Sexual Education Continuing Into High School

            Do you remember you sexual education classes from when you were in high school?  I know that I remember learning about it for one week my freshmen year of high school and that was it.  Sexual education in High schools is severely lacking.  It seems like this is the opposite of how it should be since this is when teens will reach sexual maturity.  Yes, they should know it before hand, but it should be an ongoing learning process.  They should be continuously learning about it and it this point in time they are not.

            Students in high school are not learning continuously on their sexual education. The new standards through the Journal of School Health include some important standards that should be met.  A few of these are that the standards are promoting students know all forms of sex education from abstinence-only-until-marriage to abstinence-plus.  High school should be a place where students can get the knowledge they will need, whether it be right now or later on.  It is important that students get accurate information from a trusting adult.

            In Britain they have compulsory sex education.  This form of sex education is where students learn strictly about the body and reproduction processes.  This education process is required throughout elementary and secondary schooling.  This is essentially what we here in America need to adopt.  We need a sex education program that will teach teens about their bodies, the process of reproduction, and ways to help them prevent becoming pregnant.  Students need to be taught the serious consequences sex can have on both the mind and the body, but also realize that sex is not something that should be scary.  Sex should be something that should be a choice, something that you should be ready for and comfortable doing.  The standards need to reflect these ideals.

            Did you know that 30% of Nigerian women of reproductive age have had an unintended pregnancy? (J Community Health, 375).  This is shockingly high.  This is another example of why we need to give this information out early and then continually remind the students of safe-sex, how to prevent pregnancies, and STDs.  By making new standards we can make it so that everyone is being taught about safe sex and other options, such as abstaining from sex.  There is so much to do to help the teens of this generation to keep them from getting hurt.

            In the end the standards of our school systems are lacking for everyone involved.  Heterosexual teens need to be reminded of the dangers of sex, while homosexual teens need to be taught about sex in the first place.  All methods for teaching sex education should be presented to the teens to make sure that they are getting every possible option so that they can make the choice that is best for them.

Works Cited

Jan Steutel & Doret J. de Ruyter (2011): What Should be the Moral Aims of Compulsory Sex Education?, British Journal of Educational Studies, 59:1, 75-86

"National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12. A Special Publication of the Journal of School Health. Special Report." American School Health Association (2012). Print.

Ochiogu, Ifeoma N., Juhani Miettola, Amobi L. Ilika, and Tuula Vaskilampi. "Impact of Timing of Sex Education on Teenage Pregnancy in Nigeria: Cross-sectional Survey of Secondary School Students." J Community Health 36 (2011): 375-80. Print.

-Augusta Schmidt

Abstinence Only Sex Education

            There are many different methods for sexual education.  One of the most taught methods is Abstinence-only-until-marriage.  Abstinence-only may be paired with teachings about safe-sex which is called Abstinence-plus; this provides other options for students.  We will take a look into both abstinence-only and abstinence-plus education to see what is being taught to the students in this generation.

            Abstinence Education teaches students about more than just abstaining from sex.  These programs teach students that they are more than just their sexual identities.  Some of the things these programs teach students are that you have an increased chances of accepting sexual advances if you use alcohol and drugs, they also stress the importance of being self-sustaining before having sex or engaging in sexual activities, they also teach you that abstinence is the only way to be certain to prevent pregnancy, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).  Finally they are teaching students that having sex outside of wedlock can have dangerous effects on the mind and the body.  Learning these things is essential to students learning that not everyone is having sex as young adults.

            Sexual education programs are rapidly changing; this is why schools are adjusting their programs to be abstinence-plus.  It is becoming more important to make sure that students know about protection.  Michigan’s standards include making sure that students know which situations could result in gaining a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) or a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI).  Michigan is also teaching their students about the effects of alcohol and drugs on one’s decisions when it comes to sex.  Teaching students about birth control, and options for safe sex is part of this program.  It is needed to make sure that the next generation knows that abstinence-only is just one option of many.

