Final draft + Bibleography. (Format is impossible to do correctly on blogger)

                                                                                                                                        Taylor Ramsay

                                                                                                                                               English 1A

                                                                                                                                                    12/9/12

December 9, 2012

 
To the ones who look away,

Every child in America is deserving of growing up in a safe, compassionate environment. Getting through the teenage years is one of the hardest things anyone experiences in their lifetime. And anyone who has made it through grade-school, even, knows that these years are an abundance of confusion, contradictions, and the acceptance of the fact that one’s own peers can be very, very cruel. You are constantly told by the world to accept yourself for who you are, but that at the same time you must conform to the social norms or suffer the consequences. You are told that everybody is different, unique, but that you must also be like everybody else, which in itself is already incredibly confusing. This contradictive aspect of modern society is something we’re all somewhat aware of, but cannot seem to find a solution to. We’re all trying to decipher where we would be best-suited in the world. Due to the sometimes antagonistic view towards anything ill-fitting to our social norms all children are struck with the potential of being tormented, including the LGBT community. No matter what your spiritual beliefs consist of, everyone should be able to agree with the simple fact that no child should ever feel unsafe at school. Schools are a place for learning, and for gaining the same opportunity that every child in America is promised; equality and the chance to succeed.  

 According to the National schools climate survey in New York, safety is an issue for LGBT youth. This survey paints a realistic picture of this problem, a reported 63% of these students admit they felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and the numbers are much higher for transgender students (80%). It seems that for transgender students, the climate is likely to be much more hostile. A shocking 81.9% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 38.3% were physically harassed, and 18.3% were actually physically assaulted. About one third of these students admit they have skipped a class to avoid being harassed, and the grade point average is lower for the students that are harassed the most. It is obvious that this bullying takes a very literal toll on their schoolwork, and that should never be the case. Bullying of this caliber can have intense effect on one’s self-worth. It can lead to depression, substance abuse and even suicide. The same study showed that while coming out as gay brings higher rates of psychological well-being it can also lead to a much higher level of peer victimization. A supportive environment, both at home and at school is very important to the emotional health of these teens. A study done in Oregon showed that LGBT youth are 17.3% more likely to commit suicide then their heterosexual peers, and 20% more likely when in an unsupportive environment. It is important that schools and teachers continue taking steps to solve this bullying epidemic in our country.

At this point there is no federal law that directly addresses bullying, although every state has their own laws, policies, or both. Seth’s law was passed in California, in response to the suicide of a boy named Seth Walsh shortly after being rescued from a group of bullies. It is supposed to force schools to update their bullying policies to include bullying based on perceived sexual orientation. Although this is a step in the right direction, it’s not perfect. Parts of the law have been removed due to budget problems that would have had bullies placed in counseling/anger management to help get to the root of the issue. Teachers should be some of the first people to take action, because of the fact that they are with these children at school. They are the ones that have the opportunity to witness bullying first hand and take action. Seth’s law is a perfect gateway to start changing. It is supposed to require schools in California to have a strong anti-bullying policy that specifically addresses sexual orientation and gender identity. It states that you must have a planned process for handling this type of bullying, and that teacher and staff must intervene if it is witnessed. Schools must make these new rules public, meaning posting them where people can see them so that they are aware that something is supposed to be done. Why is it that many schools ignore this new law? It is possible that they just don’t know how to handle this type of bullying, or that they are afraid of outspoken anti-gay parents? Whatever the reason, we all need to remember that we are talking about children here

Bullying is a problem that is deeply rooted, and cannot necessarily always be solved by traditional means. In my opinion, if you simply suspend a student for violent actions against another, that will just incite more anger and take time away from their education. Missing out on school should never be an option, and it definitely shouldn’t be considered a consequence. We need to start teaching these bullies, and their parents, that even if you don’t agree with someone’s lifestyle, it does not in any way make it okay to harass them for it. Childhood is hard, but this is an entirely different level of acceptance, and of bullying in the modern day world. LGBT youth face possible rejection from everyone- peers, religion, and in some cases their own

families. I have many friends who are gay, and they all seem to have realized it at a young age. They admit that it’s certainly not an easy thing to accept, and when you finally get to that point in self-actualization you can only hope that people will accept you as well. Bullying is a terrible thing, because it is often an attack regarding the very thing you are most self-conscious about. It can take a huge toll on the emotional health of a young person, and teaches them that it’s normal to feel worthless and rejected. Bullying takes many forms, and can be verbal, violent, or just complete shunning of one’s own existence. Gay bullying is a particularly hard problem to face, because a person’s reasons for rejecting it can be deeply rooted, in religion, politics, culture, et cetera

