anti-bullying video created for a junior advocacy project
Well done. TW for graphic images, self harm, violence.
Marcel’s StudentsFirst Petition Video (short) (by MJ N)
TW talk of bullying, suicide
Sign the petition here: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell…
“Gay” (by Theo Chen)
A very perceptive and articulate young man speaks about bullying at school because he is perceived to be gay.
TW: slurs, bullying
Q.
Kristopher Sharp: UHD Student Targeted for Spreading AIDS, Promoting “Homosexual Agenda” on Campus
Late last week, Kristopher Sharp, a third-year social work major at the University of Houston-Downtown, was called into Dean of Students Tommy Thomason’s office. The dean handed Sharp a flyer printed on both sides. It had been been scattered along the university’s stairwells and tacked to the assorted bulletin boards dotting campus. It was the first time Sharp had seen it.
The front featured a photo of Sharp, hair draped over his shoulders, bow tie cinched. A giant X sliced across the photo. “WANT AIDS?” blared the top of the flyer. Just beneath the photo: “DON’T SUPPORT THE Isaac and Kris HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA.”
Flipping it over, Sharp saw the flyer continued on the back. In lieu of the hyperbolic, histrionic caps, though, there was text even more inflicting: Sharp’s medical records, confirming his status as an HIV-positive student.
Found around the UHD campus.
“I was initially really devastated that this could happen,” Sharp, who has taken a week to digest the message, told Hair Balls. “What was going through my head was, ‘How quickly can I transfer?’”
Sharp, who’d recently spoken openly about both his sexuality and HIV status, had heard that the flyers were floating around. He’d heard mention that someone was handing them out to passersby, but doesn’t know whether anyone’s yet laid eyes on the individual, or individuals, who spread these papers through campus. He only knows that he wasn’t expecting something this despicable, this horrific, when he initially announced an interest in running for student body president next month.
Evan Wiens, 16, of Steinbach, Man., Says He’ll Do What It Takes to Ensure Gay and Lesbian Students at His High School Are Supported, Even Though He May Not Have the Support of Everyone in His Community. (by tvnportal)
A school I once attended. At that time, they did not allow school dances as dancing was the ‘devils work.’ But, the school has now decided to allow Evan to put up posters for his GSA.
Go Evan!
Q.
Gay teen holds the line for Manitoba bullying bill
This was never meant to become a battle, and Evan Wiens didn’t expect to find himself in the thick of it. Instead, it all began as routine: Manitoba’s government, spurred by the high-profile suicide of B.C. teen Amanda Todd, tabled a bill that would beef up its bullying laws.
Worded as a largely boilerplate protection of “a safe and inclusive learning environment,” Bill 18 drew little attention at first. But it has become a flashpoint. Opponents say the bill threatens religious freedom by broadly defining bullying and protecting gay-straight alliances (GSAs) but not mentioning faith groups.
The backlash is most acute in Steinbach, a small city of about 13,500 people southeast of Winnipeg. It’s there that the local MP – cabinet minister Vic Toews – has joined the local MLA and religious leaders in speaking out against Bill 18.
And it’s Evan’s home.
The 16-year-old is trying to start a GSA at the public Steinbach Regional Secondary School, where he’s the only student who has come out as gay. He’s become the face of Bill 18 in the city where it’s most strongly opposed. And it’s not easy.
During Evan’s interviews, with cameras rolling, other students shout slurs at him. He shrugs it off as best he can, saying he’s fighting for those who feel they can’t speak out.“They should not have to feel ashamed, and they should not have to feel like they have to hide themselves,” said the 16-year-old, who was shy, at first, about his fight. “But then I thought about it, and I thought if a church is allowed to vocally oppose a bill, what’s so bad about me standing up for my rights?”
LGBT-inclusive Best Practices Now Available
Seems to be a good resource, but why ‘teaching tolerance’ rather than ‘teaching acceptance’?
Q.
Submitted by Teaching Tolerance Staff on March 12, 2013
Though lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students are harassed at twice the rate of other students, a few purposeful steps can transform a school into a safe place for all students, according to a guide released today by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project.
Best Practices: Creating an LGBT-inclusive School Climate offers advice ranging from ensuring that a school’s anti-bullying policy explicitly prohibits anti-LGBT bullying to recognizing staff members who promote an inclusive school environment.
The guide also offers advice regarding dress codes, gay-straight alliances and ensuring that LGBT students are not excluded from school events.
“This best practices guide is about creating schools where all students feel safe and supported,” Teaching Tolerance Director Maureen Costello said. “Every student has a right to attend school without harassment. This guide shows how a few simple steps can make all the difference.”
Studies have shown that creating a supportive environment for LGBT students improves educational outcomes for all students. A recent Human Rights Campaign survey also underscored how the failure to create an inclusive environment harms LGBT students. These students reported being harassed at school – verbally and physically – at twice the rate of non-LGBT youth.
