Reflecting upon No Blood, Guns, or Gays Allowed!: The Silencing of the Elementary Writer.

The interviews from this article screamed to me the importance of asking what some may consider the 'challenging' questions and opening up discussion about what students' views are and why they may hold those perspectives. So often I have encountered students who voice their beliefs and revealed biases against other students or life choices, but have seen little opportunity given to them to deconstruct where these biases come from and why they stand within that student's mind. I feel this conversation can exist without being threatening or persuasive. To me, it seems to be more about offering the space for the conversation to exist. As I said in class, "If they can't have the opportunity to discuss these things in our classrooms, where else will they be guaranteed the comfort of doing so in a safe environment?"