Document Review Sample

[The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) organization at my high school, which meets twice per month, generated a list of concerns that they shared with school administration. The focus was specifically about gender identity, the lack of support from school staff, and the daily scrutiny they face as a result of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Through collaboration with my colleagues it was evident that there had been an increase in teacher and student referrals surrounding gender identity. The feedback from GSA clearly identified that as a school we are not meeting the needs of our LGBT students and those struggling with sexual orientation. Members of the GSA clearly feel that teachers ignore negative comments like “gay” and “faggot” when they hear them in class, that teachers may not clearly understand gender neutral language, and that our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) students do not feel safe and protected in school. Students needed support advocating for their right to use a restroom, correct pronoun, etc., requiring district, community, parent, and colleague

gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students; part-time and full-time students; students with and without disabilities; and students of different races and national origins," it says. The guidance goes on to say that schools are obligated to "respond appropriately" to complaints of

School psychologists must help create and foster an environment that educates administrators, teachers, and non LGBT students. Many lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender youth do not feel safe in school. Sexual minority students may suffer harassment (verbal and/or physical) from teachers and peers. As a result, they may experience more absences than heterosexual students. In addition, LGBT youth may turn to drugs and alcohol as a means of coping with the stressful school environment (Patterson 2013, p.192). Many will contemplate or even commit suicide.

Education is an important factor in life in order to thrive, but LGBT students face harassment in school due to their identity. According to a Human Rights report conducted in 2001, two million American students in the LGBT

The informed consent should indicate the participant has read, and understands the details of the study. A statement regarding the maintenance of privacy, confidentiality, and right to decline to participate is included on the consent form, and discussed with each participant prior to the beginning of any interviews. One copy of the consent form is provided to the participant for their records, with the original signed copy is maintained by the researcher in safe

Most LGBT youth become happy with who they are which gives them room to thrive during their adolescent years. Attending a school that has a safe and comfortable environment for every student is especially important. Positive environments can help all youth achieve good grades and maintain good mental and physical health. However, some youths are more likely than their straight peers to experience bad health and life outcomes. Experiences with violence, compared to other students, come easy to LGBT individuals that can cause increased risks for unfortunate circumstances.‘Violence’ includes behaviors such as teasing, harassment, and physical assault. It is important that students at risk have access to resources and support to deal with any questions or challenges they may have or face as they mature. Surveyed LGBT students reported 10% were threatened or injured, 34% were bullied, and 28% were bullied electronically.

GSA groups have been around since the 1980’s and according to the Gay-Straight Alliance Network there are currently over 4,000 school based groups throughout the United States (Currie, Mayberry, and Chenneville, 2012; Tommey, Ryan, Diaz, and Russell, 2011). GSA groups came out of the Gay Rights Movement during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Adolescents identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) or align within the context of this spectrum have been victims of bullying, discrimination, prejudice, persecution, and hate within the school system. For one decade, between 1999 and 2009, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in the United States asking students to describe their high school milieu. According to the findings, 61% of LGBT students feel unsafe, 72% report hearing degrading comments, 85% are verbally harassed, and 40% are physically harassed (Fetner, Elafros, Bortolin, and Drechsler, 2012). The statistics for minority high school students including Latinos and African Americans had slightly elevated rates in both verbal and physical harassment. It was not until the realization that LGBT adolescents, like other adolescents, spend the majority of their time within the confines of the American public education system and suffer, did acknowledgement of creating a safe space for LGBT students develop (Toomey et. al, 2011).

I made an informed consent form. In the informed consent form, I explained the purpose of the study, the methodology of the study and that I will ensure confidentiality by having no identifying information on the questionnaire. None of the participants raised concerns about their rights as a participant. One participant did ask about the purpose of the informed consent.

