Re: [xmca] Youth Saving Youth

[Beth Ferholt <bferholt@gmail.com>]

I think part of what I was saying in the original email was a response to
this: what struck me about this particular video is that it was a youth
conceived/organized/created response to save youth.  Dan Savage (an adult)
started the series of IT GETS BETTER videos to tell suicidal teenagers that
they need to stick around because being a gay adult is better than being a
gay teenager (better than being in a school run by adults -- ).  THen this
group of young people created a performance for other young people where
they talk about NOT waiting to either get out of school -- or for the adults
to realize the obvious and figure out how to behave -- but instead finding
queer friends NOW and then trying (as they are doing with this video) to
improve the life of gay teens NOW.
I was thinking of Yrjo's use of Breaking Away as I wrote the email.
Beth


On Sun, Oct 10, 2010 at 2:25 PM, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:

> Steve. You perfectly caught a core purpose of our discussions. It is indeed
> becoming obvious. To me it seems a long time in coming. And it is not
> bearing a white flag. Its kind of slouching. You wrote:
>
>  It is becoming more obvious to many that the question of cultural
> difference and how these differences are socially related to can become a
> life and death question.
>
> Correct. So what, as whoever(s) we are we supposed to behave once we, as a
> society, reach that state of "its obvious"?
>
> ??
> mike
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 10, 2010 at 5:49 AM, Steve Gabosch <stevegabosch@me.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I wanted to thank Beth for her post the other day where she said:
> >
> >  There have been six recent suicides of US youth who were physically and
> >> verbally bullied by their classmates.  This bullying was in response to
> >> these teenager's perceived sexual orientation and/or gender
> nonconformity.
> >> There have been many types of responses to these deaths, but the most
> >> hopeful and powerful I've seen so far is the following, just posted by
> an
> >> NYC  youth chorus who has decided not to the leave protection of
> children
> >> up
> >> to adults.
> >>
> >
> > Beth provided a url to a YouTube clip of the Pride Youth chorus in NYC in
> > response to these suicides (copied at the bottom).  It is an inspiring 4
> or
> > 5 minutes of interviews and singing.
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject#p/f/13/F9tSmwqpWQM
> >
> > As a followup, I reprint below a current AP article that offers an
> analysis
> > of aspects of antigay harassment issues (which Beth points out also
> includes
> > the problem of gender nonconformity) and some of the heated politics that
> > are growing around this in some representative US school districts.  It
> is
> > becoming more obvious to many that the question of cultural difference
> and
> > how these differences are socially related to can become a life and death
> > question.  The article itself focuses on school officials re-evaluating
> > their compromises with the right-wing strategy of supposedly opposing
> > "bullying" without addressing **who** is being bullied and harassed.
> >
> > - Steve
> >
> >
> >
> > Saturday, October 9, 2010
> >
> > By DAVID CRARY
> >
> > AP National Writer
> > A spate of teen suicides linked to anti-gay harassment is prompting
> school
> > officials nationwide to rethink their efforts against bullying - and in
> the
> > process, risk entanglement in a bitter ideological debate.
> >
> > The conflict: Gay-rights supporters insist that any effective
> anti-bullying
> > program must include specific components addressing harassment of gay
> youth.
> > But religious conservatives condemn that approach as an unnecessary and
> > manipulative tactic to sway young people's views of homosexuality.
> >
> > It's a highly emotional topic. Witness the hate mail - from the left and
> > right - directed at Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin School District while it
> > reviews its anti-bullying strategies in the aftermath of a gay student's
> > suicide.
> >
> > The invective is "some of the worst I've ever seen," Superintendent
> Dennis
> > Carlson said. "We may invite the Department of Justice to come in and
> help
> > us mediate this discussion between people who seem to want to go at each
> > other."
> >
> > Carlson's district in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis is politically
> > diverse, and there are strong, divided views on how to combat bullying.
> >
> > "We believe the bullying policy should put the emphasis on the wrong
> > actions of the bullies and not the characteristics of the victims," said
> > Chuck Darrell of the conservative Minnesota Family Council.
> >
> > That's a wrongheaded, potentially dangerous approach, according to the
> Gay,
> > Lesbian and Straight Education Network - which tries to improve the
> school
> > climate for gay students nationwide.
> >
> > "Policies have to name the problem in order to have an impact," said
> > GLSEN's executive director, Eliza Byard. "Only the ones that name it see
> an
> > improvement."
> >
> > According to a 2009 GLSEN survey of 7,261 students, only 18 percent said
