You have to admit, it's getting better...

On my first day of "Intro to Screenwriting" at Brookline High School (an adult continuing ed program), I saw this on several of the doors of the classrooms.

I guess it's probably not an unusual sight for the kids that attend this school, but to an old fogey like me, it got me thinking.

I went to a pretty conservative all-boys Catholic prep school in the South. There was one kid, Andrew I think his name was, who talked with a slight lisp. This was enough to make this social life a complete nightmare. Constant teasing, bullying and outright threats. If he hadn't been a pretty tall guy and had a few friends, he probably would have gotten hurt. There was some seriously ugly antigay bigotry (and anti-Semitism now that I think of it) at that school.

At the end of my Senior year, there was some sort of function in the auditorium. A few of the popular kids made speeches, relating stories about the years we all spent together. One recounted a "story" - a total fabrication - that involved walking in on two guys who were allegedly getting it on in a bathroom stall. He named names. As the entire place erupted with jeers, obscene shouts, and laughter, I remember looking over at the accused. They were pretty dorky, but hey, weren't we all, and didn't have many friends apart from each other. I was always nice to both of them, even hung out outside of school occasionally. I'll never forget the horrified look on their faces at they sank into their seats; everyone knew it wasn't true, and the hate directed at them that day made me seriously question the value of humanity. I think I knew then that I'd never attend a high school reunion, and never have.

So when I saw this sticker, it made me really glad to know that will likely never happen in this school. Some kids are assholes and always will be, so others that don't fit in will always catch the brunt of their insecurities and ignorance.

But, there was an institutionalized, accepted, and almost encouraged bigotry in my high school, fed by tradition, testosterone, and religion. Not a good combo. The principal eventually had to call order in the auditorium that day, but the damage had been done, and as far as I know the perpetrators never suffered any real consequences and the victims likely never received an apology.

So, even though this is just a sticker on a pane of glass, it represents a sea change. As a high schooler I couldn't even conceive of this kind of tolerance. So anyone who complains we need to return to some sort of past value system, or that we live in an age of "moral decline" needs to consider the quote by John Cage: "I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."