Once a person has admitted to themselves that they are gay it is very unlikely for that to change. No matter how disapproving you are, you are never going to completely change a person, and it’s not your place to do so. I hope there is at least one teacher at every school that cares about this issue. The smallest of changes can really make a difference, which could be starting a GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) or just simply talking to your students. If just one person decides to try and make a difference, often it can lead to others jumping on board as well. If you see something going on, never look away. Do something about it. All it takes is a few small changes, a few hard conversations, and we could be on the path of ending this bullying completely.

Sincerely,

Taylor Ramsay

Work Cited

Hatzenbuehler, L Mark. "The Social Environment and Suicide Attempts in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth." Pediactrics 127. 5. (2011): 896–903.


This is a scholarly journal article that adresses the rate of teen suicide in the LGBT community based on their social environment. they began by creating an index based of different factors, such as

• The number of same sex couples.
• The number of registered democrats.
• Whether or not the schoolhad a GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance).
• School policies that protected LGBT kids specifically.

The results were that LGBT youth were almost 17.3% more likely to commit suiced then heterosexual youth, and 20% more likely when they are in an unsupportive environment. This study was done across 34 oregon counties, by way of the "Oregon Healthy Teens Survey". The results were adjusted to include factors on the idividual level, including binge drinking, abuse by an adult, depressive symptoms, and peer victimization (IE. Bullying).

Gould, Erik Jens. "Seths Law: Can a Bullied Boy Leave California a Legal Legacy?" Time Aug. 05, 2011.

This is an article from Time magazine. Seths law is a measure passes in california aimed at schools, that requires them to update their anti-bullying policies anti-discrimination policies. It puts more focus on bullying aimed at people because of percieved sexual orietation, and was created in response to a story about a boy names Seth Walsh commited suicide shorthly after his mother saved him from a group of bullies. This atricle points out that key parts of this act have been removed, and it leaves room for it not to work. They took out a part that would requre bullies to do programs like anger management and counseling due to budget problems, instead of simply being suspended. This act is a sign that things are changing, but it is still very likely that schools wont particiapte fully. They worry that the state wont do enough to enforce this new law, and 80% of gay students still claim that schools do little or nothing to protect them.

Kosciw, J. G., Greytak, E. A., Bartkiewicz, M. J., Boesen, M. J., & Palmer, N. A. (2012).

The 2011 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in our
nation’s schools
. New York: GLSEN.


This study contained a lot of good data and statistics. I want to include them all  because I like the range of information they collected, it really gives you an idea of the impact of school environment and what it can do to a student. The most intresting part was how many students are actually facing this problem. There is a large range of facts about the impact on school work, social interaction, and about what teachers are doing to help. They point out that things have improved greatly over the years and I think that proves that we can make a difference.

rough draft 2.

                                                                                                                                  Taylor Ramsay 1

                                                                                                                                      Nov 30, 2012

                                                                                                                                         English 1A

 

November 30, 2012

 

To the ones that look away,

 

Every child in America is deserving of growing up in a safe, compassionate environment. Getting through the teenage years is one of the hardest things anyone experiences in their lifetime. And anyone who has made it through grade-school, even, knows that these years are an abundance of confusion, contradictions, and the acceptance of the fact that one’s own peers can be very, very cruel. You are constantly told by the world to accept yourself for who you are, but that at the same time you must conform to the social norms or suffer the consequences. You are told that everybody is different, unique, but that you must also be like everybody else, which in itself is already incredibly confusing. This contradictive aspect of modern society is something we’re all somewhat aware of, but cannot seem to find a solution to. We’re all trying to decipher where we would be best-suited in the world. Due to the sometimes antagonistic view towards anything ill-fitting to our social norms all children are struck with the potential of being tormented, including the LGBT community. No matter what your spiritual beliefs consist of, everyone should be able to agree with the simple fact that no child should ever feel unsafe at school. Schools are a place for learning, and for gaining the same opportunity that every child in America is promised; equality and the chance to succeed.

