Lgbt+ In Schools

Discrimination against LGBT+ members in schools. How to make schools inclusive and safe. My final project for my social work class!

[safeplaceeducation]

This article gives a list of actions that can make the climate of a school more inclusive to LGBT+ persons. Some of the suggestions I have already talked about on this blog, such as Gay Straight Alliance clubs (GSA), anti-bullying policies, and inclusive education in classrooms. This article also had suggestions that I had not thought of or have not talked about yet. To create an inclusive environment at schools, the administration should strive to be inclusive in all areas including the dress code, bathrooms, and school events like prom. Providing gender-neutral bathrooms for students and then allowing them to choose of they want to use the men’s, women’s, or gender-neutral bathrooms can go a long way to make LGBT+ students feel safe. All advertisements for proms should be gender-neutral. Students should be able to bring anyone to prom as a date not matter their gender or sex. Therefore, gender neutral pronouns such as partner or date should be used. The article gave a good suggestion to make proms more inclusive to students. I think that creating a position for inclusivity planner working on school events like prom would make a lot of LGBT+ students and other students feel safe and welcomed at these events. To keep a safe and inclusive environment in the school, you must get the teachers to put in effort. This article suggested giving out a reward and certificate each year to the teacher that promoted diversity and inclusivity throughout the year. I loved this suggestion. This not only promotes inclusivity in the school, but LGBT+ students will know that this teacher is safe to go to if they are having problems and seeking advice about sensitive matters. At the end of this article, there are some links to other great resources. Go check the article out and maybe wonder over to those other resources.

[safeplaceeducation]

Inclusive Anti-Bullying Policies Create a Safer Environment for LGBT Students

Policies are just one important piece of an overall strategy to improve school climate for LGBT students.

Anti-bullying policies protect students and create a no tolerance, safe space, when enforced. Currently many schools do not have anti-bullying policies that protect all of their students. To have an inclusive anti-bullying policy we must make sure that they provide protection for LGBT+ students. This means that we must include sex, gender, sexual orientation, and gender expression into anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies.  Apparently, only 70.5% of public schools have anti-bullying policies. Less than half of these schools with anti-bullying policies provide protection against bullying because of sexual orientation. 14.1% of schools with anti-bullying policies included protection against harassment because of gender or gender expression. It is necessary to have inclusive anti-bullying policies to create a safe space in schools for LGBT+ persons and their peers. These policies must be known throughout the school by faculty and students, and they must be enforced. This article explains the importance of anti-bullying policies and tips on how to make them, as well as the consequences of not having inclusive policies.

[safeplaceeducation]

This is an article done by Vanderbilt University about research that they conducted on Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs in high schools. Gay-straight alliances are safe places for LGBT students in schools to go to for support. The presence of a GSA has been proven to reduce bullying, harassment, and victimization for LGBT students and their straight peers. GSAs are a necessary club for schools to have because they promote that schools will not tolerate bullying of LGBT members, the schools are supportive of LGBT students, and straight peers should be allies for LGBT members. LGBT students in a school with a GSA are less likely to fear for their safety. This means that students are likely to be able to focus on their school work and succeed. These students are less likely to feel the need to skip school because they fear that they will be physically or emotionally attacked. They can focus on their schoolwork rather than think about how they will get through the next day without being harassed. 

[safeplaceeducation]

This article covers the necessity of having LGBT+ inclusive sex education. Very few sex education classes cover same sex relationships. This has many negative effects on LGBT+ youth. If youth cannot get empirically supported information in class, then they will go to their peers and the internet, which often have inaccurate information. This increases the risk of LGBT+ youth not having safe sex or being in unhealthy relationships. Having an inclusive sex education class improves the climate of the school for LGBT+ students. In schools with inclusive LGBT+ education, students report less harassment.

To make an inclusive sex education class we need to add information that would not only be relevant to heterosexual students but also to the LGBT+ youth in the class. This includes adding information about gender identity and sexual orientation that is medically accurate. Some sex education classes do not show same sex relationships in a positive light, this will need to change. There should be depictions of both healthy heterosexual and LGBT+ relationships. An easy way to make a sex education class a little more inclusive is using gender neutral pronouns such as they, them, and partner.

This is a great article that has links imbedded in it to other great resources. It very clearly lays out why we need inclusive sex education, the prevalence of it now, the prevalence of parents wanting inclusive education, the effects of not have inclusive education, what inclusive sex education should look like, and what we can do about it. Check it out! It’s a great way to make schools safer and more effective.