How to make schools safer for gay students
My guest is Kevin G. Welner, professor of education policy and program evaluation in the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and director of the Education and the Public Interest Center. He can be reached at welner@colorado.edu. By Kevin G. Welner The past several weeks have seen the suicides of at least four American teenage students (two just 13 years old) who were harassed and bullied because they were, or were thought to be, gay. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students face a unique set of safety concerns each day. Over 85% report being harassed because of their sexual or gender identity, and over 20% report being physically attacked. The suicide rate for LGBT students continues to be 3-4 times higher than that of their straight counterparts. School environments can be truly dangerous, and tragedies like those we’ve witnessed over the past month have become