            According to the Journal of School Health, “In fiscal year 2007, federal

funds to support abstinence-only-until-marriage programs totaled $176 million and Texas received the most federal funding of $18,213,472 for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.”  This is a large chunk of the funding, and it is being focused on abstinence-only.  In fact it is 9.6% of the federal funds allocated to the subject.  This is slightly troubling considering the way that the world is moving away from such ideals.

            While abstinence-only education is still used in many schools, just about as many are making the switch to abstinence-plus.  The curriculum may be decided by the state, but the teacher’s will decide how to present those views to their students.  The teacher can present abstinence-only in a positive light, but then present safe-sex education in a negative light.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so, it just depends on how the subject is taught to the students that will bring about how they view their sex education.

            Overall we have learned that there are many methods to sex education.  One of those methods is abstinence-only.  Abstinence-only can be taught to students as more than just saving one’s self for marriage, it can be taught as a way of making yourself more self-sustained, and helping to make healthy and good choices for both a person’s mind and body.  Abstinence-only is not the only option, but it is a choice many choose to make.

Works Cited

"National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12. A Special Publication of the Journal of School Health. Special Report." American School Health Association (2012). Print.

"SOM - Curriculum & Planning." SOM. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.            <http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,4669,7-192-29939_32383_32503---,00.html>.

Wilson, Kelly L., and David C. Wiley. "Influence of Materials on Teacher Adoption of Abstinence-Only- Until-Marriage Programs." Journal of School Health 79.12 (2009): 565-74. Print.

-Augusta Schmidt

Collectively Speaking

As stated before according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network a study done in 2008 found that 9 out of 10 LGBT teens have reported being bullied at school. The study also revealed that LGBT students were five times more likely to frequently skip school due to fear of bullying, and also that their overall GPAs were half a grade lower. Reverend Irene Monroe continues on to explain her concern as to when gay bullying will end in “When will the anti-gay bullying cease?”. Monroe describes this anti-gay bullying as “bullicide” and feels as though it’s become a national epidemic. I personally would have to agree with Reverend Monroe. This issue of gay bullying and just bullying in generally seems to not only be considered an epidemic but also a pandemic.

Dr. Molly O’Shea expresses the importance of programs for LGBT students in “Talk with your teens about Day of Silence Friday April 20”. She makes a point to say “Whatever one’s political or religious views’ bullying, mistreating, or harassing someone should never be acceptable”. O’Shea goes on to talk about the Day of Silence that many schools in Michigan participate in. She explains that 87% of LGBT students were verbally harassed based on their sexual orientation. The numbers related to LGBT bullying are beyond alarming. Clearly through prevention programs and days like A Day of Silence the serious issues and consequences of bullying can be understood by not just students, but also their parents, teachers, and community around them. 

LGBT students face many challenges because of their adversity and because of that an organization has been created. A very important support system that is in place for these children is the Gay, Straight, Alliance club. It is an organization designed to give support to LGBT and straight students and to created better bonds between the groups. I have already posted a blog about what it is and its history but this blog will be about what the organization does to help out the students and everyone else in the community.

            One big event that many GSA groups across the country get involved in is Gay Pride. Starting in June of 1970, Pride Walks swept the nation after the famous Stonewall incident; a riot of law enforcement and LGBT people. Since then Pride Walks have been a national showing of all LGBT people who take pride in who they are and display it for the country to see. Many GSA groups will ban together and attend these walks to empower themselves and take pride in who they are.

            Another event that can be held is known as the “Go Back to School Day” for LGBT Alumni to attend. This event can range from Alumni helping out with group activities to sharing their experiences being a LGBT student in school. These people can also have access to new and innovative programs that could help the development of a GSA group. I find this to be a crucial component of a GSA group. Having people that have gone through the same kinds of struggle come back to school and help younger students cope is an excellent way of helping LGBT youth.

            Teach the Teachers is another great event that GSA has been known to put on. It is basically a workshop type interaction between GSA members and their teachers. This gives students the opportunity to voice their concerns to teachers about how they feel in school and the classroom. This is meant for teachers to try and understand the struggles that their LGBT students go through and hopefully make a difference in their lives by making their school experience a positive one.

