Many people hear diversity and automatically think of racial issues; granted this is an important issue, but diversity has many more facets than simply just race. One aspect of diversity that is becoming more and more prevalent in our society is sexual diversity.
“Middle School Confessions” is an HBO documentary that focuses on the many different types of hardships that middle school student’s experience. The topics discussed during this documentary ranged from depression to violence to sexuality; it is this latter topic that I would like to examine more thoroughly. The students interviewed during this segment were all between the ages of 12 and 14 and were openly gay. It was interesting to hear these kids’ opinions about being gay in middle school, how they cope with the scrutiny they receive from other students, and how their relationship with their parents had been affected.
While, there is no question that these kids are already facing lots of criticism in their schools, they seemed quite comfortable talking about it during the interview; instead of hating themselves for being different, they embrace their sexuality. One reason for these students’ positive outlook was because they had a place they could go to meet other gay students. This offers students a place to go where they can express themselves without worrying about other students judging them. The students’ parents were also very supportive of their child’s lifestyle, being very attentive to their child’s needs and understanding their perspectives.
This segment of the documentary was very positive; instead of hearing stories of woe, I heard stories of hope. I think back to my experiences during middle school and how difficult it was for me; I can only imagine how rough it must be for these kids.