LGBT Youth and Their Sense of Safety

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We know that safety and school climate is becoming an important measure of school quality. We also know that physical and emotional safety are critical features of quality youth programs. In fact, safety is the number one standard of California's Quality Standards for Expanded Learning Programs.

But, physical and emotional safety is not enjoyed by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) youth. According to Evie Blad, an Education Week staff writer, "Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students are the targets of bullying, harassment, and disproportionately high discipline rates at school, research suggests. But without consistently collected, reliable, large-scale sources of data, it's difficult to track the extent of those problems or the effectiveness of proposed solutions." 

But we think we have sufficient data to begin this conversation. In 2013, the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) conducted a school climate study. This study examined the bias within schools towards LGBT youth. While afterschool programs are not responsible for the actions and policies of schools, the findings of this report shed light on what LGBT youth experience in their schools before coming to afterschool programs. Below are a few of the findings from this report.

School Safety

• 37.8% of LGBT youth felt unsafe at school because of their gender expression.

• Over a third avoided gender-segregated spaces in school because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable (bathrooms: 35.4%, locker rooms: 35.3%). 

Anti-LGBT Remarks at School

• 56.4% heard negative remarks about gender expression (not acting “masculine enough” or “feminine enough”) frequently or often.

• A third (33.1%) heard negative remarks specifically about transgender people, like “tranny” or “he/ she,” frequently or often.

• 55.5% of youth reported hearing negative remarks about gender expression from teachers or other school staff.

Photo Credit:
https://queeryouthmentalhealth.wordpress.com/

Harassment and Assault at School

• Compared to other LGBT youth, transgender, genderqueer, and other non-cisgender youth faced the most hostile school climates.

• 55.2% of LGBT youth were verbally harassed (e.g., called names or threatened) in the past year because of their gender expression.

• 11.4% were physically assaulted (e.g., punched, kicked, injured with a weapon) in the past year because of their gender expression.

• 22.7% were physically harassed (e.g., pushed or shoved) in the past year because of their gender expression. 

School Performance

• LGBT youth were more than three times as likely to have missed school in the past month than those who experienced lower levels (58.6% vs. 18.2%);

• LGBT youth were twice as likely to report that they did not plan to pursue any post-secondary education (e.g., college or trade school; 8.2% vs. 4.2%); and

• LGBT youth had higher levels of depression and lower levels of self-esteem.

A Separate Report on Antibullying Policies Found That:

• Of the 70.5% of U.S. school districts with antibullying policies, a minority

  

  Photo Credit:
  http://www.bullying.co.uk/

  (14.1%) enumerated protections for youth based upon their gender identity and/or gender expression.

• When accounting for all U.S. school districts, i.e., those with and without antibullying policies: Three in ten school districts enumerated sexual orientation, and not gender identity/expression.

• In states with antibullying laws, 60.3% of districts were not providing protections to youth based on gender identity/expression in their anti-bullying policies.

• Nearly six in ten (58.4%) LGBT youth were not receiving explicit protections from bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression in their school districts (i.e., their districts did not have LGB or LGBT-inclusive policies).

What can we do to promote a greater sense of safety in our afterschool programs? There are many great resources, both written and in video format. Below are some resources to assist us in this work:

• Understanding Gender Identity in Young People: A Briefing Paper for Afterschool Programs

• Youth Development Guide: Engaging Young People in After-School Programming

• LGBT Youth and Antibullying Videos

• Bullying Prevention in Out-of-School and Afterschool Settings 

• Bullying of LGBT Youth and Those Perceived to Have Different Sexual Orientations

• Teaching Tolerance

• Mental Health America: Bullying and LGBT Youth

School Climate and LGBT Youth

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We know through research that school climate has a large impact on how kids view their education, their mental health, sense of well being, and school attendance. It is not clear what impact an afterschool program can have on an entire school climate, but we do know that a sense of emotional and physical safety is key to promoting youth development and is an important component of the new Quality Standards for Expanded Learning Programs in California. 

Afterschool programs are responsible for the climate within their programs providing a safe place, physically and emotionally. This is particularly important for LGBT youth who are often more vulnerable to bullying and mistreatment at school. 

A recent blog post authored by Matthew Lynch in Education Week called for schools to  improve the climate for LGBT youth. What can afterschool programs do to improve the whole school climate? Below, we share a few strategies that he proposed in his blog. What else are schools and afterschool programs doing to explicitly address this issue? 

Photo Credit: http://www.campkc.com/

"1. Disallow discrimination based on sexual orientation. The National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development have all passed resolutions asking their members and all school districts to step forward to improve the educational experiences of LGBT students. These resolutions call for providing a safe environment, support groups, and counseling options for LGBT students and by employing anti-harassment rules and practices.  In nine states, the state government has instituted legislation prohibiting the harassment and discrimination of LGBT students. We need to continue this trend until every state has these rules in place, in every district and school - no exceptions.

2. Expand "inclusion" policies. There are some schools in which LGBT students are accepted and accommodated.   Same-sex couples are invited to school dances and there are unisex washrooms for transgender students.  School districts in some states include LGBT students in non-discrimination policies with the goal of making schools safe places for all students, parents, faculty and staff.  However, there are also states where it is illegal to even utter the word homosexual and in which the word homosexual (or lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) can only be portrayed in a negative light within the classroom.  This makes it difficult for teachers to teach about sexual orientation diversity or to make their classrooms and school environment safe and accepting of LGBT students.  Regardless of location, teachers can explain to students that they don't have to agree it is okay to be gay or lesbian, but they do have to agree that it is not okay to discriminate against them.

3. Promote LGBT student groups. It is important that all students, regardless of who they are or their sexual orientation, have a safe environment in which to learn and grow as an individual.  Gay and lesbian organizations have been at the forefront of trying to create safe and accepting environments for LGBT students.  Students have also taken up the cause and student groups have begun springing up in schools all over the country.  There are currently approximately 4,000 Gay-Straight Alliance Groups registered with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN).  These groups are alliances between straight and LGBT. They work together to support each other and promote education as a means for ending homophobia."

Photo Credit: http://www.jonnydrubel.com/

There are a number of good resources that go into more depth. We have included a few below:

• Best Practices: Creating an LGBT-inclusive School Climate
• The School Climate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Students
• GSA Network
• Responding to Hate and Bias at School
• The Rights of LGBT Students: Whittier Elementary (PowerPoint)