            Speaking out to middle schools is a great way for GSA to get involved in the community and create respect for students that are LGBT. It is no surprise that the middle school age is a time of great bullying and name calling. Many students use the word gay, fag, queer, and many other derogatory terms that can be offensive to the LGBT community and students. GSA can come in to middle schools and educate young students about what words and actions are offensive and the struggles that LGBT students can go through. By doing this, it puts things in perspective for young students and hopefully they will think twice about how they treat LGBT students.

            Awareness days are a great way for GSA groups to get the entire student body involved in what they want to accomplish. These days can be devoted entirely to educating the student body about the issues of LGBT students and people in general. A well know awareness day is the day of silence. This is a day that is set aside to raise awareness of LGBT people who are bullied or harassed and feel they need to be silent about it because they are different from everyone else.  Students are asked to remain silent in honor of those who feel can’t speak up about their problems or worries. Another event that groups do is the pink triangle day. It is where students are given a pink triangle to wear for the day to show support to LGBT people. The pink triangle symbolizes what Nazi concentration camps gave to homosexuals to identify them in the concentration camps. Awareness days can be one of the most effect ways for GSA groups to get the word out about their organization to advocate for the equality of LGBT students.

           These are only a handful of events and programs that GSA groups do in order to fight for LGBT students. GSA is an important part of support for many LGBT youth that faces challenges every day. This organization plays a vital role in many students’ lives and through all the activities and events they put on, they not only reach out to LGBT students but everyone else in schools and the community.

            The curriculum for high school education for the LGBT community is limited.  In fact high school sexual education for teen LGBT is almost nothing.  Students are not being taught about sexual intercourse for people in the LGBT community.  This means that they have to search for that information on their own when it should be provided for them by their school system.  This is a highly controversial topic, but it is one that should be addressed so that we are providing fair sexual education for all.

            Even the new standards for curriculum that the Journal of School Health has come out with are lacking in several areas.  It talks about being able to differ between sexual identity and sexual orientation, but it does not look into the fact that LGBT teens are not getting the right sexual education.  Some of the safe-sex education still pertains to them, but they are not getting an education about safe sexual intercourse for them.  They need standards that help them, not just heterosexual teens, to get accurate information.

            This is why the standards need to be revamped.  This way they can include teens from the LGBT community into the mix so that everyone is getting accurate information that will help them in the future.  It is important that we keep open minds about our sexual education so that our future generations are well prepared.

Works Cited

O'Shea, Molly. "Talk with your teens about Day of Silence Friday April 20." Detroit News Blog 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Monroe, Irene. "When will the anti-gay bullying cease?" Windy City Times 27 Oct. 2010. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

"National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12. A Special          Publication of the Journal of School Health. Special Report." American School Health Association (2012). Print.

 

No Author. "Gay/Alliance: A Student Guide.: Massachusetts Department of Education: Elementary and Secondary Education. July. 1995. Web. 24 March. 2012.

The Effects on LGBT Youth That Are Bullied

Bullying in school has always been an issue for children. There are countless stories about children being made fun of verbally and even attacked by fellow classmates based off differences. An increasing amount of these incidents are being targeted at homosexual students. It is an issue that mainstream does not hear often and with the numbers increasing, it’s important to make light of the issue.

To put this issue into perspective to the reader, here are some statistics that show that LGBT students are facing hardships in their very own schools. Students who 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. (1)  About 28 percent out of those groups feel forced to drop out of school altogether. (1) In a 2005 survey, the number two reason why kids are bullied is because of their sexual orientation or their perceived sexual orientation. (1) In a 2007 study, 86% of LGBT students said that they had experienced harassment at school during the previous year. (2)

According to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network 2007 National School Climate Survey of more than 6,000 students...

• Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT youth reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation

• Nearly half (44.1 percent) reported being physically harassed

• About a quarter (22.1 percent) reported being physically assaulted.

