Reply to seeing kids say "that's so gay," how to address

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[quote=Anonymous]At school pickup (I have a 1st grader) I saw some older boys chasing each other and yelling stuff like "you're gay!!! that's so gay!!!"

I'm no activist, but that sort of casual homophobia is pretty problematic and I was sad to see it thrown out in the open and talked to my kid about how that type of language is not okay.

(I'm tempted to say something like "hey, saying 'you're so gay' to make fun of someone is what your parents' generation said in the 90s, and then we all grew up and realized that it's actually really offensive and unkind to say. you might not know better, but I'd encourage you think about your words. I hope you wouldn't make fun of someone like me for being of a different race [I'm a POC] and I'd encourage you to not think it's okay to use sexual orientation as a joke or slur." but I'm pretty sure it'd go over their heads. Maybe more effective would be to say something like "hey, do you guys have iPhones or you want iPhones? Guess who's the CEO of Apple? Tim Cook and he's GAY. Yes the guy who runs Apple is gay. Do you think that being gay is something you should use to tease other people?")

The question is, if I see it again, should I talk to the kids directly? Should I contact the assistant principal and say what I saw? (pro, put it in the school's hands, cons, can't guarantee that the kid saying it will actually get talked to)
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