Being a teenager is tough enough without fearing harassment in a place where you’re supposed to feel safe. All over the country lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students get harassed every day in school. Students who may be even just perceived as being LGBT also get harassed.
Studies done by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) report that nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students face harassment. The 2007 National School Climate Survey found not only that LGBT students were harassed, but that 31.7% of LGBT students missed a class and 32.7% missed a day of school in the past month because of feeling unsafe.
If students don’t go to class, they can’t learn and their grades begin to reflect it. The reported grade point average of students who were more frequently harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender expression was almost half a grade lower than for students who were less often harassed (2.8 versus 2.4).
The only thing teenagers should worry about in school is leaning the material presented. Obviously, most teenagers have much more on their minds than that, however harassment shouldn’t be one of them. Over 4000 Gay-Straight Alliances are registered with GLSEN. These clubs provide a safe space for the LGBT students in their school, as well as an educational tool for the rest of the school to help better the climate and diminish harassment.
Policies and laws are slowly changing along with societal views about LGBT people and culture, however they are not changing fast enough to help these students through their high school experience. In Minnesota last year, the “Safe Schools for All” bill passed both the House and Senate but was vetoed by Governor Pawlenty. This bill would have helped implement policies in school districts to curb harassment and educate students about LGBT discrimination.
Too many LGBT students find it hard to speak up about harassment because it is so embedded in our culture. LGBT harassment is one of the last forms of harassment that is still allowed in popular culture. The phrase “That’s so gay” is heard in high school hallways and on television. It’s still okay for one guy to call another guy a “fag” or “pussy” for doing something perceived as being effeminate.
The Think Before You Speak campaign from GLSEN is trying to educate our society, especially teens, about the role language plays in the harassment of LGBT teens. Their PSA's have aired nationally and resources are available for educators who wish to do something about the degrading language used in their school hallways every day.
But language isn't the only problem. The LGBT culture is still quite invisible among the main stream. The gay man is still portrayed as the fashionable best friend to the leading lady. The lesbian is still portrayed as a confused straight woman who just needs to find the right man. The gay man is laughed at. The lesbian is sexualized. Teenagers pick up on these portrayals in popular culture.
As a society, we need to put our figurative foot down and call for an end to this harassment. If one word, one joke, one punch gets swept under the rug, that only allows for more words, jokes and punches to get through. This is a teachable moment. Do we use this harassment to say “No more!” to harassment of any sort? Do we truly value all our students and their great diversity?
For more information and resources for LGBT Youth:
http://www.thetrevorproject.org
http://www.glsen.org
http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/
Comments
Hi there...
You may not like what I have to say, I'll try to be constructive. I didn't entirely catch the point of your article, I guess. Except for a few statistics (how many GLBT students miss school 'cause of this supposed harassment and the bill Pawlenty vetoed), this came off as a high school or college essay.
I disagree with you about the media and Hollywood being the cause of harassment for putting gays and lesbians the 'wrong' roles, and as you put it - labeling lesbians are confused straight women. I myself believe many gay people simply misunderstood their problems when trying to be straight. But that's debatable.
The PSA with a girl trying to "stomp out bullying" makes me roll my eyes as well, though. No bill will ever stop harassment, it seems like common sense to me. Harassment will continue as long as kids are abused at home and take it out on their fellow students. Some attack gays/lesbians, some - short people, some - supposed 'nerds.' My solution is to build up...
...kids and teens on an individual basis, not to go after the bullies. Unless you hire a man in a striped suit to jump out of a corner every time a kid/teenager gets bullied (whether for orientation or their nerdy nature) and stand up to them, it's a lost cause.
I've never understood why our society is fighting bullying in first place; it seems the bullies have just as many problems as the bullied, just turned out stronger and make other people suffer instead of crumbling under pressure. Both sides in this situation need attention and help.
By the way, I'm curious about the specifics of this bill Pawlenty vetoed? Maybe it really should've gone through, just you didn't explain it well :)
The... following two comments are connected, fyi :) I had to split 'em up 'cause of limitations.
This law was not just about LGBT students, and it also needed no funding in order to take affect. Gov. Pawlenty vetoed the bill because he thought there was enough protection for students.
Our society fights against bullying because it harms the victims. Google "bullying" and "suicide" together and figure out for yourself the harms of bullying. Yes, they are the extreme cases, but every child is important, and when one child decides that their life isn't worth living because of what they face at school, a place to learn, grow and be safe, it becomes society's problem.
I was bullied in elementary, middle and high school. I never faced what some students face. I was lucky. However, the statistics are there.
Let's help the victims by telling them that they're not alone, and what they face is not okay.
Let's help the bullies by telling them that what they are doing is wrong, and these are the reasons why.
I disagree with your point that we shouldn't stop bullies. I agree that we should build up all students, but by not telling bullies that what they're doing is wrong, we can't build up those students who are still getting harassed. I liken this to what we tell women to protect themselves from rape. We build women up, tell them to be prepared, tell them to be strong and fight back, but the problem isn't with the women getting raped. No, the problem is with the men doing the raping! We should tell men to stop raping women, just as we should tell bullies to stop harassing. By not vocalizing what we want the result to be, we aren't doing much to stop it from happening.
The "Safe Schools for All" Bill that passed the Minnesota Legislature last year would have required all public schools in the state of Minnesota to add sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and country of origin to their anti-bullying policies.
Sam,
Thank you for your comments on my article. Let me enumerate on what you had to say.
The point of my article was that LGBT students face harassment in schools, and that this harassment needs to be stopped. I apologize if my article came of as a high school or college essay. I am in college right now, so this is my style of writing.
I didn't say that the media was the cause of the harassment, but the media portrayals are certainly a part of the larger problem of homophobia and heterosexism in society. The representations of LGBT persons in the media have, throughout history, been troublesome, and reflect the overall societal views. It's kind of a never-ending cycle. Society says, "We view gay men as effeminate and threatening," the media portrays the gay man as such, and then society says, "See, we were right!" It doesn't end until we tell it to.
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