• Nearly two-thirds (60.8 percent) who experienced harassment or assault never reported the incident to the school

• Of those who did report the incident, nearly one-third (31.1 percent) said the school staff did nothing in response

            It’s clear to see that there is a problem with kids being bullied at school based off of their sexual orientation. There are several ways a kid can be bullied. They can be physically, verbally, indirectly bullied; and with the increasing amount of children getting access to the internet, there is also cyber bullying. I will go through each and describe the type of bullying.

Being physically bullied is pretty self explanatory. A child could get beat up, or knocked down by another student. They can be pushed or shoved. Things can be thrown at them. Verbal bullying is like name calling, and things of that nature. Indirect bullying is a very common type of bullying. Many people don’t even realize they’re doing it. This can be spreading rumors or stories about a person, and even excluding someone from a group. Cyber bullying is a new way of bullying that causes just as much damage. People can use text messaging, email, chat rooms, and things of that nature to verbally attack a person.

Bullying has many psychological effects on a child. Homophobic teasing is often long term, systematic and perpetrated by groups of students (3); it places targets at risk for greater suicidal, ideation, depression and isolation and substance abuse (4). These findings show that sexual minority youth are at a greater risk of mental illnesses. It is clear that there is a problem with homophobic bullying. It is affecting students all over America and the world. Youth feel scared and victimized and as a result, they are suffering from many psychological and physical struggles. I believe that it is important for people to be educated on the subject and to speak out against it. No child deserves to feel scared and victimized at school or anywhere else for that matter. Youth need to be educated on LGBT issues and to learn how to deal with differences so that one day, everyone can feel safe in a school.

Work Cited

1.      No Author. “Gay Bulling Statistics.”  2009. Web. March. 2012. http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/gay-bullying-statistics.html

2.      No Author. “Fact and Statistics. The Number Continue To Rise Every Month.” 2009. Web. March 2012

http://www.makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org/facts_new.html

3.      Rivers, I. (2001). The Bullying of Sexual Minorities at School; Its Nature and its Long- Term Correlates. Education and Child Psychology, 18(1), 33-34. March 2012.

4.      Elliot, M., & Kipatrick, J. (1994). How to Stop Bullying. A Kidscape guide to training. Kidscape, London. March 2012.

Cody Shields, March 4th 2012

I will stand up; I will help prevent.

Kathryn Whitted and David Dupper explain the ways to prevent bullying in “Best Practices for Preventing or Reducing Bullying in Schools”. They start out by giving what I think is the best definition of what bullying really is. “Bullying is the unprovoked physical or psychological abuse of an individual by one student or group of students over time to create an ongoing pattern of harassment and abuse”…”bullying can either be direct (verbal and physical aggression) or indirect (threats, insults, name calling, spreading rumors, writing hurtful graffiti,, or encouraging others not to play with a particular child)”. Although many other definitions include different types of bullying such as sexual bullying and racial bullying in my opinion it is all the same thing; bullying.

The consequences of bullying are not just seen by the victim, but also the bully, and the entire school community. Bullying victims can have long term, behavioral, emotional, and academic problems. They tend to have lower self esteem, feel more depressed, anxious, lonely, and insecure. It has been estimated that 160,000 students stay home each day from school in the United States alone due to fear. But its not just the victims that can experience consequences; bullies are at risk of social and emotional problems as well. They are likely to gravitate to other aggressive children and can potentially get involved in gangs and other delinquent activities. According to Whitted and Dupper “one study found that 60% of boys identified as bullies between the 6^th and 9^th grades had at least one criminal conviction by the age of 24 and 40% of these individuals had more than three arrests”. But we cannot leave out the witnesses to all of this bullying, because they are affected too. Bystanders tend to be intimidated and fearful that they may end up becoming the target of bullies. They could perform poorly in class due to their failure to focus on academic tasks.

                It is hard not to wonder what can be done. According to Whitted and Dupper the answer is bullying prevention programs which do more than just reach out one child; they seek to change the culture and climate of the school. It is important to involve multi level strategies that target bullies, victims, bystanders, families, and communities with intervention levels in the classroom, with teachers, and also with the students. The most common mistake that is made with these prevention programs is the implementation of them because of time constraints. However, according to Whitted and Dupper “modifications usually dilute the effectiveness of the intervention or in some cases the intervention results in no improvement at all”. They do a great job stressing how key these programs are, but also how important it is to use them effectively and to their fullest.