Childhood is hard, but this is an entirely different level of acceptance, and of bullying in the modern day world. LGBT youth face possible rejection from everyone- peers, religion, and in some cases their own families. I have many friends who are gay, and they all seem to have realized it at a young age. They admit that it’s certainly not an easy thing to accept, and when you finally get to that point in self-actualization you can only hope that people will accept you as well. Bullying is a terrible thing, because it is often an attack regarding the very thing you are most self-conscious about. It can take a huge toll on the emotional health of a young person, and teaches them that it’s normal to feel worthless and rejected. Bullying takes many forms, and can be verbal, violent, or just complete shunning of one’s own existence. Gay bullying is a particularly hard problem to face, because a person’s reasons for rejecting it can be deeply rooted, in religion, politics, culture, et cetera.

 According to the National schools climate survey in New York, safety is an issue for LGBT youth. This survey paints a realistic picture of this problem, a reported 63% of these students admit they felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and the numbers are much higher for transgender students (80%). It seems that for transgender students, the climate is likely to be much more hostile. A shocking 81.9% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 38.3% were physically harassed, and 18.3% were actually physically assaulted. About one third of these students admit they have skipped a class to avoid being harassed, and the grade point average is lower for the students that are harassed the most. It is obvious that this bullying takes a very literal toll on their schoolwork, and that should never be the case. Bullying of this caliber can have intense effect on one’s self-worth. It can lead to depression, substance abuse and even suicide. The same study showed that while coming out as gay brings higher rates of psychological well-being it can also lead to a much higher level of peer victimization. A supportive environment, both at home and at school is very important to the emotional health of these teens. A study done in Oregon showed that LGBT youth are 17.3% more likely to commit suicide then their heterosexual peers, and 20% more likely when in an unsupportive environment. It is important that schools and teachers continue taking steps to solve this bullying epidemic in our country.

At this point there is no federal law that directly addresses bullying, although every state has their own laws, policies, or both. Seth’s law was passed in California, in response to the suicide of a boy named Seth Walsh shortly after being rescued from a group of bullies. It is supposed to force schools to update their bullying policies to include bullying based on perceived sexual orientation. Although this is a step in the right direction, it’s not perfect. Parts of the law have been removed due to budget problems that would have had bullies placed in counseling/anger management to help get to the root of the issue. Bullying is a problem that is deeply rooted, and cannot necessarily always be solved by traditional means. In my opinion, if you simply suspend a student for violent actions against another, that will just incite more anger and take time away from their education. Missing out on school should never be an option, and it definitely shouldn’t be considered a consequence. We need to start teaching these bullies, and their parents, that even if you don’t agree with someone’s lifestyle, it does not in any way make it okay to harass them for it. Once a person has admitted to themselves that they are gay it is very unlikely for that to change. No matter how disapproving you are, you are never going to completely change a person, and it’s not your place to do so.

Teachers should be some of the first people to take action, because of the fact that they are with these children at school. They are the ones that have the opportunity to witness bullying first hand and take action. Seth’s law is a perfect gateway to start changing. It is supposed to require schools in California to have a strong anti-bullying policy that specifically addresses sexual orientation and gender identity. It states that you must have a planned process for handling this type of bullying, and that teacher and staff must intervene if it is witnessed. Schools must make these new rules public, meaning posting them where people can see them so that they are aware that something is supposed to be done. Why is it that many schools ignore this new law? It is possible that they just don’t know how to handle this type of bullying, or that they are afraid of outspoken anti-gay parents? Whatever the reason, we all need to remember that we are talking about children here. I know there is at least one teacher at every school that cares about this issue. The smallest of changes can really make a different, which could be starting a GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) or just simply talking to your students. If just one person decides to try and make a difference, often it can lead to others jumping on board as well. If you see something going on, never look away. Do something about it. All it takes is a few small changes, a few hard conversations, and we could be on the path of ending this bullying completely.

 

 

 

 

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_21401141/most-local-school-districts-ignore-states-anti-gay

ROUGH DRAFT

Every child in America is deserving of growing up in a safe, compassionate environment. Getting through the teenage years is one of the hardest things anyone experiences in their lifetime. And anyone who has made it through grade*school, even, knows that these years are an abundance of confusion, contradictions, and the acceptance(?) of the fact that one’s own peers can be very, very cruel. You are constantly told by the world to accept yourself for who you are, but that at the same time you must conform to the social norms or suffer the consequences. You are told that everybody is different, unique, but that you must also be like everybody else, which in itself is already incredibly confusing. This contradictive aspect of modern society is something we’re all somewhat aware of, but can’t seem to find a solution to. We’re all trying to decipher where we would be best*suited in the world. And due to the sometimes antagonistic view towards anything ill*fitting to our social norms, all children are struck with the potential of being tormented, including the LGBT community.

