Gay middle schoolers
Supporting a Gay-Straight Alliance in Middle School
As teachers, counselors, and administrators, we perceive the words of bullies reported, comfort the bruises of victims, and observe the bigger picture of prejudice that spans from classroom to soccer field to hallway. Too many times, episodes of bullying are based around students’ perceived sexuality or identities, and as study proves, our youthful people are suffering.
One way schools can combat these attacks is to host a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). Lofty schools across the country have answered the challenge to provide safe and supportive spaces for children. Slower to move, however, are middle schools.
Why a GSA in Middle School?
It’s important to write down that the tween years extend from ages 10 to 15. That spans upper elementary educational facility into high university, with the majority being the middle academy years. This is a key period for lesbian, gay, and bisexual students: The children in one survey reported being “attracted to another person of the same gender at about age 10.”
The Trevor Plan reports several troubling statistics. Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) youths are “more than four times as likely t
Middle Schoolers Should Learn LGBTQIA+
In sixth grade I was walking on the playground at my middle school when two of my classmates ran up to me and asked me to check my nails. I held my hands out with my palms facing the ground so I could observe at my nails, to which they let out a breath of relief and said, “Okay good, you’re not gay.”
I asked what they meant, and they responded that if you just hold your hands out with your palms facing the ground you’re straight; however, if you have your palms pointed towards your face and curl your fingers up to notice your nails, you are gay. They laughed about our other fellow classmate Ryan who supposedly proved he was gay with the same test before running off, departing me in my thoughts.
Middle schoolers should be taught LGBTQIA+, also recognizable as lesbian same-sex attracted bisexual transgender lgbtq+ intersex and ally or asexual, words, education, and history. Kids at that age should be taught what these things mean. Otherwise they could bruise the people around them whether it is intentional or not, like what happened to me. Middle school students are learning their place in the world; so it makes sense that they should absorb about the variety of exp
For gay youths, middle school can be toughest time
By the period she was in eighth grade, Rory Mann was so notified of the differences between her and other students that she couldn't bear to enter the cafeteria. Instead, she ate lunch alone on the cold, firm bathroom floor, propped against a wall.
Sometimes Mann, who'd known she was gay for about a year but dared not narrate anyone, would cut herself on the arms with a razor blade. Her long sleeves hid the evidence of her misery from classmates and family.
"Everyone's trying to figure out who they are in middle school," says Mann, now 18 and a high school senior in Newport, R.I., where she is active in a gay students group.
"They turn into vicious people. They are really insecure, and they exploit someone else's differences so people won't see who THEY are."
With recent stories of anti-gay bullying and tragic suicides of gay youth at the forefront of the national conversation, experts say they are increasingly seeing evidence that middle school is the toughest time for queer youth — a time of intense self-discovery, but also one when bullying and intolerance is at its peak.
Evidence collected over the past few years indicates it's
Pride in Middle School
Over the last two years, I have been one of the teacher advisors for my middle school's Lgbtq+ Straight Alliance or GSA. Started last year by student request, the organization decided to focus on making our school a safe and welcoming place for LGBTQ students.
Some people might raise eyebrows at having a GSA in a middle school. Thankfully, my school division and administration has been supportive and encouraging. Many students start identifying as LGBTQ at this age or younger, or at least start questioning their self. Considering the serious statistics involving LGBTQ youth and suicide, promoting a unharmed and inclusive environment in all schools is essential.
School can be a lonely place for these students, and having a place to meet up with others who are accepting can make a planet of difference. Even excel is having a institution where diversity is noted and respected. I don't kid myself to ponder that my school doesn't have homophobic language in the hallways. Indeed the GSA informally kept road for a few days and it became noticeable that this was a problem that needed addressing. But in the terminate, this is the gesture of having a GSA: giving students a voice to