                Whitted and Dupper also brought up a great component that I thoroughly enjoyed; intervention strategies for school social workers. Being that I am going into social work to become a school social worker I found these strategies to be interesting and defiantly should be considered mandatory. They took a look at intervention in three steps; first being at the school level. This meant that there should be school wide rules that were explained in the classrooms that prohibit bullying and promote proper modeling of nonviolent behavior. Along with a set of rules, Whitted and Dupper suggested a written bullying prevention policy to be distributed to everyone in the school community. The policy would send a clear message that bullying incidents would be taken seriously. Finally, they suggested that a confidential reporting system should be put in place, so that students felt safe reporting if they were victims or if they were witnesses to any acts of bullying. Interventions at a classroom level were to be set to encourage teachers to include bullying prevention into their yearly curriculum. Whitted and Dupper say that “teachers can also involve the class in establishing and enforcing class rules against bullying”. Finally, student level interventions that would develop social competence by changing students’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs on bullying.

                I thought Whitted and Dupper did an excellent job of explain all the basics of bullying. What I found the most interesting were the points they made on the role that school social workers should play. As I have mentioned before, my sister is a victim of bullying. She has been bullied for the past couple of years at school, yet it continues to be an ongoing problem. As Sheri Bauman and Adrienne Del Rio mention in “Knowledge and Beliefs about Bullying in Schools” “the evidence is strong that, despite their claims to the contrary, teachers do not intervene effectively when students inform them of bullying problems”. This comment is clearly true; as my sister will tell you herself. The school has been informed of the issue, but clearly the problem has not been solved. Bauman and Del Rio also discuss like Whitted and Dupper how school bullying can negatively affect the school climate; which then distracts students from learning, since they cannot focus and feel unsafe. But unlike Whitted and Dupper, Bauman and Del Rio make a point to say “the response of teachers and other school staff to bullying has been ‘at best, disappointing’”.

                I find it hard to explain what it is like to watch my sister go through the struggles of being bullied. But what I can explain is my internal anger that I have toward the school system to fail to do anything to stop it. It is clear through every article that I have read that bullying exists. Bullying exists in every single school, and without prevention programs it will not go away. Innocent children will continue to feel the need to take their own lives if something is not done. My hope is that by the constant discussion of bullying something will start to change. Until then, I will continue to advocate for those innocent children who have become too victimized to speak up for themselves. 

-Rachel Forrester

Works Cited

 Bauman, Sheri, and Adrienne Del Rio. "Knowledge and Beliefs about Bullying in Schools." School Psychology International 4.26 (2005): 428-42. Esearch. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

Whitted, Kathryn S., and David R. Dupper. "Best Practices for Preventing or Reducing Bullying in Schools." Children & Schools 27.3: 167-76. Esearch. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. 

schools,courts, and legislation

 It is clear that school staff members and officials have a hard time dealing with the issues of bullying, and its generally one students word against another’s. I find it hard not to wonder what happens when things get worse, what happens when parents decided to take things a step further and take it to the courts? Or worse, what happens when a parent loses a child to suicide and is forced to take it the courts?

In 2007 Illinois, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and New Jersey were among the few states to enact anti-bullying laws. Thomas Diamantes discusses how these laws play a role in the court system in “How the Courts Deal with Bullying in Schools”. Diamantes tells the story about three different students whom have unfortunately had their incidents taken to the court.

The first being a student from Connecticut whom was bullied by a fellow classmate. His family sued the district saying that “the school employees knew of widespread harassment and bullying by classmates but were indifferent to it”. The court found the school in failure to respond to harassment but was not found liable because the victim could not show that he was treated differently because of his size or his ADHD status. 

The second case took place in Minnesota, whom, at the time had not enacted the anti-bullying law. A child had complained to his parents that fellow students were threatening to ‘get him’ after school. The school resource officer got involved but said that it was an off campus incident and there was no further action needed to be taken. The student (victim) ended up taking his own life. The victims family sued the district, but the courts ruled that they are responsible to protect students; they are not liable for sudden, unanticipated misconduct. The courts also found no evidence that a school anti-bullying policy would have changed the outcome of the case.