Childhood is hard enough, as I already explained, but this is an entirely different level of acceptance, and of bullying in the modern day world. LGBT youth face possible rejection from everyone;* peers, religion, and in some cases their own families. I have many friends who are gay, and it seems that they had all known this for a long time. They admit that it’s certainly not an easy thing to accept, and when you finally get to that point in self*actualization you can only hope that people will accept you as well. Bullying is a terrible thing, because it is often an attack regarding the very thing you are most self *conscious about. It can take a huge toll on the emotional health of a young person, and teaches them that it’s normal to feel worthless and rejected. Bullying takes many forms, and can be verbal, violent, or just complete shunning of one’s own existence. Gay bullying is a particularly hard problem to face, because a person’s reasons for rejecting it can be deeply rooted, in religion, politics, culture, et cetera. No matter what your spiritual beliefs consist of, everyone should be able to agree with the simple fact that no child should ever feel unsafe at school. Schools are a place for learning, and for gaining the same opportunity that every child in America is promised;* equality and the chance to succeed.

According to the National schools climate survey in New York, this is not the case for LGBT youth. This survey paints a realistic picture of this problem, a reported sixty3% of these students admit they felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and the numbers are much higher for transgender students (80%), and it seems for transgender students the climate is much more hostile. 81.9% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 38.3% were physically harassed, and 18.3% were actually physically assaulted. About one third of these students admit they have skipped a class to avoid being harassed, and the grade point average is lower for the students that are harassed the most. It is obvious that this bullying takes a very literal toll on their schoolwork, and that should never be the case. Bullying of this caliber can have intense effect on one’s self*worth. It can lead to depression, substance abuse and even suicide. The same study showed that while coming out as gay brings higher rates of psychological well*being, it leads to a much higher level of peer victimization. A supportive environment, both at home and at school is very important to the emotional health of these teens. A study done in Oregon showed that 17.3% more likely to commit suicide then their heterosexual peers, and 20% more likely when in an unsupportive environment. It is important that schools and teachers continue taking steps to solve this bullying epidemic in our country.

Seth’s law was passed in California, in response to the suicide of a boy named Seth Walsh shortly after being rescued from a group of bullies. It is supposed to force schools to update their bullying policies to include bullying based on perceived sexual orientation. Although this is a step in the right direction, it’s not perfect. Parts of the law have been removed due to budget problems that would have had bullies placed in counseling/anger management to help get to the root of the issue. Bullying is a problem that is deeply rooted, and cannot necessarily always be solved by traditional means. In my opinion, if you simply suspend a student for violent actions against another, that will just incite more anger and take time away from their education. Missing out on school should never be an option, and it definitely shouldn’t be considered a consequence. We need to start teaching these bullies, and their parents, that even if you don’t agree with someone’s lifestyle, it does not in any way make it okay to harass them for it. Once a person has admitted to themselves that they are gay it is very unlikely for that to change. No matter how disapproving you are, you are never going to completely change a person, and it’s not your place to do so.

At this point there is no federal law that directly addresses bullying, although every state has their own laws, policies, or both.

Annotated bilbleography/misc research

Hatzenbuehler, L Mark. "The Social Environment and Suicide Attempts in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth." Pediactrics 127. 5. (2011): 896–903.


This is a scholarly journal article that adresses the rate of teen suicide in the LGBT community based on their social environment. they began by creating an index based of different factors, such as

• The number of same sex couples.
• The number of registered democrats.
• Whether or not the schoolhad a GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance).
• School policies that protected LGBT kids specifically.

The results were that LGBT youth were almost 17.3% more likely to commit suiced then heterosexual youth, and 20% more likely when they are in an unsupportive environment. This study was done across 34 oregon counties, by way of the "Oregon Healthy Teens Survey". The results were adjusted to include factors on the idividual level, including binge drinking, abuse by an adult, depressive symptoms, and peer victimization (IE. Bullying).


Gould, Erik Jens. "Seths Law: Can a Bullied Boy Leave California a Legal Legacy?" Time Aug. 05, 2011.

