Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Don't Hold Hands Ade and Elsa are two 7th grade girls from Indonesia who joined our school couple months ago. I teach them Physical Science. They have well-developed English skills. Although they have an accent, they can communicate with teachers and fellow students. I am very sensitive to the needs of newly-arrived immigrant students, so I paid close attention when I heard rumors from other students about them. Students started spreading that Ade and Elsa were in a lesbian relationship. Apparently Ade and Elsa heard about the rumors; they came to me in tears. I asked them to tell me what was going on. What I found out was very interesting. Ade and Elsa have known each other since they were small children and they have always been best friends. Their families decided to move to the US together. Their fathers applied for jobs in the same company. They both received offers and moved together. Ade and Elsa were excited about going to the same school in US and continuing their friendship. In Indonesia, same-gender friends holding hands is very common and indicates friendship. When children at our school saw Ade and Elsa holding hands they thought that Ade and Elsa were in a lesbian relationship. I have to do something about this. I see two options before me: I will explain to the children in my classes that friends holding hands in some cultures is completely normal, or I will tell Ade and Elsa to not hold hands to avoid these rumors. The second option seems culturally insensitive, but if Ade and Elsa continue holding hands, rumors will continue even if I explain to my students the cultural side of their friendship. What should I do? If you have an original solution to this issue, please advice. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I think that I would use a little bit of this and little bit of that from the solutions that were already given. One post suggested that various cultural expressions be shared through a lesson. I think this is a great idea, and to take that a little further I think it would be very easy to create this opportunity through a force and motion (since the content is Physical Science) class-wide lab. You could have the students interlock arms, hold hands, and so forth through exploring force and motion upon each other (balanced and unbalanced forces, etc.). As the teacher you could use guided instruction to focus on the force/motion and then turn the focus to what is being done (holding hands and interlocking arms). Tell the students your objectives at the start of class and let them know that as a class you'll explore force and motion while integrating cultural cues as well. An example would be as you have a pair of students hold hands and lean away from each other you could tell about how their forces are balanced or unbalanced, then you could focus on the action of holding hands and ask what that usually means here in the US (comforting a friend, giving strength to help up, in love, etc.). You'd go on to tell about what it means in other parts of the world and even let the girls share if they raise their hand to do so. Then continue to do this from group to group until your guided instruction has covered at least 4 or more forces and varied cultural cues. Then at the end of the lesson, I'd bring it all together by summarizing what was learned (graphic organizer or similar chart) in both Science and Social Science for that lesson-- maybe even have the students reflect (journal entry) on a new Science fact they learned and a new Social Science fact they learned that day as a ticket out the door.