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1.) The LGBTQ+ students face various of different issues within the school setting. Students are often harassed and bullied, or even attacked and pushed to fight. Not only does these acts of hate cause students to want to drop out of school, it also put mental illness on the LGBTQ+ students. The mental illness could be life threatening at times.
2.) As school social workers we can help the LGBTQ+ students in many different ways. It is our job to make sure our students feel safe at school. Programs can be put into place to create clubs with LGBTQ+ students. They could talk about the problems they face and get solutions from adult mentors. Also, we can try and stop as much bullying as possible. Punish the bullies every-time they do something mean or harsh.
3.) Bullying and Harassment may cause mental illness. Sometimes this illness can be life threatening. There have been many different people that have took their own life due to bullying and harassment.
4.) There are many different bills that are helping the LGBTQ+ community. Senate Bill 3266 prevents bullying and violence in school because of ones race, religion, sexuality or gender. Many of these bills are geared towards bullying.
5.) There have been various different laws put in place to hurt the LGBTQ+ population. The House Bill 186 is one of these. This bill discriminates against transgenders and makes them use the bathroom that fits the gender they were assigned to at birth. So if the person was born a boy at birth but wants to be a girl they must go to the male bathroom.

Cassidy,
Your presentation overall was very thought out. You presented the information well. I didn't know much about the LGBTQ+ community but I have learned great information from your padlet. Overall great presentation!!

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For those of you that would rather listen to the presentation I will leave a voice over of the presentation here.

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Social Work and LGBTQ+ Students: How Can We Help?

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Social Work and LGBTQ+ Students: How Can We Help?

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I am going to explore how being a part of the LGBTQ+ community affects students, some of the policies that both hurt and help students, and ideas for early intervention planning (EIP's). At the end of this presentation, there will be an assessment of five question that I would like you to answer.

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How Does Being Part of the LGBTQ+ Community Affect Students

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How Does Being Part of the LGBTQ+ Community Affect Students

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Being a part of the LGBTQ+ population has many affects on the students. In high school, many children are now figuring out their sexual identity along with their gender identity (Cianciotto & Cahill, 2003). This newfound identity can lead to children being harassed in schools. Cianciotto and Cahill (2003) found that bisexual students are more likely to be in violent attacks while gay students were more likely to start fights. These fights could be a result of many issues such as fear, bullying, or the need to fit in. It is known that throughout the past years, there has been discrimination against the population, that could be linked to more LGBTQ+ individuals starting to come out (Russell, Kosclw, Horn, & Saewyc, 2010). There are more and more LGBTQ+ youth that are at risk now. There has been a rise in substance abuse among the community as well (Russell, Kosclw, Horn, & Saewyc, 2010). This may be a way to help cope with how they feel if they do not have a safe environment. Within schools and the workforce there is more sexual harassment for openly LGBTQ+ individuals than there are for straight individuals (Cianciotto & Cahill, 2003). This type of harassment can come in many forms such as name-calling and being grabbed inappropriately. This is not acceptable for young students that are having to deal with this on a day to day basis. It can disrupt their school work and make them not want to come in to classes. It is vital to support our LGBTQ+ students in any way possible as these types of assaults can lead to mental illnesses (Cianciotto & Cahill, 2003). These illnesses may be life threatening, or they could be harmless. Either way as a school system the students well-being should come first and foremost. There are many students who may want to skip or drop out of school altogether from harassment. According to Cianciotto and Cahill (2003), there has been a rise in students that are skipping classes to get away from the bullying. There has also been an increase in anti-LGBT bills in the last few years (Great Valley Publishing Company, 2018). These bills range from bathrooms laws to being able to deny same-sex couples employment. Each of these laws hurt our school’s students because once they leave here, they must go out into the world. It is crucial that we try to help the students now so that they can live positive lives once they leave school.

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This three minute video talks about some of the same issues that I have mentioned when talking about the effects on the LGBTQ+ student community.

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LGBT High School Students Share Their Experiences

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How Do School Policies Help and Hurt the Students?

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How Do School Policies Help and Hurt the Students?

