Asking U.S. 14-to-17-year-olds about their sexuality for the first time since the first Youth Risk Behavior Study in 1994, the Centers for Disease Control researchers found that youth who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual are far more likely to experience depression, bullying and other forms of violence than their straight peers, EducationNews.org reported (the survey didn't ask students if … [Read more...] about Heartbreaking US data on LGB youth risk
LGBT
How anonymity’s a safety factor: 1 clear example
People sometimes fear or vilify online anonymity, and there are well-lighted places like Facebook where reliance on offline identity is a safety factor, but we seem often to forget that anonymity is a safety factor too, one that long predates the Internet. Well-known examples are political and human-rights activists in many parts of the world now and throughout history. Another example was … [Read more...] about How anonymity’s a safety factor: 1 clear example
Tolerance training: Schools on tightropes
It certainly complicates the public discussion about dealing with bullying and cyberbullying: In an effort to tackle bullying and cyberbullying with empathy- or at least tolerance-training, schools around the US are finding themselves caught in culture wars, the New York Times reports. With national news coverage of cyberbullying-related suicides and growing evidence that gay and lesbian youth are … [Read more...] about Tolerance training: Schools on tightropes
The freedom to *not* fit in
...and to be oneself is something every young person deserves, President Obama said this week, when he spoke of his sadness over the suicides of gay youth. "We've got to dispel this myth that bullying is a rite of passage, some inevitable part of growing up. It's not. We have the job of ensuring our schools are safe for all of our kids." Ensuring that every child not only has that freedom but is … [Read more...] about The freedom to *not* fit in