Week 11 Reading Journal (GLSEN)

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Temple University *

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0823

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Sociology

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Jan 9, 2024

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Kaylien Tran THE EXPERIENCES OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS: FINDINGS FROM THE 2007 NATIONAL SCHOOL CLIMATE SURVEY GLSEN Week 11 Reading Journal (GLSEN) For GLSEN: Summary: In regards to the LGBTQ community, school is not typically a safe space to speak of that matter. There are often derogatory comments and harassment that derives from the topic of LGBTQ and little to no intervention by staff. Especially with middle schoolers, they get the short end of the stick compared to high schoolers due to their lack of access to resources and support. The first finding from this survey and such is that homophobic remarks and negative comments about someone’s gender expression were prevalent in middle schools and that it was found more often there than in high school and the staff failed to address the problem or acknowledge it. Nine in ten LGBT middle schoolers heard “gay” used in a negative way, eight in ten middle schoolers reported hearing students say homophobic slurs in addition to six in ten students heard school staff state homophobic remarks as well. In addition, they’ve constantly heard about not acting “masculine” or feminine enough: and that two-thirds heard negative remarks regarding gender expression from peers and staff as well. Overall, the faculty at middle schools fail to address the issue and intervene with the negativity that is clearly present at the school. Less than a fifth of LGBT students reported that faculty intervened, showing that everything is completely normal in middle school and this can definitely be a negative effect on the student overall. The second finding was that the LGBT middle schoolers experienced extreme verbal harassment due to their sexual orientation and gender expression, whether they were physically harassed or assaulted based on these characteristics, but middle schoolers were reported to be higher victims rather than high school students. The worst part is that most of the middle schoolers never turned to any school authorities or faculty members regarding these incidents or these situations go unreported. Nine in ten LGBT students in middle school were verbally harassed, most commonly on an everyday basis due to their sexual orientation or gender expression. Six in ten middle schoolers experienced physical harassment for the same reason. These incidents are less often reported and it especially happens when the student is in middle school rather than in high school. Sadly, these students who experience victimization in middle school are not receiving the same support as high schoolers to deal with this situation. The third finding is that LGBT middle school students miss classes or do not want to attend school altogether due to the fact that they felt unsafe. The higher levels of harassment, the more of a chance that they will be reported missing in school. Half of LGBT students report missing at least one day in one month due to how unsafe they feel and more of a third of students skipped class. Also with the fourth finding, assault, harassment, and absenteeism as a result of unsafe school environments definitely negatively affected LGBT middle school students' academic

Kaylien Tran performance and overall attendance. Apparently, the students that missed school because they felt unsafe typically had low GPAs than those who did not skip and didn’t have safety concerns. Those who experienced harassment and assault also usually had lower GPAs as well compared to those who never were victimized. Lastly, the fifth finding is that LGBT students in middle school did not have access to resources, support, and interventions that could’ve helped them and improved the school climate overall. Students that did have support such as Gay- Straight Alliances, supportive staff, LGBT-Inclusive Curricular resources, and much more are seen to feel much more comfortable and safe in their own environment, and this is more prevalent in high school rather than middle school, thus concluding that middle school students definitely faced many hardships when embracing their sexuality and identity overall. Significant Takeaways: When I saw the statistic about six in ten middle schoolers hearing school staff and faculty make homophobic remarks, I was extremely shocked and I felt like this part stuck out the most because these children tend to look up to these adults as role models and people that they can trust. If they are faced with even adults insulting something that they identify with, then how can they feel safe or normal or even conform to society? These students will constantly fear verbal abuse and the outcast from not just their peers but teachers as well and since less than a fifth of middle school students stated that the staff intervened in such remarks, this comes to play a big role in students’ lives. Knowing that they cannot be protected from such abuse and that nobody will be by their side, especially at a crucial time period in one’s life (middle school tends to be the time where self-identification is prevalent and where everything is determined overall), this can lead to some extremely serious issues, whether it be staying closeted and depressed constantly, always forcing themselves to conform to society and be who they’re not, and so much more. Even the students that were harassed, according to the second finding, are unable to tell the faculty members about the abuse, never telling the school authorities or adults about this because they are afraid of being outcasted. I feel like this is because they have become conditioned to act this way due to the fact that the faculty members never showed their support for the LGBTQ community and have done nothing but ignore the conflicts going on in the school overall. These middle schoolers truly feel like nobody can help them but themselves and that they are alone in this world which can develop not-so-great things in the future. I also felt that it did truly stick with me when this survey found out that LGBTQ middle schoolers tend to face much harsher abuse whether it be verbal or physical than LGBTQ high schoolers. Though it was not surprising due to the fact that high schoolers have already figured out their lives and started to realize that they have control to stand up for themselves rather than conform to their peers, but with middle schoolers, they feel that at their age, looking good in front of their peers and being seen as “normal” is something that they value a lot in their life, thus feeling the need to conform to society overall and shut their true selves out. What truly did shock me the most was that these students would skip class or even just not attend school in general because they were worried about their own well-being and safety as a whole. This not only lowers their GPA but also creates less school involvement and impacts their well-being negatively. This comes to show that having a certain way of support even if it’s just a little can definitely change their overall lifestyle if the school would just try.

Kaylien Tran Questions: 1. If middle schoolers are faced with even adults insulting something that they identify with, then how can they feel safe or normal or even conform to society? 2. What can middle schoolers do to avoid such situations and negative verbal abuse? 3. Why is there constant negativity regarding the LGBTQ community, especially more in middle school rather than in high school? 4. Are these teens aware that they have the power to spread awareness about their sexuality and identities so that’s why they feel more comfortable being proud of it in high school? 5. How common would it be for LGBTQ middle schoolers to skip classes or school in general? 6. Would their parents not notice or not intervene at all upon seeing their child’s behavior or would they just ignore it because they feel that their child is not normal like the others? 7. Middle school is such a crucial time for tweens to identify themselves and seek their own crowd and behavior, so why do the faculty take this situation with a grain of salt? 8. How are GPA and attendance correlated with each other? 9. Is it because they are attending class less, so they are unable to learn as well and are not exposed to the learning process and environment as a whole? 10. Why are there more school support and organizations that are prevalent in high school rather than in middle school?

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