Protest held for gay student who claims she was bullied by teacher
OurWindsor.Ca by Jonathon Liedtke
Roughly two-dozen supporters protested in front of the Catholic District School Board’s office to show support for a student who claims she was bullied by her teacher due to her sexual orientation and whose message to other bullied students is to stand up for yourself.
Grade 12 St. Thomas of Villanova student Brooke Mulligan claims that her religion teacher discriminated against her due to her sexual orientation and that she attended the protest because she wanted “to stand up against bullying.”
“It’s pretty amazing,” Mulligan exclaimed in response to the number of people who attended the protest.
“I’ve had a past teacher who has been bullying me at school [since] coming out,” stated Mulligan who added that the religion teacher when discussing homosexuality would explicitly stare at her during class and taught that “homosexuals can’t get married in the Catholic church [which] upset me. Obviously I want to get married when I’m older, in a church.”
“We don’t feel that this is a case of bullying but we are still investigating the circumstances,” said Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board superintendent Michael Seguin who also explained that an investigation into the matter has been launched.
Mulligan claims that a complaint had been submitted to both the school and the school board, however Seguin stated that the board hasn’t received any formal complaint and that Mulligan going to the media caught the board off guard.
Anoka-Hennepin schools: Gay bullying has eased after lawsuit settlement
Finally some encouraging news from Anoka-Hennepin.
TW bullying, talk of suicide
Q.
Posted: 03/02/2013 05:58:31 PM CST
Updated: 03/02/2013 09:29:08 PM CST
Friends Mykala Edner, 17, right, and Molly Herrmann, 18, both of Coon Rapids, hang out at lunch at Coon Rapids High School last month. Edner identifies herself as bisexual. Bullying of LGBT students in Anoka-Hennepin schools has eased according to many in the district. (Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin)
Friends Zach Jensen, 16, left, and Max Miller, 18, laugh during lunch at Coon Rapids High School. Jensen is openly gay and Miller is openly transgender. (Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin)
Ann Lindsey remembers feeling scared and hot when she made the phone call.
It was Aug. 25, 2010. The middle-school teacher was sitting in her car outside Jackson Middle School in Champlin during a 47-minute break from teacher training. Lindsey waited till she was on break and off school property because she worried the call might upset administrators in the Anoka-Hennepin school district.
She was calling an attorney at one of the nation’s leading civil rights groups to report the conditions facing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students in Minnesota’s largest school district.
Australia: Gay kids bullied by teachers as well as other students says study
Australian students reported that teachers as well as peers bullied them about their sexuality
A report by Parents and Friends of Gays and Lesbians (PFLAG), based in the Australian state of Queensland, has said that gay, lesbian, and bisexual students face bullying from their teachers as well as their peers.
According to PFLAG, 70% of gay and lesbian children said they had been bullied about their sexuality and sometimes by their teachers.
The Associated Press reports that PFLAG representatives had met with the Queensland government to discuss the issue.
The Federal Schools Education Minister Peter Garrett said: “I very much want to see state education ministers nationwide recognise that this is a real and present issue for young people in our schools.
“Where we see victimisation or bullying on the basis of sexual choice or gender it is completely unacceptable.”
Department of Education, Training and Employment officials said they would look to address the issue, and would be adding anti-homophobic bullying guidelines to their website.
To This Day Project - Shane Koyczan (by Shane Koyczan)
Shane is an amazing poet who performed at the Vancouver Olympics closing ceremonies. He hails from beautiful British Columbia, Canada.
TW talk of suicide, violence.
Q.
Shane Koyczan “To This Day” http://www.tothisdayproject.com Help this message have a far reaching and long lasting effect in confronting bullying. Please share generously.
East Aurora, Ill., school district dissolves transgender policy committee
One has to wonder what it will take for the school board to come to their senses. Sadly, the lives of more trans*/queer youth. Children always seem to pay the price for adult ignorance.
Q.
AURORA, Ill. — After over two months of contentious debate, controversy and uncertainty, the East Aurora School District 131 has called off the creation of a new policy that would add protections for transgender and gender nonconforming students.
After hearing over 30 members of the local community — about 40 miles west of Chicago — decry the creation of such a policy as “dangerous” for district students, the school board unanimously voted Monday to disband the Ad Hoc committee it ordered in late October, citing its failure to yield progress.
“We have gotten to hear from the parents of the community and I am glad for that,” said Board President Annette Johnson. “I think this committee has served the purpose of bringing the community together and I think it is time to disband the committee.”
Anita Lewis, a school board member who chaired the Ad Hoc committee said she was disappointed by its inability to get work done during its meetings due to people from within and outside the community demanding to be a part of the discussion.
“Unfortunately, this committee has turned into a show,” Lewis said. “We have policies already in place that are there to protect students. I don’t see us going forward. This Ad Hoc committee isn’t going to help anyone. I think we should get rid of it.”
The Ad Hoc committee’s last meeting, Nov. 30, was picketed by over 120 religious and conservative protesters who were against its continuation. Police were also called in by the Department of Justice due to safety concerns for some of the committee members.
