User:Sierra.french/Suicide Among LBGT Youth

Proposed Edits
Under "Early Interventions for LGBT Youth" in "Teach Tolerance and examine a school's climate" (I will bold my additions within the information that is within )

Research shows that a collaborative effort must be made in order to prevent LGBT students from being bullied and/or committing suicide. Teachers, administrators, students, families, and communities need to come together to help LGBT students be confident. '''According to research, there needs to be a directed and active approach to tackling LGBT related issues, like administering school-wide programs that educate the school faculty, staff and students on such issues. A proven preventative measure for risk factors is implementing counseling for LGBT youth that is accessible, as well as guidelines and by-laws at schools need to be created to protect those students within the community .''' Each school has its own individuality, its own sense of "self", whether it be the teachers, administrators, students, or the surrounding community. In order to tackle the issue of bullying for LGBT students it needs to start with understanding the student population and demographic where the school lies. Educating students, faculty, staff, and school boards on LGBT issues and eliminating homophobia and trans phobia in schools, training staff on diversity acceptance and bullying prevention, and implementing Gay-Straight Alliances is key to suicide prevention for LGBT students (Bacon, Laura Ann 2011).

Plans for Editing-Additions to the Talk Page
"Early Interventions for LGBT Youth"


 * Support systems, especially parental support for LGBT youth is essentially an intervention or often phrased as a preventative measure to suicide. Not only does positive support reduce the likelihood of suicide, if other risk factors arise (i.e. bullying) having a support system in place allows for potential resolutions to these issues.
 * "Educators can be proactive in helping adolescents with gender identity and the questions/issues that sometimes come with them. Normalising education about sexualities and genders can help prevent adolescents from resorting to suicide, drug abuse, homelessness, and many more psychological problems."
 * This section touches upon the importance of educators as a preventative measure, but does not address how these educators can and should be educated on LGBTQ+ related issues, no mention of other school staff (namely the importance of counselors-may simply be an accidental omission), and the importance of self-efficacy on these matters.
 * I think the organization of this section needs to be reworked. I think I will put this in the talk page rather than reorganizing the entire section without others input. The initial portion talks about educators under "Be Proactive and Understanding" which should be a simple explanation of its importance. Plus, there is a section a few down that talk about support in school environments where I think the issues of school staff/faculty support should be included.
 * Under "Teach tolerance and examine a school's climate" I can include the study from the University of South Carolina at Greensboro's use of a school wide education program to create allies for the LGBTQ+ community.
 * The section in general should be reorganized
 * There should be an added separate section on familial support, which is a key preventative factor in preventing LGBTQ+ youth suicide rates
 * I plan to add only a few quotes and then put the rest in the talk page to ensure that my information is accurate and so I do not upset any peers on here