Ensuring Equitable and Safe Education for LGBT High School Students

Abstract

Children are entitled to a quality education that should be equitable and safe. But the fact is that discrimination and institutional barriers have always prevented LGBT students from accessing quality education. Acceptance and inclusion of the LGBT communities have been on the rise in the contemporary world, but the efforts have not been fully recognized. The most affected are the children and youths who have suffered the most because they have not been well understood. In schools, especially high schools, students have experienced high levels of discrimination and stress. The turmoil the students face usually hurts their lives since it is in the schools where they spend most of their time, and a considerable part of their lives are in a school setup. These reasons were the motivating factors in addressing the LGBT to high school students to understand where they belong and what they should do. LGBT youths, who are mainly in high schools, are much more likely to experience all forms of harassment than their peers who are not in the LGBT. The kind of harassment the LGBT youths in high schools experience includes verbal harassment, physical attacks, exclusion, and discrimination. Besides these injustices, LBGT students experience peer rejection and family rejection, bullying, and isolation. Compared to the heterosexual students in schools, the LBGT students receive more harassment. They, therefore, are prone to getting mental health issues like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and alcohol and drug abuse. With this in mind, it would be a noble thing to talk to high school students to understand how they are and how they should treat each other. Heterosexuals should be taught how to treat LGBT students, and at the same time, the LGBT should be taught how to interact with each other. Therefore, students in high school have the right to know about gender orientation and gender identity. Thus, students should be exposed to what is right and what is wrong in this reference. In other words, students should be taught the extent of interactions and be able to read body language so that there can be harmony amongst themselves. In a definite sense, when these students understand themselves better, they will be in a position to understand other people. Once this happens, it would be easier to defend their identities with facts instead of shying away when confronted. In most cases, the community is to blame for the hard times the LGBT students undergo, and therefore, doing a presentation to educate them on what they should stand for would change them and society at large. Safety is paramount for all students. But in most cases, LGBT students usually feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation...