Yesterday’s letter, “No need for sexuality in a suburban school setting” by an immature BU Academy eighth-grader just goes to further prove the point that high school students have plenty to learn from a support group like the disbanded Gay-Straight Alliance.

The student wrote, “Students don’t go to school to be told, ‘It’s OK to be gay, don’t worry, we’re here for you’ and be shown films endorsing a homosexual lifestyle. People go to school to learn in the fields of history, English, math, science, language and the arts.”

Whether it be arts and crafts in kindergarten, my fifth-grade sex education class, high school dances, or my hockey classes at BU, school has always been more than just learning out of textbooks for myself and my peers. It’s about practicing “life,” building relationships, and learning how to function in present-day civilization – a civilization that promotes, yet can’t always enjoy tolerance of others.

I admire the BUA student’s ability to avoid judging his peers by their sexualities, but he is obviously too young to realize that in many places in and around Boston, New England, and the entire United States – not just in “some inner-city schools” as he hypothesized – there are people who are neither as open-minded as he, nor as fortunate to have grown up in a tolerant environment.

BU Academy students are among the most privileged and intelligent students in the region, but the fact remains that many of the hard-working teens are still just confused high-school kids learning their lessons in life. And while the Academy may provide “a very open atmosphere where issues can be discussed amongst peers and faculty with ease,” there is no telling what prejudice and bigotry could one day – and may already secretly – exist.

A Gay-Straight Alliance doesn’t eliminate the threat of intolerance, but even if it makes just one student’s high school experience a little better, it should be considered a vital educational service.

Noah Pransky COM ’02