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.