt discriminated against at school. In the same framework, it is important to highlight that 69% of them were Trans. As reported by the Spanish NGO Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans and Bisexuals(FLGTB), Transphobia appears in classrooms in 58% of the cases (Report 2019: Young Trans in the Education system).This shows a need for policy measures targeting children and young people belonging to this group.

In this context, the LGTB at School project organized the first Transgender Awareness week, which took place in the highschool IES La Rosaleda from 22nd to 25th March 2020. Our goal was to raise awareness and give information to the whole school community in order to create a Trans friendly and inclusive school environment. The event started with a guided visit of a Trans Photography Exhibition. It was a small sample of 20 photos of different Trans people. We chose those people between more than 100, our criteria was academic and work performance in order to break stereotypes such as cross-dressers, drag queens and drag kings.

The second day of the event was dedicated to dismantling myths on the reality of trans people and the new Spanish Trans Law. We had the honor to count with the NGO CHRYSALLIS Andalucía. Its president, María José Márquez and Serena Gil, a young Trans, analysed the current situation, obstacles and problems that a Trans person can face and opened a debate about the new Spanish Trans Law.

Then, on the third day, we watched the movie 3 Generations, which is about a New York teen (Elle Fanning), who prepares to transition from female to male. A very interesting debate followed the movie. We closed our event playing our Diversity Trivial. An extra mark in Philosophy subject was given to the students, who were members of the winning team.

This event identified a great lack of information on transsexuality in schools and visibilized stories of Trans people who have suffered systematic stigmatization. Luckily, the majority of the students and professors embraced our initiative and they actively participated in it.

This event inaugurated a new era for our school, giving the opportunity to understand that the Trans youth need the same things as cis youth, that is: love, respect, support and enjoy the same rights and obligations as the rest of the students, neither more nor less!

Romanian Ethnicity

Bullying and the Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling, central character of the homonymous fairy tale of the Danish autor, H.C. Andersen, was bullied for being different from the other ducks in the stable, until he simply accepted himself and realized that he had exactly the same value as all the other animals in the stable...until he realized that he was a beautiful swan!

Unfortunately, Bullying is not just a topic of fairy tales with moral lessons or a kind of humor. How many of us have been in the place of the Ugly Duckling, the other animals as bullies or just as bystanders?

But, first, let's talk about what bullying is:

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. It includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.

Just a month ago UNESCO, the UN organization for education, science and culture, recognized that Bullying constitutes a concern of global relevance (based on 2019 data).

The LGTB at school being concerned about the Bullying consequences organized a workshop about it, which took place in IES La Rosaleda. The main speaker was the psychologist, Luis Rodriguez, who talked about the consequences and the causes not only from the point of view of the victim but also from the bully´s. 

Moreover in the same framework, a survey, with the participation of students from the four project partners, was conducted. Among the positive results, it is to highlight that the most participants know what Bullying consists of and recognize it as a challenge for the school community. Furthermore, 87% of the participants are not afraid to come to school and feel safe. Likewise, most of them also feel safe on the way home.

According to the survey, social media is the keystone for the quick advance of this complex social phenomenon. Αnonymity online has become a tool to spread misinformation and to harass and hurt other people. In the same vein, hiding behind anonymity, the majority of Bullying episodes occur in the school washrooms. This type of Bullying includes writing offensive comments on the walls or someone's phone number and in worse situations recording a video while someone is using the toilet. 

What does school do in order to prevent and address Bullying? The majority of the students mentioned lack of trust in the school staff. Is that ´´Warning mode ON´´ for the school staff? Yes of course!

The victims can not and they should not handle alone the problem. The bullies also need help! The solution is:

-More awareness campaigns not only for the students but also for the school staff and the parents,

-Keep the lines of communication open and encourage the students to report Bullying,

-Advance social and emotional learning, that involves teaching skills of self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, responsible decision making, and relationships management. 

We may take under consideration that the bully, probably, is a person who suffers, maybe someone who did not get the social or family acceptance, that she/he needed. There is a lot of different reasons to be a bully. In most of the cases, the bully is treated as a criminal, cause the punishment is the easy solution: you just expel the bully and you are done. As a matter of fact, the bully keeps  the same or worse attitude in her/his new school. Teachers should counsel and rehabilitate such students through social and emotional learning methods.

Last but not least, (as it is the most curious for me): More than the average of the participants says that they have never been a victim of bullying. Likewise the !96%! of the participants says that they have never been bullies. I do not know if we should consider those tightly connected results as just positive data or should we look deeper...for issues of acceptance and recognition? We know more or less the definition of Bullying, but are we able to accept that we have been bullied or bullies?

Let's work on it together and make our school ´´Bullying Free Zone´´.

And for all of us that felt at least one time in our life as the Ugly Duckling did, just bear in mind the last sentences of the fairytale:

- He had been persecuted and despised for his ugliness, and now he heard them say he was the most beautiful of all the birds. Even the elder tree bent down its boughs into the water before him, and the sun shone warm and bright. Then he rustled his feathers, curved his slender neck, and cried joyfully, from the depths of his heart, “I never dreamed of such happiness as this while I was the despised ugly duckling”.-

LEARNING ABOUT MINORITIES

 Lately, we have been carrying out activities that have to do with minorities, being our main objectives , among others, to raise awareness about diversity, encourage tolerance, develop empathy and prevent bullying.

That's the reason why we performed this game: a race in which different roles (catholic woman, upper class homosexual teenager, lesbian black woman etc) are assigned to students who will have to take one, two steps forwards or no steps depending on the different scenarios suggested by the teacher ( getting a job in a bank,  having a flat, having a medical insurance etc..). Who will the first one to reach the finishing line?
 

Interesting to discuss about feelings, expectations and opinions and reflect about what it is like to be part of a minoriy group or community and what that means.