This is an article from Time magazine. Seths law is a measure passes in california aimed at schools, that requires them to update their anti-bullying policies anti-discrimination policies. It puts more focus on bullying aimed at people because of percieved sexual orietation, and was created in response to a story about a boy names Seth Walsh commited suicide shorthly after his mother saved him from a group of bullies. This atricle points out that key parts of this act have been removed, and it leaves room for it not to work. They took out a part that would requre bullies to do programs like anger management and counseling due to budget problems, instead of simply being suspended. This act is a sign that things are changing, but it is still very likely that schools wont particiapte fully. They worry that the state wont do enough to enforce this new law, and 80% of gay students still claim that schools do little or nothing to protect them.

Kosciw, J. G., Greytak, E. A., Bartkiewicz, M. J., Boesen, M. J., & Palmer, N. A. (2012).

The 2011

National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in our

nation’s schools
. New York: GLSEN.
This study contained a lot of good data and statistics. I want to include them all  because I like the range of information they collected, it really gives you an idea of the impact of school environment and what it can do to a student. The ones in bold are the ones I find most important to the actual paper im going to write and I wanted to make sure I keep them in mind.

• 81.9% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 38.3% reported being physically harassed and 18.3% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
• 63.9% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 27.1% reported being physically harassed and 12.4% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their gender expression.
• 84.9% of LGBT students heard "gay" used in a negative way (e.g., "that's so gay") and 71.3% heard homophobic remarks (e.g., "dyke" or "faggot") frequently or often at school.
• 6 in 10 LGBT students (63.5%) reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation; and 4 in 10 (43.9%) felt unsafe because of their gender expression.
• LGBT students reported feeling unsafe in specific school spaces, most commonly locker rooms (39.0%), bathrooms (38.8%) and physical education/gym class (32.5%).
• Transgender students experienced more hostile school climates than their non-transgender peers - 80% of transgender students reported feeling unsafe at school because of their gender expression.
• Nearly one third of LGBT students (29.8%) reported skipping a class at least once and 31.8% missed at least one entire day of school in the past month because of safety concerns.
• The reported grade point average of students who were more frequently harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender expression was lower than for students who were less often harassed (2.9 vs. 3.2).
• Increased levels of victimization were related to increased levels of depression and decreased levels of self-esteem.
• 60.4% of LGBT students never reported an incident of harassment or assault to school personnel.
• A considerable number of students reported discriminatory policies or practices against LGBT people by their school or school personnel. Students indicated the most common discriminatory policy or practice was related to treatment of LGBT relationships (e.g., related to dates for school dances and public display of affection).
• Being out in school had positive and negative repercussions for LGBT students - outness was related to higher levels of victimization, but also higher levels of psychological well-being.

Positive Interventions and Support

• Having a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in school was related to more positive experiences for LGBT students, including: hearing fewer homophobic remarks, experiencing less victimization because of sexual orientation and gender expression, being less likely to feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation (54.9% of students with a GSA vs. 70.6% of other students) and having a greater sense of belonging to their school community.
• Students in schools with an LGBT-inclusive curriculum, i.e. one that included positive representations of LGBT people, history and events, heard fewer homophobic remarks, were less likely to feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation (43.4% of students with an inclusive curriculum vs. 63.6% of other students), were more likely to report that their peers were accepting of LGBT people (67.0% vs. 33.0%) and felt more connected to their school.
• The presence of school personnel who are supportive of LGBT students contributed to a range of positive indicators, including higher grade point averages (3.2 vs. 2.9), greater likelihood of pursuing higher education, lower likelihood of missing school and lower likelihood of feeling unsafe in school (53.1% of students with supportive school personnel vs. 76.9% of other students).
• Compared to students at school with a generic policy that did not include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, students attending schools with a comprehensive anti-bullying policy that included specific protections heard fewer homophobic remarks, experienced lower levels of victimization related to their sexual orientation, were more likely to report that staff intervened when hearing homophobic remarks and were more likely to report incidents of harassment and assault to school staff.
• Despite the positive benefits of these interventions, less than half of LGBT students (45.7%) reported having a Gay-Straight Alliance at school; few (16.8%) were taught positive representations about LGBT people, history or events in their school; only about half (54.6%) could identify six or more supportive educators; and less than a tenth (7.4%) attended a school that had a comprehensive anti-bullying policy.