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There are many different laws in place that may hurt LGBTQ+ students within our schools. There is House Bill 186; this bill discriminates against transgender people and students by stating that they must go to the bathroom that fits their assigned gender at birth (Human Rights Campaign, 2017). This bill can hinder students because it can lead to excess bullying, especially students that are going through a transitioning phase or have already transitioned. This bill could also lead to sexual harassment. There was also a law passed in some states that let schools discriminate against a person’s sexual identity due to religion or moral reasons (Great Valley Publishing Company, 2018). These laws could inhibit students from going to schools of their choice or even getting into schools at all.
However, some laws help LGBTQ+ students. Senate Bill 3266 prevents bullying and violence in schools based on someone’s sexual or gender identity along with race, religion, etc. (Russell, Kosclw, Horn, & Saewyc, 2010). It is one of the first bills of its kind and was passed by the Illinois state senate. The meaning of the bill is that if a student is being bullied because of how they identify the school must do something about it. There is also Senate Bill 1987B, better known as the Dignity for All Students Act. The Dignity for All Students act helps protect students and parents from discrimination and harassment due to any perceived bias that one may have. Students are allowed to be who they are without shame or having to worry about being harassed and not having something done about it (Russell, Kosclw, Horn, & Saewyc, 2010) with the passing of this act.

There are also some bills that are being discussed that would help students. H.R. 2262 & S. 3739 or the Safe Schools Improvement Act would require schools to add bullying and harassment on their records that go out at the end of the year (Russell, Kosclw, Horn, & Saewyc, 2010). The Safe Schools Improvement Act would help schools make sure that they take bullying and harassment seriously because if they do not, it could impact the school’s records. In addition to the on Safe Schools Improvement Act, there is also H.R. 4530 & S. 3390 or the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which makes sure that LGBTQ+ students have a safe learning environment for everyone (Russell, Kosclw, Horn, & Saewyc, 2010).

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Early Intervention Planning for LGBTQ+ Students

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Early Intervention Planning for LGBTQ+ Students

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There are many plans we can use to help with early intervention. In this presentation, I will have one for each level or tier. Tier one (macro), tier two (mezzo), and tier three (micro). Each of these EIP’s will hold a different meaning. Tier one is meant to help the whole school (macro) and many students do succeed from just this tier (Massat, Constable, McDonald, & Flynn, 2016 ). Tier two, focuses on group work (mezzo) and works over a course of weeks to help students (Massat, et al, 2016). Tier three, works on the individual student (micro) and works to make sure that the student can succeed academically (Massat, et al, 2016).

For Tier one, we would work on promoting a no-bullying policy which would include making sure that we are watching the hallways during breaks and stopping any bullying we see. It will not only help with the harassment of LGBTQ+ students but other students as well. Also presenting assemblies and getting the word out about what is happening. If we can spread the word, then we can help stop bullying. We can monitor progress by seeing if people who were being bullied before and speaking out about it are still being targeted. If claims of bullying and harassment go down, then we know we are doing our job.

Tier two, would focus on working with bullying and harassment victims in small groups. Having a support group could let the students that are having these issues know that there is someone out there facing the same problem. We would also try to promote students to start their own groups. Having a group that is made by students would give them power. To monitor the progress, we would talk to the students in the small groups. If claims are going down and they are sticking up for themselves in a way that is healthy, that would be considered progress.

For tier three, we would work with students that are having issues in the group one on one. we would sit down and plan with them. If they are having trouble in classes due to the bullying and harassment, we will set up a tutoring service for them and if possible move them to a different class. If they are close to dropping out, we will help set up a plan that would make sure that they are staying on task. To monitor progress, we would be able to see the student grow. If they are doing well in class and are on track, then would demonstrate success. In addition, we could look at how they are handling the harassment and bullying if they were acting out before.

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1)      What are some issues within schools that LGBTQ+ students face?

2)      What are some ways that we can help LGBTQ+ students?

3)      What are some of the problems that bullying and harassment might cause?

4)      What are some of the laws that help LGBTQ+ students?

5)      What are some laws that hurt LGBTQ+ students?

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Cianciotto, J., & Cahill, S. (2003). Education policy: Issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. New York: The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute. Retrieved March 9, 2018, from http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/EducationPolicy.pdf

Great Valley Publishing Company, Inc. (2018). LGBTQ rights at risk - with protections threatened, advocates seek social work allies. Social Work Today Magazine. Retrieved June 10, 2018, from http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/MJ18p10.shtml

Human Rights Campaign. (2017). 100 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2018, from https://www.hrc.org/blog/100-anti-lgbtq-bills-introduced-in-2017
Massat, C.R., Constable, R., McDonald, S., & Flynn, J.P. (2016). School social work: Practice, policy,

and research (8th ed.). Chicago: Lyceum Books, Inc.

Russell, S. T., Kosclw, J., Horn, S., & Saewyc, E. (2010). Safe schools policy for LGBTQ students. Social Policy Report, 24(4), 1-25. Retrieved June 10, 2018, from http://srcd.org/sites/default/files/documents/spr_24_4_final.pdf