As June comes to a close, it is tempting to fly the Pride month flags and celebrate the coming summer. But before we run off to the beach, we must seriously take a look at how our LGBTQ students are doing. Like all learners, these students should feel safe and supported at school. And yet, the vast majority do not.
According to GLSEN’s 2017 National School Climate Survey almost 90% of LGBTQ students experienced harassment or assault based on personal characteristics, including sexual orientation, gender expression, gender, religion, actual or perceived race and ethnicity, and actual or perceived disability. Nearly two-thirds reported experiencing LGBTQ-related discriminatory policies or practices at school.
This harassment and bullying contribute to suicide and depression rates well beyond their peers. 39% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past twelve months, with more than half of transgender and non-binary youth having considered.
And it isn’t getting better. While there are many causes behind the recent drive to restrict public schools’ ability to discuss and openly support LGBTQ students and families, the result is that if you are a LGBTQ student or a student of LGBTQ parents, your local public school may not be the safe haven it should be.
For those lucky enough to live in states and districts that are open to it, there are hopeful stories of parents working together with their local schools to have constructive conversations about how to support their children and ensure they feel welcomed, supported, and free of bullying.
For the rest, students and families now find themselves in the position of pushing back against state legislation and school administrators who seem to be unaffected by the hugely detrimental effect their policies have on this already vulnerable population of kids. Some families are choosing to pull their kids out of their local schools altogether and choosing instead to enroll in a local private school or online school with supportive and open community support. Others have resorted to moving their whole families to more LGBTQ friendly areas.
As a mom of an LGBTQ teen and someone who has spent my whole career in education, I am heartbroken that we have let this divisiveness into our schools and let it overwhelm our shared core belief that every child is deserving of our love and support. There are many education policy related issues that are worthy of heated debate with pros and cons on each side of the issues. Supporting our kids’ mental and physical health is not one of them.
Let us all, as educators and parents, create this world for our children. Their lives literally depend on it.
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Author: Kate Finnefrock is a proud mother of a LGBTQ teen and CEO of Prisma a global online middle and high school that seeks to create a place where families of all nationalities, races, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, socioeconomic classes, physical and intellectual abilities, political views and other backgrounds feel welcome, safe and valued and where a wide diversity of perspectives can respectfully coexist.
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