GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is appreciative to accompany the National Safe Schools Partnership in acknowledging the Safe Schools Improvement Act, a federal anti-bullying bill alien today in the House of Representatives by Calif. Rep. Linda Sánchez. GLSEN would like to acknowledge Congresswoman Sánchez and the Safe Schools Improvement Act's bipartisan cosponsors for their administration in aggravating to accomplish schools safer for all students This bill will go a continued way against laying a foundation of abutment for acceptance above the country by calling for the affectionate of behavior that matter. We appetite Congress to canyon this crucially important bill for the able-bodied accepting of America's youth.
New York, NY (Vocus/PRWEB ) May 5, 2009 -- GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is appreciative to accompany the National Safe Schools Partnership in acknowledging the Safe Schools Improvement Act, a federal anti-bullying bill alien today in the House of Representatives by Calif. Rep. Linda Sánchez. Sánchez was abutting by advance cosponsors Fla. Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and N.Y. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy a allotment of the absolute of 40 bipartisan cosponsors.
The bill requires schools that accept Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act allotment to apparatus a absolute anti-bullying action that enumerates categories generally targeted by bullies, including race, religion, animal orientation, gender identity/expression and others. It aswell requires states to cover blowing and aggravation abstracts in their state-wide needs assessments reporting.
Current federal law provides important federal abutment to advance academy assurance but does not assiduously and especially focus on issues of blowing or harassment.
"GLSEN would like to acknowledge Congresswoman Sánchez and the Safe Schools Improvement Act's bipartisan cosponsors for their administration in aggravating to accomplish schools safer for all students," GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard said. "Bullying is a austere accessible bloom crisis that affects amaranthine adolescent humans every day in America's schools. The contempo suicides by two adolescent boys who accomplished connected blowing at academy are a adverse admonition that added needs to be done to abode the problem.
"This bill will go a continued way against laying a foundation of abutment for acceptance above the country by calling for the affectionate of behavior that matter. We appetite Congress to canyon this crucially important bill for the able-bodied accepting of America's youth."
Carl Walker-Hoover of Springfield, Mass., took his own activity April 6. Jaheem Herrara of DeKalb County, Ga., took his own activity April 16. Both boys endured acute bullying, including anti-gay taunts admitting neither boy anecdotic as gay.
Nearly two-thirds of average and top academy acceptance (65%) said they had been afraid in academy in the accomplished year, according to From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America, a 2005 address from GLSEN and Harris Interactive that surveyed added than 3,000 students.
LGBT acceptance face even college levels of victimization. Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT acceptance (86.4%) said they had been addled in the accomplished year, according to GLSEN's 2007 National School Climate Survey of added than 6,000 LGBT students. Additionally, 60.8% said they acquainted alarming at academy because of their animal orientation.
Both studies, however, begin that acceptance at schools with a absolute anti-bullying action agnate to the one appropriate by the Safe Schools Improvement Act appear aggravation at a decidedly bargain rate.
In From Teasing to Torment, acceptance whose schools had a absolute action with abundant categories that included animal acclimatization and gender identity/expression were beneath acceptable to address a austere aggravation botheration at their academy than those who did not accept such a action (33% vs. 44%, respectively). LGBT acceptance in the 2007 National School Climate Survey who appear accepting a absolute anti-bullying action accomplished lower levels of aggravation and were added acceptable to address incidents of aggravation to academy staff.
Members of the National Safe Schools Partnership, which in 2007 appear federal action recommendations in Bridging the Gap in Federal Law: Promoting Safe Schools and Improved Student Achievement by Preventing Bullying and Harassment in Our Schools, cover GLSEN, the American Association of School Administrators, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of School Psychologists and the National PTA.
About NSSP
The National Safe Schools Partnership is an breezy affiliation of arch civic education, health, noncombatant rights, law enforcement, adolescence development and added organizations committed to ensuring that America's schools are safe for all children. To that end, associates of the Partnership accept abutting calm in abutment of federal action recommendations based on abiding analysis and experience.
About GLSEN
GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is the arch civic apprenticeship alignment focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established nationally in 1995, GLSEN envisions a apple in which every adolescent learns to account and access all people, behindhand of animal acclimatization or gender identity/expression. GLSEN seeks to advance academy climates area aberration is admired for the absolute addition it makes to creating a added active and assorted community. For advice on GLSEN's research, educational resources, accessible action advocacy, apprentice acclimation programs and drillmaster training initiatives, appointment www.glsen.org.
Contact:
Daryl Presgraves
646-388-6577
dpresgraves(at)glsen.org
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