Illinois school district puts transgender policy committee on hold
“Pro-transgender speakers were hissed at, booed and shouted down by the protesters, according to sources in the room.”
Wow. Imagine how this must make the trans* students (or any student) feel when bullying is occurring at meeting supposedly convened to talk about ending bullying.
Q.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The future of an Ad Hoc committee charged with creating protective policy for East Aurora School District transgender students is in question after its chairman declined to schedule further meetings due to intense opposition from local religious groups and residents.
The brouhaha over the creation of a policy that would create protections for transgender and gender nonconforming students in District 131 continued Nov. 30, when over 120 conservative and religious protesters picketed the committee’s second meeting, raising safety concerns and much uncertainty over the group’s ability to work together.
Committee Chairman Anita Lewis, who also serves on the district’s school board, concluded the at-capacity meeting without determining a future gathering date over safety concerns for some members of the committee who are transgender, and said she will take her concerns to the full school board for further review.
Because of safety concerns, the Department of Justice ordered a police presence at the meeting, according to District 131 Director of Communications Clayton Muhammad.
“We did due diligence to make sure there was a police presence in the building,” Muhammad said, adding that about 25 people spoke before the committee, most of them in opposition of creating a new policy.
KEY FINDINGS
Hostile School Climate and Student Victimization
- 87% of rural LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 45% reported being physically harassed and 22% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
- 68% of rural LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 31% reported being physically harassed and 16% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their gender expression.
- 91% of rural LGBT students heard “gay” used in a negative way (e.g., “that’s so gay”) and 79% of LGBT students frequently or often heard other homophobic remarks (e.g., “dyke” or “faggot”) at school.
- 3 in 5 (61%) rural LGBT students heard remarks about students not acting “masculine” enough; 42% had heard similar comments about students not acting “feminine” enough frequently or often at school.
- Only 13% of rural LGBT students reported that school personnel intervened always or most of the time when they heard homophobic remarks, and 11% said school personnel intervened when they heard negative remarks related to gender expression.
- Rural LGBT students reported feeling unsafe in specific school spaces, most commonly locker rooms (45%), bathrooms (44%) and physical education/gym class (37%).
- Rural LGBT students who experienced higher levels of victimization were less likely to plan to attend college than students who experienced lower levels of victimization (85% vs 93%).
Presence of Interventions and Support
- 11% of rural LGBT students reported having an LGBT-inclusive curriculum (i.e., having been taught positive things about LGBT people, history, or events in their classes), significantly less than the 18% of suburban and 20% of urban students.
- 39% of rural LGBT students whose school computers had Internet access said that they could access LGBT-related websites, compared to 44% of suburban students and 44% of urban students.
- 27% of rural students reported having a GSA at school, compared to 55% of suburban students and 53% of urban students. But when there was a GSA at school, rural students were more likely to attend than urban and suburban students.
- 25% of rural LGBT students reported having a school administration supportive of LGBT students, compared to 35% of students in suburban schools and 36% in urban schools.
- 28% of rural students reported that other students in their schools were accepting of LGBT students, compared to suburban (33% accepting) or urban (46% accepting) areas.
- 18% of rural students attended schools with policies that enumerated sexual orientation or gender expression, including only 5% who said that their schools enumerated both categories.
- Although they were less prevalent in rural areas, access to LGBT-supportive resources were associated with significantly better well-being and connectedness to school, and substantially lower levels of victimization.
Key Differences By Locale
- Rural LGBT students reported feeling less safe than students in suburban and urban areas and rural students living in the South and Midwest were more likely to feel unsafe based on sexual orientation than were students in rural areas of the Northeast or West.
- Rural LGBT students heard most types of biased language more than urban and suburban students, particularly with homophobic remarks being particularly significant.
- Rural LGBT students were more likely to feel unsafe at school due to their sexual orientation (71% vs. 62% of suburban and 58% of urban school students) and gender expression (49% of rural students vs. 42% of suburban and 42% of urban students).
- Rural students were more likely to report discriminatory policies or practices against LGBT people by their school or school personnel compared to suburban and urban students.
- Rural LGBT students were significantly less comfortable talking about LGBT issues to school personnel than either urban or suburban students.
- 36% of rural LGBT students had missed class and/or a day of school in the past month due to feeling unsafe, compared to 30% of suburban LGBT students and 30% of urban LGBT students.
Artists Against Bullying - True Colors [Official Video] (by farawaybrothers)
Lovely rendition of a Cyndi Lauper classic.
Q.
“Jacob Hoggard, Lights, Pierre Bouvier, Fefe Dobson, Kardinal Offishall, Alyssa Reid, and Walk Off The Earth teamed up to show their support for the anti-bullying movement and record Cyndi Lauper’s classic True Colors.
“Bullying is an issue that affects many of us. Whether mild or severe, it’s something that can negatively impact our lives, our relationships, schooling, mental health, etc. Bullying is something MuchMusic takes a hard stance against.