The final case was the one that I found most disturbing; a student was attacked and seriously injured by another unprovoked student. The parents sued the district claiming that the assaulting student had a history of bullying and the school failed to take steps to protect other students. Yet the court found that while the assaulting student had a record, the attack was not foreseeable and that the type of supervision that the family urged was intensive and unrealistic (requiring a teacher to follow the student around all day).

Diamantes explains how “these cases show that courts back the schools if they make reasonable responses to reports of bullying” and how the questions of if the act was foreseeable and if it could have been prevented.

Morgan Smith discusses the legislatures views on bullying in “Legislature Spotlights Bullying in Schools”. Smith explains that there are currently more than fifteen anti-bullying bills filed in the legislature, but the problem seems to circulate around the question about how to successful define bullying. “It’s like passing a law that says you shall be nice, and then trying to define nice” says Todd Smith the State Representative and Republican of Bedford.

Many Representatives have come up with their own interpretation including Mark Strama, Democrat of Austin whom expanded the definition of bullying to include a section on cyber bullying. However the A.C.L.U of Texas opposes Strama’s bill because “the definition includes ‘interferes with students’ educational opportunities”.

In my opinion I find it extremely hard to believe how these important legislatures who determine our laws are wasting so much time on the politics of how things are worded in these bills while the issues of bullying are growing worse by the day. It is quite hard to turn on the morning news and not hear about a child or even an adult being bullied. It seems as if  when you hear about a young child taking their life due to bullying the shock factor is now gone; at least it is for me. Bullying may start in the classrooms, but that’s definitely not the only place that needs to intervene. Our government needs to step up now, since they have failed to do so in years past.

Works Cited

Diamantes, Thomas. "How the Courts Deal with Bullying in Schools." Journal of Instructional Psychology 37.4 Dec. : 306-07. Esearch. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

Smith, Morgan. "Legislature Spotlights Bullying in Schools." The New York Times 4 Mar. 2011, east coast ed.: A21. Esearch. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

-Rachel Forrester

Sex Education in Middle School

            Sex education in middle schools is about to change.  In January of 2012 the Journal of School Health published a special report of sexual education standards in the United States.  These standards are to help schools figure out what is important for sexual education in school.  The standards in this piece are age appropriate, so that sex education can be guided into a full education for students upon their graduation from High school.

            The standards in Michigan for health education seem to be lacking of the new changes that the Journal of School Health is speaking of.  According to the Michigan Department of Education students in the eighth grade in Michigan are learning very little about sexual education, the side effects and things to keep them safe.  In fact from what the information given in the grade level content expectations they learn very little about safe sex, the side effects of unsafe sex such as pregnancy, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).  One standard that Michigan does include in their health education expectations is that the student should be able to analyze situations which could put a person at an increased risk of HIV and STIs.  They barely cover these if they cover them at all because these are not exactly what Michigan teacher’s will put into their lesson plans.  The hope is that with the new standards introduced by the journal could really improve the health education standards in Michigan.

            Some of the new standards that seem especially important for young adults in eighth grade to learn are quite simple and may seem that they should already know them.  These standards include knowing the anatomy and physiology of both the female and male bodies.  This means knowing body parts and their functions.  Another standard that should be included is the fact that students should know difference between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation (Journal of School Health, 17).  It seems that the new standard also gives students more options to look at.  They are also showing young adults that contraception is effective in preventing pregnancy, but that they have other options such as abstinence.

            In researching this topic I have learned many new things about Michigan standards for their health education expectations and some new standards that could be coming to a school near you.  Michigan’s standards, although lacking, are not the worst by far.  Their standards will not take much to improve to become the new standards of teaching for sexual education.  Overall the standards for sexual education are being revamped and it will not be long before they are changing in schools across the country.

Works Cited

"National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12. A Special Publication of the Journal of School Health. Special Report." American School Health Association (2012). Print.