> > their schools had a comprehensive program addressing anti-gay bullying,
> > while gay students in schools that had such programs were less likely to
> be
> > victimized and more likely to report problems to staff.
> >
> > Across the political spectrum, every group weighing in on the issue had
> > deplored the recent deaths - the latest in a long series of suicides over
> > many years by harassed gay teens, but dramatic nonetheless because of the
> > high toll in a short span.
> >
> > The most recent and highest-profile case involved Rutgers University
> > freshman Tyler Clementi, 18, who killed himself by jumping off the George
> > Washington bridge after his roommate secretly recorded him with another
> male
> > student, then broadcast the video online.
> >
> > But at least four younger teens have killed themselves since July after
> > being targeted by anti-gay bullying, including Justin Aaberg, 15, of
> > Andover, Minn., who hanged himself in his room in July. His friends told
> his
> > mother he'd been a frequent target of bullies mocking his sexual
> > orientation.
> >
> > Five other students in his Anoka-Hennepin school district have killed
> > themselves in the past year, and gay-rights advocates say bullying may
> have
> > played a role in two of these cases as well.
> >
> > Carlson, the district superintendent, lost a teenage daughter of his own
> in
> > a car crash, and says he shares the anguish of the parents bereaved by
> > suicide. He acknowledges that a controversial district policy calling for
> > "neutrality" in classroom discussions of sexual orientation may have
> created
> > an impression among some teachers, students and outsiders that school
> staff
> > wouldn't intervene aggressively to combat anti-gay bullying.
> >
> > The district - Minnesota's largest - serves nearly 40,000 students in 13
> > towns. The school board adopted the neutrality policy in 2009 as a
> balancing
> > act, trying not to offend either liberal or conservative families.
> >
> > Rebecca Dearing, 17, a junior who belongs to the gay-straight alliance at
> > the district's Champlin Park High School, said the neutrality policy
> caused
> > teachers to shy away from halting anti-gay harassment - sometimes leaving
> > her gay friends feeling vulnerable to the point where they don't come to
> > school.
> >
> > "This shouldn't be a political issue any more, when it's affecting the
> > lives of our students," she said. "It's a human issue that needs to be
> dealt
> > with. They can be doing more and they're not."
> >
> > In August, amid the furor over the suicides, the district clarified its
> > anti-bullying program - saying that it was not governed by the neutrality
> > provision and had always been intended to encourage vigilant, proactive
> > adult intervention to curb anti-gay harassment. Staffers were told
> failure
> > to intervene would be punished.
> >
> > Justin Aaberg's mother, Tammy Aaberg, is convinced the broader neutrality
> > policy has been damaging to gay students and wants it changed. She said
> she
> > heard belatedly from Justin's friends about instances in past years where
> he
> > was harassed that she was never notified about even through staff members
> > were aware.
> >
> > Now she sees signs that the district wants to be more diligent, but isn't
> > fully reassured.
> >
> > "Most of the teachers and principals, and maybe even now the
> > superintendent, they mean well - they want to intervene," she said. "But
> the
> > teachers still don't know what they can and can't do."
> >
> > Nadia Boufous Phelps, the school psychologist at Anoka's Blaine High
> > School, is co-advisor for its gay-straight alliance - to which 27 of the
> > 3,000 students belong. She welcomes the attempt to clarify the stance
> toward
> > anti-gay bullying.
> >
> > "In the past, the staff often would not intervene," she said. "Now the
> > district has come out loud and clear, if you hear "That's so gay,' if you
> > witness anything, you must do something."
> >
> > Still, she said, "We still have a long way to go"
> >
> > Carlson says his district, seven years ago, was among the first in the
> > state to implement a comprehensive anti-bullying program. Now he's
> > exasperated by the highly charged, politicized debate that has flared
> since
> > Aaberg's suicide.
> >
> > "It's a terribly sensitive situation," he said. "Hurtful statements on
> > either side are not helpful ... and the kids are watching."
> >
> > Phil Duran, staff attorney for the statewide gay rights group OutFront
> > Minnesota, says Carlson and his colleagues are constrained by school
> board
> > members who do not want to anger conservative voters in the district.
> >
> > "They're between a rock and a hard place," he said. "I do think they want
> > to do the right thing - I don't think they known what the right thing
> is."
> >
> > Nationally, the recent suicides have intensified calls on Congress to
> pass
> > a pending bill, the Safe Schools Improvement Act. It would require
> schools
> > receiving federal funds to implement bullying prevention programs that
> > specifically address anti-gay harassment.
> >
> > Supporters of the act say it has bipartisan support, but the likelihood
> of
> > Democratic losses in the Nov. 2 election cloud its prospects, and it is
> > vehemently opposed by many conservatives.
