Key Findings from GLSEN's Study of Bias, Bullying and Homophobia in Grades K-6

GLSEN has a new study called "Playground and Prejudice: Elementary School Climate in the United States" which looked at bullying and homophobia in elementary schools. The study used 1,065 elementary school students in the third to sixth grades and 1,099 elementary school teachers of kindergarten through the sixth grade.

Here are some sad and interesting key findings:

• About 75 percent of all elementary school students report that students at their school are called names, made fun of or bullied with at least some regularity. 
• Fifty-one percent of students say that fellow students at their school make comments such as "retard" or "spaz" sometimes, often or all the time, while about half of students (45 percent) report that they hear comments like "that's so gay" or "you're so gay" from other kids sometimes, often or all the time. 
• One quarter of students (26 percent) and teachers (26 percent) report hearing other students make comments like "fag" or "lesbo" at least sometimes. Meanwhile, one in four students (26 percent) and 1 in 5 teachers (21 percent) hear students say bad or mean things about people because of their race or ethnic background at least sometimes.
• Slightly more than half (59 percent) of elementary school students say they feel very safe at school.
• Four in ten students (39 percent) say they hear other kids at their school say there are things that boys should not do or should not wear because they are boys at least sometimes. One third of students (33 percent) say they hear other kids at their school say there are things that girls should not do or should not wear because they are girls at least sometimes.
• Students who are bullied at least sometimes are three times as likely as others to say they often feel stressed (15 percent vs. 4 percent).
• Interestingly, 37 percent attributed the bullying to the fact that they weren't good at sports, compared with 26 percent who said their aptitude with schoolwork was the reason.

To read more, please go here

Phoenix Suns forward Grant Hill and Jared Dudley are working on a PSA on Anti-Gay Language

GLSEN and the Ad Council has joined with Phoenix Suns players Grant Hill and Jared Dudley to create a PSA on anti-gay language. It's all a part of GLSEN's Changing the Game campaign.

Check out the clip

This PSA will be ready in May

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New Project: GLSEN's Changing the Game

GLSEN has a new project that could challenge view surrounding sports and sexuality. It's called Changing the Game. 

Changing the Game: The GLSEN Sports Project’s mission is to assist K-12 schools in creating and maintaining an athletic and physical education climate that is based on the core principles of respect, safety and equal access for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. The GLSEN Sports Project fills a critical gap and adds a vital new dimension to GLSEN’s work to create a world in which every child learns to accept and respect all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

They even have former football player and openly gay Wade Davis and other athletes on board

Exodus International pulls out of The Day of Truth

After the deaths of gay youths, Exodus International decides not to participate in the anti-gay event, The Day of Truth.

"All the recent attention to bullying helped us realize that we need to equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace while treating their neighbors as they'd like to be treated, whether they agree with them or not," said Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, the group that sponsored the event this year.

Called the Day of Truth, the annual April event has been pushed by influential conservative Christian groups as a way to counter to the annual Day of Silence, an event promoted by gay rights advocates to highlight threats against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

The Day of Truth, held on the same day as the Day of Silence, "was established to counter the promotion of homosexual behavior and to express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective," according to a manual for this year's event published by Exodus International.

I'm a little surprised about this, but hey, it's something I guess. Here's more:

"I thank Exodus for making this very important step," said GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard on Wednesday after hearing of Exodus' decision. "The Day of Truth was an effort to push a very specific set of opinions about homosexuality into schools in a way that was inappropriate and divisive."

On the Day of Truth, middle and high school students are encouraged to wear Day of Truth T-shirts and to distribute cards that say "It's time for an honest conversation about the biblical truth for sexuality," according to Exodus' manual for this year's event.
"I don't think it's necessary anymore," Chambers said of the event on Wednesday.

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GLSEN report: 9 out of 10 LGBT Students Experience Harassment in School

Sorry for more sad news, but GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) released results from their The 2009 National School Climate Survey. The findings were not good:

The 2009 survey of 7,261 middle and high school students found that at school nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students experienced harassment at school in the past year and nearly two-thirds felt unsafe because of their sexual orientation. Nearly a third of LGBT students skipped at least one day of school in the past month because of safety concerns.

Here are some key findings:

Student Experiences, a Hostile School Climate and the Effects on Educational Outcomes and Psychological Well-Being:

84.6% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 40.1% reported being physically harassed and 18.8% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.

63.7% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 27.2% reported being physically harassed and 12.5% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their gender expression.

72.4% heard homophobic remarks, such as "faggot" or "dyke," frequently or often at school.

Nearly two-thirds (61.1%) of students reported that they felt unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation, and more than a third (39.9%) felt unsafe because of their gender expression.

29.1% of LGBT students missed a class at least once and 30.0% missed at least one day of school in the past month because of safety concerns, compared to only 8.0% and 6.7%, respectively, of a national sample of secondary school students.

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 (2.7 vs. 3.1).

Increased levels of victimization were related to increased levels of depression and anxiety and decreased levels of self-esteem.

Being out in school had positive and negative repercussions for LGBT students – outness was related to higher levels of victimization, but also higher levels of psychological well-being.

GLSEN has been doing their research for 10 years. Although there has been some good things, many of our LGBT youth are still suffering abuse and harassment.

I REALLY want schools to take this seriously. As leaders, guides and mentors they can really take a stand and protect our students. They should not have go through so much Hell. Our youth, needs support and they need it now!

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