Segregation vs. Integration

So the other day in my sociology class we were talking about bullying. One thing led to another, and we eventually got onto the topic about bullying people because of their race, and because of their sexuality.

My teacher then went on to tell us about a school in Toronto that is "black focused", meaning that although anyone is allowed to attend, the school focuses on the needs of all the African-Canadian students there. So we discussed our different thoughts on the topic, and then eventually moved on to the topic of homosexuality, and how in the States they are trying to get a school just for people who are gay.

The majority of people in the class said that this was a bad decision. One that was going backwards from where society has come from. There used to be schools just for African people, and then other schools just for Caucasian people . . . And the Africans fought for integration, to be included with the rest of their society.

Many people in my class said that going back to segregated schools would be pointless, because after those students in the segregated schools get out of high school, they are going to be in the real world, where there will be people of different ethnicity, and of different sexuality. Segregating people based on these things would, if anything, increase the negative attitudes toward those groups of people.

While this whole discussion was going on, I couldn't help but think about the schools out there who are just for people who have disabilities. 100% special education, 0% integration and interaction with other peers. How is this any different then schools that are segregated based on skin colour, or based on sexuality?

A few other classmates said that these segregated schools (for African people, for homosexual people, etc.) would be good, and that they should have that choice. They thought that if you were gay, for example, you may want to go to a school where everyone else was gay because then you would be able to relate to those people better. These students, who believed that these segregated schools weren't necessarily a bad thing, emphasized that as long as it wasn't forced segregation, then it wouldn't be as bad as it was back in the 1950's, when black people fought for integration.

What I found interesting about this opinion is that the students who are in special education classes often don't get a say in what kind of school they go to. It's the parents' decision, which is usually very heavily influenced by the teachers, principals, school boards, etc. So, using my classmates' logic . . . Segregated schools for special education would be considered unfair, unequal and not necessarily needed.

I have found that it is often the teachers and parents of the other students (in a mainstream class) who have trouble accepting someone into their class who has a disability. "It takes too much time to teach them." or "This student will take away from my child." or "They're a disruption to the learning." - those are the common excuses made. So instead, people believe that it is okay to just put all these students into their own class, or even their own segregated school, and expect them to learn better. Now, there's ten people who have a disability, compared to one, in a class.

I heard a story about someone who works with Community Living going to talk to a principal at one of the segregated schools in Toronto. The principal told the Community Living employee about how he was supposed to have retired the year before he came to this school, but instead took the job. He said, "This is a very easy job; I just look at it as a giant daycare center."

So not only are the students in this segregated school not interacting with any of their other peers, but they are also being treated like babies, and not as equals.

Are these segregated schools really necessary? Who are the helping: The students who have the disability, or everyone else who makes the decisions for them?