Geography Club.

Essay by manjolaHigh School, 10th grade January 2008

download word file, 2 pages 3.0

Reflection on GEOGRAPHY CLUB by Brent HartingerA homosexual teen usually finds it hard to be accepted in schools and families. Their fellow schoolmates do not accept them for who they are. Instead, they are being taunted and harassed everyday. Gay teens are addressed with names . Many times they are beaten up verbally, mentally, or even physically. Since schools rarely have group organizations for gay students to go to for help, gay teens feel that there is no one to turn to for their problems. Their parents are usually unaware of what their children are going through. For a gay teen that has not come out of the closet at home, they are often scared that their parents would not support them. They have a constant fear that once their family finds out, they may kick them out of the house and disown them. Who will the gay teen turn to now? If the schools and families will not accept them for who they are, what will they do? This will result in stress and their everyday existence may cause nervous breakdown or even severe psychological damage.

Then gay teens will have thoughts or attempts of suicide, thinking that this may be the only solution to all of their problems. Gay kids in public schools are often subjected to such intense bullying that they are unable to receive an adequate education. This is unacceptable because schools should offer a safe and respectful learning environment for everyone. We saw those problems addressed in the book GEOGRAPHY CLUB by Brent Hartinger. Geography Club is set in Goodkind High School. Russel Middle brook is a sophomore. One night, Russel was chatting into a local gay chat room and encounters "Gay Teen". He is surprised that there is another gay student in his small town. Russell reveals his sexual orientation to Min he discover that she is bisexual and has been involved in a long time lesbian relationship with Terese, a star on the girl's soccer team. Russel, Kevin, Min, and Terese Ike meet together without undue suspicion, they form the "Geography Club" because "no high school student in their right minds would ever join that." Its sole purpose is for them to get together and share their stories about being gay. Belinda Sherman who decides to join the club because it would look good on her college applications and later she realized the main purpose of the club. In the end of the book the name of the club changed so more teens were going to be part of the club .They are not any more ashamed for what they are .