> >
> > "A lot of these anti-bullying programs are crossing the lines far beyond
> > bullying prevention into adult-oriented material and politics," said
> Candi
> > Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family. Mission America
> > president Linda Harvey said the act would "incorporate mandatory pro-gay
> > propaganda."
> >
> > According to GLSEN, 10 states have anti-bullying laws along the lines of
> > the Safe Schools Act - requiring specific components addressing anti-gay
> > harassment. But gay-rights activists say enforcement and compliance is
> not
> > uniform.
> >
> > For example, Dave Reynolds of the Trevor Project, which seeks to combat
> > teen suicides, says many California schools are not in compliance with
> the
> > state's 10-year-old law. One problem area, he said, is California's
> Central
> > Valley - the source of many calls to the Trevor Project's suicide hot
> line.
> >
> > Jeffree Merteuil-Clark, 17, is a junior who's active in the gay-straight
> > alliance at Frontier High School in Bakersfield, a Central Valley city
> not
> > far from Tehachapi. That's the town where 13-year-old Seth Walsh, hanged
> > himself outside his home last month after enduring taunts from classmates
> > about being gay. He died after nine days in a coma.
> >
> > Merteuil-Clark said the teachers who are sympathetic to bullied gay
> > students tend to be cautious, fearing they might antagonize Kern County
> > school administrators who want to "sweep the problem under the rug."
> >
> > "Growing up gay in Kern County, you have all this opposition to you," he
> > said. "It does have an impact on you. When you're little, you think the
> rest
> > of the world hates you."
> >
> > The debate has proved to be a minefield for the Olweus Bullying
> Prevention
> > Program, one of the largest in the nation, as it strives to serve schools
> > ranging from progressive to conservative.
> >
> > "We have to be extremely careful," said Marlene Snyder, the Olweus
> > development director, describing a community-by-community approach which
> > enables schools to tailor the program as they see fit in regard to
> anti-gay
> > bullying.
> >
> > "We've worked in all kinds of schools," Snyder said. "Some have very much
> > taken on the homophobic situation. Other schools won't touch it with a
> > 10-foot pole."
> >
> > GLSEN sees a mixed picture nationwide - gay-straight alliances continue
> to
> > spread, numbering more than 4,000 nationwide, yet nine of 10 gay students
> in
> > its latest survey reported suffering anti-gay harassment,
> >
> > Asked for an example of an effective program, GLSEN leader Eliza Byard
> > cited New York City's Respect for All Initiative. The district, which
> serves
> > 1.1 million students, makes specific mention of sexual orientation in its
> > anti-bullying training for teachers and its materials for students.
> >
> > "There's always more to do," said Elayna Konstan, head of the Office of
> > School and Youth Development. "We're always trying to do this work
> better."
> >
> > ---
> >
> > Associated Press writer Chris Williams in Minneapolis contributed to this
> > report.
> >
> > ---
> >
> > Online:
> >
> > GLSEN: http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html
> >
> > Minnesota Family Council: http://www.mfc.org/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Oct 6, 2010, at 5:55 PM, Beth Ferholt wrote:
> >
> >  There have been six recent suicides of US youth who were physically and
> >> verbally bullied by their classmates.  This bullying was in response to
> >> these teenager's perceived sexual orientation and/or gender
> nonconformity.
> >> There have been many types of responses to these deaths, but the most
> >> hopeful and powerful I've seen so far is the following, just posted by
> an
> >> NYC  youth chorus who has decided not to the leave protection of
> children
> >> up
> >> to adults.
> >>
> >> (A children's novel, Nobody's Family is Going to Change by Fitzhugh, is
> >> the
> >> only place where I've seen this type of youth action before.)
> >>
> >> http://www.youtube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject#p/f/13/F9tSmwqpWQM
> >>
> >> The teenagers whose suicides motivate this action:
> >>
> >> Asher Brown, 13, Cypress, Texas, Sept. 23rd 2010
> >> Seth Walsh, 13, Tehachapi, California, Sept 19, 2010
> >> Justin Aaberg, 15, Anoka, Minnesota, July 09, 2010
> >> Billy Lucas, 15, Greensburg, Indiana, Sept. 09, 2010
> >> Tyler Clementi, 18, Ridgewood, New Jersey, Sept 22, 2010
> >> Raymond Chase, 19, Monticello, New York, Sept. 29, 2010
> >>
> >> --
> >> Beth Ferholt
> >> Assistant Professor
> >> School of Education
> >> Brooklyn College, City University of New York
> >> 2900 Bedford Avenue
> >> Brooklyn, NY 11210-2889
> >>
> >> Email: bferholt@brooklyn.cuny.edu
> >> Phone: (718) 951-5205
> >> Fax: (718) 951-4816
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >
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-- 
Beth Ferholt
Assistant Professor
School of Education
Brooklyn College, City University of New York
2900 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11210-2889

Email: bferholt@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Phone: (718) 951-5205
Fax: (718) 951-4816
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