Changes in School Climate for LGBT Youth over Time

• The percentage of students hearing homophobic remarks, such as "dyke" or "faggot" frequently or often has seen a major decline since 2001.
• In 2011, there was a significant decrease in harassment and assault based on sexual orientation compared to findings released from previous years.
• There was a small increase in portion of students who reported having a Gay-Straight Alliance at school.
• Students reported a significant increase of positive representations of LGBT-related topics in their curriculum.
• There was a small increase in portion of students who reported having access to LGBT-related Internet resources through their school computers.

I think this study was very important because it shows that things are in fact getting better, and it really dosnt take much to see improvment. there are a lot of programs out there that are making a HUGE impact on the mindset of youth, such as the it gets better project


http://itgetsbetterproject.tumblr.com/

Proposal.

Topic: Bullying due to gender, or going against your gender in any way.
Exigence: Bullying is a growing issue for anyone who happens to be gay, lesbian, or transgender. There is a large amount of anger towards these people, and it is being passed down through generations. Schools should be doing more to protect peoples rights, and a lot of them dont have policys specifically adressing homophobic bullying. Even when these policys are in place, they are often not enforced. These kids are at a higher risk of suicide, expecially when in an unnsupportive environment.
Claims: I think its important that we bring attention to these issues, because it makes no sense to continue to bring hate into our next generation. It is unnacceptable for anyone to be bullied based on somebodys perception of 'normal'. This is not a 'choice', as people so often think and it is unfair for people to be treated differently due to their sexual orientation.

"According to recent gay bullying statistics, gay and lesbian teens are two to three times as more likely to commit teen suicide than other youths. About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis. Students who also fall into the gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgendered identity groups report being five times as more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe after being bullied due to their sexual orientation."

"In a 2005 survey about gay bullying statistics, teens reported that the number two reason they are bullied is because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender expression. The number one reason reported was because of appearance."

I plan to adress cyberbullying, physical and mental abuse, and to teach you about the actual statistics today. Things are getting better but we still have a lot of work to do if we want kids to grow up in a safe environment. People need to realize that what other people do dosnt affect you at all unless you make it that way.

• Over half, about 56 percent, of all students have witnesses a bullying crime take place while at school.
• A reported 15 percent of all students who don't show up for school report it to being out of fear of being bullied while at school.
• There are about 71 percent of students that report bullying as an on-going problem.
• Along that same vein, about one out of every 10 students drops out or changes schools because of repeated bullying.
• One out of every 20 students has seen a student with a gun at school.
• Some of the top years for bullying include 4th through 8th graders in which 90 percent were reported as victims of some kind of bullying.
• Other recent bullying statistics reveal that 54 percent of students reported that witnessing physical abuse at home can lead to violence in school. 
• Among students of all ages, homicide perpetrators were found to be twice as likely as homicide victims to have been bullied previously by their peers.
• There are about 282,000 students that are reportedly attacked in high schools throughout the nation each month. 

"In fact, about 9 out of 10 LGBT teens have reported being bullied at school within the past year because of their sexual orientation, according to the most recent gay bullying statistics. Out of those numbers, almost half have reported being physically harassed followed by another quarter who reported actually being physically assaulted.  Unfortunately most teens who experience bullying of any kind are reluctant to share their experience or report the incident to a teacher or trusted adult. Even more unfortunate are the gay statistics that report a lack of response among those teachers and school administration. According to a recent statistic, out of the students that did report a harassment or bullying situation because of their sexuality, about one third of the school staff didn't do anything to resolve the issue."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21502225

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/suicide-of-gay-teenager-who-urged-hope/

http://csus-dspace.calstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10211.9/432/Thesis%20FINAL.pdf?sequence=1

http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/gay-bullying-statistics.html

http://www.laweekly.com/2012-05-31/news/gay-bullying-schools-student-non-discrimination-act/

RA #3

“The decent of men” By Dan Kildon was written in 2006 and is about how the current generation is seeing an increase in females attending college. This might result in women getting a lot more of the most wanted jobs and also better positions at these jobs.

