TASKs for democracy

Maria: You’re joking. My mum said I should not have anything to do with him and to keep an eye on
my things because you can’t trust these people.
Teacher: Don’t be rude, Maria, go to your class quietly now.
3) Fabiana has always felt “different” from her girlfriends. She is now a pre-adolescent and she is gradually
coming to understand that she is sexually attracted to girls, not boys. She has spoken to her friends about
this but not to her family.
A group of the very popular girls of her class have recently heard about Fabiana and her sexual orientation.
They make fun of her, have started a campaign against her and spread embarrassing rumours. Although adults
seem aware of tensions, as there has been quite a bit of bad talk about homosexuals in the schoolyard, they
have not intervened.
A new member of staff has joined the school recently. He interviewed really well but within a few days he started
exhibiting very strong homophobic behaviour. He is constantly making reference to homophobic issues, making
derogatory comments about Fabiana. The mockery is constant and Fabiana appears very sad and lonely,
and is sometimes afraid in school. Her grades are going down…and she is isolating herself more and more.
4) Peter, aged 15, belongs to a distinct cultural group and has joined your dream school recently. He comes
from a low-income single-parent family. He is very good at sports, singing, drawing and storytelling but very
weak in science. Parents of the children in his class have started complaining that the new arrival is a bad influence
on their children because he seems to be very poor and is claimed to have bad morals and hyperactive
behaviour. Very few students speak to Peter at school.
This goes on for months and Peter’s willingness to follow rules and to co-operate seems to be decreasing. The
only lesson he enjoys is his English class where he is often asked to tell stories or act something out. But as
soon as he is (often rightfully) reprimanded for his behaviour and low achievement by some of the teachers,
he becomes defensive and accuses everyone that they are picking on him because he comes from a minority.
Recently he has started playing truant. This has been going on for some time and some of the parents have
just threatened to take legal action against the school.
TASKs for democracy Page 142