"SOM - Curriculum & Planning." SOM. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.            <http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,4669,7-192-29939_32383_32503---,00.html>.

-Augusta Schmidt

What Elementary Students Believe

According to MaryAnn Byrne in "Bullying Will Never End" statistics show that "one in five children have admitted to being a bully, and twenty three percent of children admit to have been bullied", yet many teachers and administrators still deny the fact that their schools have a “bullying problem”. 

In the article “What Do Elementary Kids Believe About Bullying” posted on www.bullyingeducation.org a study was done by MaryAnn Byrne whom is a licensed professional counselor whom specializes in child and adolescent therapy and aggression. The study was done on 141 fourth grade students in the fall of 2011, the students were given the Kids Helping Kids Questionnaire which consisted of eleven questions with the possibility of answers: agree, disagree, or not sure.

Below are the results that were obtained from the study including each question:
(all results bellow were done by a study posted on www.bullyingeducation.org I refuse to take any credit for the results!!)

1. Excluding others, spreading rumors, leaving someone out on purpose are all examples of relational aggression?
Disagree (58)        Not Sure (45)         Agree (36)
2. It is OK to leave others out of talk about kids behind their backs if they deserve it?
Disagree (124)         Not Sure (5)         Agree (2)
3. It is important to share my feelings with the person who has hurt me?
Disagree (37)         Not Sure (32)         Agree (61)
4. Kids who ask adults or older kids to help if someone is hurting them are babies?
Disagree (86)         Not Sure (22)         Agree (22)
5. It is not my responsibility to help other kids if I am not involved?
Disagree (87)         Not Sure (18)         Agree (25)
6. If I just ignore someone who is hurting my feelings, he/she will eventually go away?
Disagree (14)         Not Sure (29)         Agree (87)
7. People act in mean ways because they don’t feel good about themselves?
Disagree (22)         Not Sure (60)         Agree (47)
8. It is tattling to tell on a kid who is hurting someone else (for example, making fun of them and/or leaving them out)?
Disagree (75)         Not Sure (26)         Agree (24)
9. If a kid hurts you, it is OK to try and get back at them and hurt them?
Disagree (120)         Not Sure (6)         Agree (4)
10. People we are often the target (for example, of name calling, exclusion) may hurt for a short time, but they will get over it soon?
Disagree (33)         Not Sure (57)         Agree (40)
11. When a friend or classmate has done something that you do not like, you should tell them how you feel?
Disagree (17)         Not Sure (57)         Agree (40)

What I found most surprising by the results of the questionnaire were the responses to questions four and six. According to the results of Byrnes' study the majority of students believe that its okay to help when someone is being bullied, but yet society shows that still so many students still believe that if they tell an adult when bullying takes place then they are “babies” or “tattle-tales”. Responses to question six show that students believe that if they ignore their bully then they will eventually go away, which is generally what all students are taught to do, myself included when I was in elementary/middle school. However, when students were later questioned further about this question by Byrne, unanimously they agreed that “it does not work to ignore a bully”.

Programs that inform students and teachers/administers about how to control and eliminate bullying is key. There have been so many new forms of bullying prevention programs that have came about, but its up to each school and teacher to enforce these programs and express how important it is to put a stop to this problem.

Works Cited

Byrne, MaryAnn. "Bullying Will Never End." Bullying Education. Bullying Education, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. <http://www.bullyingeducation.org/bullying-will-never-end/>. 

Byrne, MaryAnn. "What Do Elementary Kids Believe About Bullying?." Bullying Education. Bullying Education, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://www.bullyingeducation.org/2012/02/15/what-do-elementary-kids-believe/>. 

-Rachel Forrester

Michigan State Health Curriculum Expectations

I found the health curriculum standards/expectations for the state of Michigan.  The link below is actually for the fifth grade standards.  These surprisingly include how to prevent STDs.  Sort of interesting to see what Michigan is teaching, and seeing it at that young of an age.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/05_Health_10v2_178899_7.pdf

-Augusta S.