Emily: During the time invested on researching the SAFE Schools organization, I was under the impression that it was a well-organized group with a direct mission statement, however I did not give them enough credit for just how organized they are; Through active involvement and participation of members, new categories of focus are continually being added. While in attendance, I learned from an LGBTQ member that SAFE Schools also offers parent support and outreach for same sex parents. This outreach includes parenting advice, counseling, and a support network of families. The level of support and caring spirit within this community is quite impressive. Even as a new participant with little to no understanding of their culture, every member greeted me, made me feel comfortable, and welcomed all questions. Perhaps the most surprising aspect was how candid panel members were about

The Belmont Report establishes ethical standards for researchers seeking to involve human subjects (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1979). Among these standards is respect for persons- the right of people to be treated as autonomous agents (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1979). Privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality (PAC) fall under this standard (Farrimond, 2013). In research studies, privacy refers to an expectation that access to participants ' information will be limited to those that have a legitimate right to it (Farrimond, 2013). It is also expected that reasonable steps will be taken to prevent unauthorized access to the information. To expand on privacy, most studies allow anonymity- the removal of names and other identifying information (addresses, job titles, age) to protect the identities of participants (Farrimond, 2013). Anonymity increases the likelihood that potential subjects will agree to participate in a study, as they feel more comfortable disclosing information that may otherwise result in negative consequences (Farrimond, 2013). Confidentiality ensures study participants that their information will not be shared beyond the scope of the study (Farrimond, 2013).

A comprehensive anti-homophobia school policy that includes the needs of staff and students, commitment to staff development and curricula development, can assist principals, teachers, and students to challenge and disrupt homophobic beliefs and practices in their schools. Evidence into the implementation of current anti-homophobia school policies from Canada, Australia and USA shows that policy based protection makes a positive difference to LGBT students as it has a highly significant relationship with reduced likelihood of thinking about self-harm, actual self- harm, suicidal ideation and attempted suicide [34]–[36].

I researched different types of experiences that LGBT parents have had while sending their children to school. I tried to recognize any patterns or key factors that played a role in causing some families any frustrations or discriminations. I also researched if there were any policies or methods that schools had implemented that worked well when working with their LGBT families. From this research, I then began to create two separate documents where there were solutions or suggestions, which would make the overall experience for the LGBT parents, the school, and the children involved, better. The next step was to have a focus group with members of a school faculty and members of the LGBT community to discuss and go over these documents to ensure that everyone has a clear idea of how to handle any situation. By creating a dialogue between groups, this will hopefully benefit future LGBT parents, children, and

The purpose of the research article was to examine the competencies of school counselors when working with the multicultural and sexual orientation of their students. Schools can be unsafe due to bullying and victimization for students labeled as LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender and Queer), as they are more likely to be a target than heterosexual students. They experience varying levels of being sexually harassed, and endure being emotionally and physically abused. Due to the harassment, they endure these children are not attending school, which is affecting their academic performance and how they view their future (Kosciw, Greytak, Diaz & Bartkiewicz, as cited by Bidwell, 2012, p. 200). For the last few year’s counselors main focus was “ethnic minorities and cross-cultural population” (Bidell, 2012, p.201),

Heather Murphy created a journal in 2012 that focused on ways to improve a high school setting for all students, but especially for ones that are member of the LBGTQIA+ community. The opening line of Murphy’s journal is: “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students are at risk for peer rejection, lack of school support, and verbal and physical victimization at school” (2012). Throughout the research conducted around the idea of a GSA one factor is overpowering, and that is what can happen when a queer person does not feel supported and understood. When someone creates a GSA in a school they are banning students together and combating the peer rejection, they are challenging the generalization that schools do not support

Granting great progress has been made for the rights of our Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) community since the 1970’s, there is still a presence of personal and institutionalized homophobia in rural settings such as Kentucky. Evidence of such homophobia was displayed in some of the public school districts, where harassment of actual and perceived gay students is rampant, and school policies fall short of protecting the students’ rights, and in most recent events where Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis refused to issue marriage license to gay couples.