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Obama Education Appointee Draws Fire for Remark Made 21 Years Ago
Quick — name the last three Assistant Deputy Secretaries of Education for Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
Can’t? Didn’t think so. But the current person in the post, Obama appointee Kevin Jennings, has become a lighting rod for criticism from the right because of his previous job. See, Jennings founded the Gay-Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, which devotes itself to making sure “each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.”
It’s kind of sad that somehow, founding an organization that tries to keep gay kids from being bullied and gives them support at school is controversial in this day and age, but apparently it is. What’s really drawing fire is that conservative psychology professor Warren Throckmorton unearthed an audiotape of a speech Jennings gave at a conference some years ago in which he related his response to a student who told him he was invovled with an older man.
This was in 1988, and a 15-year-old student of Jennings’ told him he had met an older man at a bus station and gone home with him. Jennings is in hot water for what he said, which was “I hope you knew to use a condom.”
People are all atwitter because they say Jennings should have immediately contacted authorities. He’s apologized, and acknoweldged that in those days teachers were not as clear on their responsibilities.
Personally, I think this attitude could harm kids, any kids, rather than help. If a kid, gay or straight, is messed up enough that they are going home with strangers they’ve got problems, and if they think they are going to get ratted out to their parents they are not going to seek the counsel of their teachers or other trusted adults. If there’s no grownup in a teen’s life that they feel they can trust, I think that’s going to lead to more risk taking behavior and going even further off the rails.
Also, this is neither here nor there, but: One of the things GLSEN does is help start Gay-Straight Alliance groups at high schools. I interviewed someone from GLSEN for a story I did on a local one, and went and visited the group during a meeting. These kids were really smart and nice, and were the only student group, ever, to write and thank me afterward for the story.
Yep, these kids are dangerous to know, that’s for sure.
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jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 01 09 at 12:59 pmI would call failure to effectively counsel and seek help for a self-destructive teenager more of an “action” than a “remark”. Oh, and maybe if Jennings had actually counseled this kid (he was, after all, a guidance counselor at this time) he might have found that a problem at home was leading this boy to have such self-destructive behavior and been able to, y’know, report the abuse or neglect to authorities, and remove this poor kid from harm, as opposed to just “ratting out” the illegal and dangerous activity to his parents. Just me, though.
Lee commented on Oct 01 09 at 1:00 pmMassachusetts Gen. Law ch. 119, ยง 51A (where Jennings was teaching at the time) specifically indentifies teachers as mandatory reporters. Educators are well aware of this law and the boy in question was by his admission a VICTIM of statutory rape. It is a state law that allows no individual discretion on the part of the teacher. Jennings intentionally broke that law which is in place specifically to protect vulnerable and ‘at risk’ children.
bf commented on Oct 01 09 at 3:55 pmWhat is not mentioned in the spreading of this story (but is mentioned in Mr. Jennings book, where the quote is lifted from) is that Mr. Jennings DID provide counseling and support to the teen.
We also need to remember that this took place in 1988, when the memories of police brutality against gays were even fresher than they are now – the police have not always been a safe place to turn for gays in this country.
bf commented on Oct 02 09 at 12:46 pmJust wanted to add that it has come out that the teen was 16 at the time of this event, which was the legal age for consent in Massachusetts at that time.
jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 02 09 at 2:09 pmWhere did that come out? And, um, what a weird choice of words…
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