Gay Striaght Alliance

High School can be one of the best times or worst times for a teenager. For many, it is hard to figure out where they fit in and who they're supposed to be. For gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students, this can be especially hard. Being so different from everyone can be a struggle in finding support. However, in 1998 the GSA Network was founded to empower youth in creating a safe and supporting environment for LGBT students and straight students. It was also created to fight against homophobia. The program was founded in San Francisco and by 2001, it expanded statewide to hundreds of schools and organizations. By 2005, it had spread across the nation,

Since its founding, GSA has gone from 40 clubs to 850. They have brought GSA clubs to over 53% California high schools and middle schools, impacting 1.1 million students.

GSA's mission statement has three parts to it.

Gay-Straight Alliance Network is a youth leadership organization that connects school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) to each other and community resources through peer support, leadership development, and training.

GSA Network supports young people in starting, strengthening, and sustaining GSAs and builds the capacity of GSAs to:

1.     create safe environments in schools for students to support each other and learn about homophobia, transphobia, and other oppressions,

2.     educate the school community about homophobia, transphobia, gender identity, and sexual orientation issues, and

3.     fight discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools.

 This organization has helped countless youth who are coming out and need support. When there isn't anyone at home for support, this club gives students an outlet from a harsh environment. To learn more about this organization and the wonderful things it does for LGBT students visit www.gsanetwork.org

Cody Shields, Feburary 2nd 2012

Men in Early Childhood Education

A big issue with early childhood education is that a majority of teachers are female. Society has constructed early childhood education to have female teachers more often than male. This is for various reasons and the article I found talks about the issue. I hope you enjoy!

Men in Early Childhood Education

Cody Shields, Feburary 2nd 2012

President Obama, in MICHIGAN?

As some may be aware, this morning (Friday, January 27th, 2012) President Obama was at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor! He was here to speak to members of congress and many students from the Unversity about rising costs of education. Attached is a clip from his speech, I did watch bits and pieces of it this morning, and found it interesting and neat that he was here speaking on education considering that's what our blogs all about! Hopefully you enjoy!

Presdient Obama speaks at the University of Michigan

-Rachel Forrester

National Standards for Sexual Education?

This article, "Should We Have National Standards for Sex Education?", is relevant to much of what will be discussed in this group.  It debates having a national standard for sexual education at every grade level.  It also poses some very pertinent questions.

Augusta Schmidt

Who we are; Introduction

Welcome to our blog! We are team gender, sexuality, and education in case you did not get that from our blog title & URL! Our team consists of Rachel Forrester, Cody Shields, and Augusta. Our blog will cover the following topics in regards to education, bullying in schools and also the various gender stereotypes that take place within the educational system. Hopefully our blog will open your eyes to something that you did not realize happened in the education system and maybe there’s a chance you might even learn something! Now wouldn't that be great!! :] So here’s a little bit more about each of us and what we will be introducing you to within our blog!

My name is Cody Shields and I have chosen to do my sub topic on gender in the elementary and secondary education. It is simple to see that the majority of elementary teachers are women. There is a gender stereotype that women are the only ones meant to teach young children. Men are usually middle school and high school teachers. Why is that? I will explore why our society finds women to be the best teachers for elementary kids. I will also explore why male teachers are now more accepted. I will also talk about the effects of bullying in LGBT youth and explore the history and what Gay, Straight Alliance is and how they reach out to the school and the community.

My name is Rachel Forrester, I will be discussing and posting information about bullying in schools. This topic hits extremely close to home with me and I am very passionate in the fact that I think bullying in schools is absolutely unacceptable and should not be tolerated under any circumstances. My youngest step-sister has been bullied on several occasions so I have witnessed firsthand what it’s like for a child to go through this, and I have also had an insight view on what the school system does to handle these situations, and also what they lack on doing.

My name is Augusta and I will be discussing the continuation of sexual education past elementary schools and into middle and secondary schooling. Many schools do not have a required sexual education course and I will be going into why they don't and what some possible solutions may be for this situation.

Enjoy our blog, learn something new, and read it every SINGLE day! Just kidding. Kind of.