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Safeguards for Sexual Minority YouthMichigan HIV News, Fall 2002 IssueProfessionals in Michigan responsible for youth are starting to recognize the need to address harassment and bullying in the schools.
MDE has taken a stand by including sexual orientation in the state’s recommended Student Code of Conduct on bullying, harassment and intimidation. According to the Michigan Department of Education Model Student Code of Conduct (2001), bullying harassment, or intimidation includes, but it is not limited to, such a gesture written OR verbal, or physical act, that is reasonably perceived as being motivated by a student’s religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability, height, weight, socioeconomic status, or by any other distinguishing characteristic. House Bill 4746, bipartisan legislation proposed in May and referred to the Committee on Education, is designed to combat harassment and bullying in Michigan's public schools. The legislation would mandate that all local school districts develop a policy for identifying, deterring and dealing with bullying in public schools. The bill provides guidelines and definitions to help school districts avoid liability and keep all youth safe while in school. In recent years, several groups independently around our state have developed resources to address the issues of Sexual Minority Youth in the schools. Several years ago, Calhoun Intermediate School District (ISD) developed a resource guide on Sexual Minority Youth and began training its teachers. “Once upon a time we began a youth group for kids who were (GLTBQ) in the Kalamazoo area and we realized in listening to what kids were saying in the support group that they were not getting any support at all. In fact, in many cases, they were being hurt by the school environment, or by counselors, teachers or administrators - by what they would say or fail to do. So we decided to come up with a training,” said Bob Higgins, Calhoun ISD. Some of this proactive group at the Calhoun ISD had already been through the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) training. So they used material from this and other sources that they "begged, borrowed and stole" to come up with a one-day training for their district. Word got out about the training and when they repeated it two years later, representatives from the Michigan Department of Education came to observe. MDE then found the funding to develop a resource guide and a one-day training that could be used around the state. About the same time the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project (MAPP) developed the Virtual Online Interactive Curriculum for EducatorS or VOICES. www.voicesproject.org/intro/welome.html This free on-line training helps educators provide a safe and secure school environment for their GLTBQ students. The training includes information about physical and mental health issues affecting GLBTQ youth, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, substance abuse, depression and suicide. Bechhofer knew of the various efforts around the state and saw a need for statewide collaboration on this issue; so she pulled together a meeting of the key players. By the summer of 2001 a workgroup emerged called the Safe Schools for Sexual Minority Youth (SMY) Workgroup. The group is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, several school districts, the Michigan PTA, gay and lesbian groups around the state – including PFLAG (Parents For Lesbians And Gay youth), MDE, two state universities and MAPP. Its members include teachers, health educators, counselors, parents and legal professionals. “School health coordinators at Michigan PTA and the Calhoun ISD (Intermediate School District) took the lead on the (SMY) project,” said Bechhofer. Bob Higgins and Holly White, both with the Calhoun ISD, are the project managers. Calhoun ISD shared their materials with the group and this sprouted ideas for projects that the other agencies could do, such as a poster, web site, and resource card. The SMY Workgroup “just blossomed” said Higgins. "People have been so willing to be helpful, to donate their time, money, resources - just to help out." There are 18 active members according to Higgins. The same summer that the Workgroup first met, the ACLU of Michigan, along with GLSEN of Detroit published a document, What Schools Need to Know, which addressed the responsibilities of all school personnel to protect GLTB students. The Safe Schools for SMY Workgroup further developed the Calhoun ISD resource guide to produce, A Silent Crisis: Creating Safe Schools for Sexual Minority Youth, a guide to policy and procedures around anti-violence and anti-bullying, and corresponding posters for schools.* The development of the resource guide involved technical assistance from the National Network for Youth and the American Psychological Association. The guide has already been updated. In collaboration with the Workgroup, MAPP also developed a new website www.michiganrainbowyouth.org to serve as a resource for GLTBQ adolescents and their parents. The workgroup has provided awareness sessions for school district regional coordinators and developed a one-day training for school staff. So far the group has done two regional trainings, in the Lansing area and Macomb County said Higgins. And at the time of the interview, two more were scheduled for early fall, one in the Ottawa ISD (Grand Haven) and the other in Wayne County. There is also the possibility they will do trainings in Mt. Pleasant and Ste. St. Marie. This will be a collaborative effort between the two ISDs, the local school districts, and the Inter Tribal Council. Another collaboration that has grown out of the SMY Workgroup is between the Calhoun Co trainers and Kathleen Russell at the Eastern Michigan University LGBT Resource Center. Higgins and White will come to Eastern to facilitate a training then Russell will help Higgins and White train students and staff at Northern Michigan University. An interesting program that Russell is currently working on at Eastern is Project Yes (Youth, Equality and Safety). She is working with five non-profits in southeastern Michigan to build a continuation of care model for LGBT youth. It will include “health education workgroups to runaway shelter to residential care,” said Russell. Project YES is currently targeting out of school youth. Higgins shared ideas the SMY Workgroup has for expanding this project into the coming year. They will be looking into teacher education programs and administrator education programs at state universities, trying to get the schools to start incorporating some of this information for their students. “We'd like to broach that subject with the universities. Along with Eastern and Northern Universities - Western, Central, Michigan State and University of Michigan all have teacher training programs,” said Higgins. This fall, Calhoun ISD will travel to Eastern “to work with us on structuring K-12 interventions with our college of education,” said Russell. According to her, Eastern has the largest college of education in the Midwest, and trains more than 600 student teachers a semester. Higgins and White are also conducting a “Silent Crisis” workshop at the National Association of Social Workers Michigan Annual Conference in Detroit in September. This conference is attended by school social workers. Some members of the SMY Workgroup are holding discussions with law firms representing school districts. This group is so cutting-edge; they are being invited to share their ideas and resources with other states. “It is not a concern that is just happening in Michigan,” said Barb Flis, Michigan PTSA (Parent, Teacher and Student Association). “Bullying and harassment are issues that are coming up across the country. There is even more concern for a child who is gay or lesbian or who is perceived as gay and lesbian.” Flis, a member of the SMY Workgroup, has also provided training, for parent groups. She presented a “Silent Crisis” workshop at the Michigan PTSA conference in May. To order A Silent Crisis: Creating Safe Schools for Sexual Minority Youth, call Central Michigan University at 1-800-214-8961 or email emc@cmich.edu. To order posters, call MAPP (248) 545-1435. For more information on the training, contact Bob Higgins, (616) 789-2415; or Holly White, (616) 789-2434. If you would like a presentation for your local PTSA, contact Barb Flis, (248) 349-5477. Michigan Conferences for AdultsSunday, October 27 Grand RapidsBuilding the Capacity of the School Counselor to Address Health and Mental Health Needs of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth. |
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