Rebeca Arrellano, left, and Haileigh Adams
It’s easy — and, I think, common — for those of us who are a bit older to bemoan the state of our youth today. We gripe about their lack of respect, their lack of ambition, the way they dress, the music they listen to — the list goes on.
But news this week out of San Diego indicates that perhaps we old folks could learn a few lessons from the young’uns.
On Friday, Oct. 28, during their homecoming pep rally, students at Patrick Henry High School elected lesbian Rebeca Arellano as their 2011 homecoming king. Then on Saturday night, Oct. 29, at the homecoming dance, they named Rebeca’s girlfriend, Haileigh Adams, as their homecoming queen. Read that again: The two girls were elected by their classmates. And if you read the articles about the event, it looks like their classmates are, for the most part, satisfied with their choice.
But some of the older folks are not so happy. In fact, according to this article in the Los Angeles Times and the Fox 5 news report video you can watch below, some older folks are being downright hateful about it.
Officials with Patrick Henry High say they have been deluged with hate mail and hateful calls since news reports of Rebeca and Haileigh’s elections were published, and some of those comments and calls have been, they said, “disturbing.”
San Diego schools Supt. Bill Kowba told the LA Times that adults sending the hateful calls and letters are “demonstrating such a lack of tolerance and are presenting such a negative role model for children with their hateful comments.” He noted that if it were students behaving so badly, they would be disciplined, and then, after congratulating Rebeca and Haileigh, declared, “I look forward to the day when all students can come to school, free of harassment and bullying.”
Looks to me like there are a bunch of us “adults” out there who could stand to learn a lesson from the youngsters at Patrick Henry High.
This is such a nice story! I’m glad the superintendent is handling it the way he is, pretty much saying, “F*ck all you people sending us sh*t emails. We’re gonna do what we do, bitches. Now, let’s move on.”
Right on! Congrats to the ladies who won!
While tolerance is something that is still being worked toward, it is refreshing and encouraging to see teens and other young adults take a step toward treating everyone as an equal, regardless of sex or sexual orientation. Older generations really need to get a grip in regard to how things are far more different now than they were in the past. Kudos to Superintendent Kowba for speaking up and out. If only we had more education officials who would do the same.