Paper Example on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Policies in Schools

Introduction

"Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me." Has been one of the oldest anthems repeated by generations of people suffering in the hands of bullies. Due to the recent attention towards LGBTQ issues faced by adolescent members of the community, a study was conducted regarding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) policies at school. The relationship between bullying, that normally affects LGBTQ students and whether schools with more defined SOGI policies make their students feel safer. The authors imply that schools with better SOGI policies systems in place (focusing on California), have been able to attain a better degree of safety for students. Lower levels of bullying reports and suicides, together with a general safer learning environment for LGBTQ students. The study further takes samples from data merging principal and teachers' reports of bullying together with archives from different school psychology journals from 2010 to 2012. The data research heavily focused on the teachers' opinion. Therefore, can it be concluded that schools with more defined and assertive SOGI policies make a safer environment for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities?

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Considering the data provided by the study, it can be positively concluded that there is a positive relationship between SOGI policies and reduction of bullying. Proving that school experience does not necessarily have to be negative for students because of their identity or sexual orientation. Legally, the State of California has made amendments to its laws regarding schools. Students are not to be discriminated based on gender, race or sexual orientation by the school administration or other students. It is hard, however, to monitor these young adults at all times, and therefore, one must really strive towards promoting an internal culture of understanding and respect.

Thesis: Better school SOGI policies at school provide a more conducive environment for all students to learn and express themselves.

Definition of SOGI Polices

These can be defined as the reinforcement of safe learning environment for all. The policies do not allow the mistreatment of social exclusion of students based on their gender identity, sexual orientation or manner of expression (Russell, Day and Ioverno 3). Students in schools that reinforce such policies have reported a more positive ambiance at school in general. There has been a widely spread hate campaign regarding the LGBTQ community with some countries making the mere identification as gender fluent or gay illegal. People who have an identity and sexual orientation that differs from the societal norm often suffer a lot mentally and, in some cases, physically. The most recent researches in psychology suggesting that the cause of gender identity issues is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Suggesting that trans women's brains resembled the chemical make up of cis women's brains more than cis men. The suggested therapy being hormones and a name change has not made it easy for the trans community to shake off their past lives and has often made them the subjects of cruel acts of hate. More or less, the same issue has been plaguing the gay/lesbian community. It is hard enough for grown people to deal with, but teenagers have twice the mental burden of all the changes occurring in their minds and bodies.

Teachers' Perspectives on School Safety

It has been observed that in schools where teachers were more aware of aggression issues, students reported a higher number of bullying incidents. While, schools where teachers had good faith in the internal culture policies, fewer incidents were reported. Regarding the latter environment as safer and more diversity-friendly (Russell, Day and Ioverno 5). Bullying has generally been more disregarded by teachers over the years as most adults perceive the roughing between school children as a rite of passage. The problem, however, has proved to be more serious than a friendly playground disagreement. Some adolescents lose their lives as a result of extreme bullying and negligence from teachers and parents. Where gender identity and sexual orientation is involved the matter becomes even harder. Due to lack of support from immediate family in some cases, teens with queer orientations or identity tend to feel the impacts of bullying on a greater scale. It is, therefore, crucial for teachers to believe in the policies in place because that directly affects their effectiveness. Simply having a working Straight and Gay Association (SGA) club can be the difference between losing or saving lives.

Study Results

Although the reports have strong variations depending on the teacher in question. Some schools are more prone to violent bullying tendencies than others at a difference of about 17% (Russell, Day and Ioverno 9). Showing that there must be an administrative matter that is not handled accordingly. Regardless of the lack of relevance between the teachers' reports and SOGI policies implementation, safety has been linked to bullying. The lower levels of bullying, the higher levels of safety experienced by students at the school. A school is a crucial place for most adolescents, especially the ones with no other form of support system. Teenagers spend most of their day at school and with or without support from parents bullying is simply not to be tolerated in an institution of learning. That is the mentality most teenagers need to grow up with in order to become a model citizen in their adult years.

Conclusion

Bullying may be hard to completely eradicate from schools. Fundamental bigotry and toxic home training even harder. There must be a system in place that at least makes a sufficient attempt to do so. LGBTQ community members already experience enough scrutiny from different conservative organizations, a place where learning is conducted, should not be one of them. Every child deserves an equal right to feel self and an equal opportunity to learn alongside their peers. Regardless of the attire or bathroom, they choose to use.

Works Cited

Russell, Stephen T., et al. "Are School Policies Focused on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Associated with Less Bullying? Teachers' Perspectives." Journal of School Psychology 54 (2016): 29-38. Author's Manuscript.