            According to Kildon, “In 2005, nearly 59% of undergraduate degrees were granted to women.”  This gap seems to be growing, because the number of men in college is decreasing while the number of women continues to grow. One in four women makes more money then their husbands. One problem that might arise from this is that educated women will be unable to marry educated men, because there are a lot less of them. It will no longer be a big deal not to be able to find a husband to make money, because the women are doing it themselves. Having women that make enough money to sustain them lessens the dependency for alimony and child support. A lot of men these days don’t mind giving up a little bit of their power and masculinity for time with their children. If their wives are making the money, less stress is put on them to be the breadwinner of the family. It might seem that men wouldn’t want to give up this power, because tradition says that they aren’t supposed to, but according to cultural trends and this article, they are actually usually ok with it. They don’t feel threatened by successful women and are more willing to share the household work. This article claims that men are “Better suited in many ways to be contemporary homemakers.” And that it is ‘one of the only aspects of contemporary urban and suburban life that requires physical strengths is household tasks”, and I think this is because of all the technology in the workforce. A lot of boys that were surveyed for this article didn’t think that working mothers had any negative effect on child development. This change in men’s viewpoints is important iof we want to reach equality for men and women. There is nothing that says men should be any better than women, or the other way around. And in reality, boys and men that still cling to the original roles can have their own psychological problems. Men that are “hypermasculine” are at “greater risk for a host of problems, including school suspension, date rape, and drug and alcohol abuse” They also tend to try and be dominant in their relationships, and with these changes in our culture these types of men will most likely fall behind over time because there is no need for this inequality.

bitches and hos

The article “From Fly Girls to Bitches and Hos”, was written by Joan Morgan in the late 90s and explores the idea of being a black feminist and a fan of rap. With a self proclaimed “self destructive obsession” with rap, you might wonder how a feminist can like music that is often so profanely sexist. She explains the importance of rap in black culture and how it is also part of the problem. Her priority as a feminist isn’t to stop rappers from being sexist in their lyrics, but to protect the love between black men and woman. This is a love that’s survived slavery, segregation, poverty and racism for so long and it is in danger. There is a bigger set of problems plaguing communities and rap is a mirror into that life.

                        Joan Morgan has been a fan of rap for a long time; she recognizes the presence of it in pop culture and describes its ability to be “Alternately beautiful, poignant, powerful, strong, irreverent, visceral, and mesmerizing”. Rap is unlike anything else, it gives people so much freedom to express themselves in a way that is incredibly creative and unique. But behind all that, there is an underlying set of things that appear in these lyrics, the music reflects a lot of pain. She states “what passes for “40 and a blunt” good times in most of hip hop is really alcoholism, substance abuse, and chemical dependency”. They often speak of killing each other as if it’s nothing. What is the cause for this anger and hate? She points out that this hate is no longer coming from ‘The Man” or “Racist White power”, but from people living in the same community. She talks about the life of “Notorious B.I.G.” as an example and talks about his album “Ready to die”. He was an ‘urban soldier’ whose life was dysfunctional from the beginning. He sings about robbery, jail, murder, drug dealing, money, sex, parties, and sex as if he was always just living an amazing life. Underneath the lyrics you can see the inner struggle this man was having, it “divulged his inner hell” and the album ended in suicide. The leading cause of death for black males fifteen to twenty five is murder and most of them die at the hands of other black men. Joan Morgan’s position as a single black feminist really gives her an up close view of what’s going on. She sees the effect this lifestyle has on men and woman and she wants to make it better. She believes rap is essential to the struggle these men are having because it takes us “Straight to the battlefield”, she sees past the “Machoism” and uses rap to get to the root of the problem so everybody can start to heal. She says woman have to learn to love these men realistically and find a way to stay at a ‘safe’ emotional distance. They have to realize that a person that doesn’t really love themselves isn’t capable of loving someone else in the way they need. “Its frighteningly clear that many brothers see themselves as powerless, when it comes to when it comes to facing the evils of the larger society, accepting responsibility for their lives, or the lives of their children”

 She urges feminists to change their strategy for ending sexism in rap. You can’t keep going after the words themselves. You can’t deny the fact that there are plenty of actual ‘bitches and hos’ around. Men are angry because when they didn’t have money, none of these women wanted anything to do with them. You have to get angry at the women who allow themselves to be exploited in music videos and in real life, and women need to fid their self esteem. Women have to realize that a lot of hostility comes from other women as well and these women need to come together and stop sexism together.  She wants to create a ‘space’ for women to come and share their feelings. She says having this space is the first step to getting all the pain and hurt out there and beginning the healing process. She wants to use rap as an avenue for this, a way to share the feelings of the women that are suffering and hopes someday her ‘brothers’ will realize the need for change. Feminism has to get away from complaining about this music and start taking action. She takes part in hip hop feminism conferences and is a speaker on these types of issues to this day. Even more than ten years later all these issues are still present, and forever evolving.