Dear Editor,

            If you have ever watched the new TV show Glee and know who Kurt is, then you would know a little bit about LGBT bullying.  LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.   Kurt is repetitively being bullied by students at school because he is openly gay.  Therefore, he decides to switch to a private all boys’ high school. This is just an example of LGBT bullying that many people have seen before.  Bullying can take place in many different forms.  Young LGBT students are at more of a risk to be bullied compared to their heterosexual peers.  In the National School Climate Survey, over ten years a total of 7,000 LGBT students were surveyed to see if they were bullied at one time.  The results stated that eight in ten LGBT students had been verbally harassed at school, four in ten had been physically harassed at school, six in ten felt unsafe at school, and one in five had been the victim of a physical assault at school.  With these statistics it’s astonishing that LGBT bullying is still happening in our schools. LGBT students may be bullied because of sexual/gender discrimination and bias by their schoolmates.  With this all said bullying needs to be stopped in our schools.  There are many different ways schools and parents can prevent bullying.  For example, I recommend teachers and parents to show the video “Bullied” to their children.  A person can get it free online at www.tollerance.org/bullied.  What are you going to do today to stop LGBT students from being bullied?  Like Kurt, many students have to switch schools and have many other negative experiences that affect their lives.

Sincerely,

Someone who cares

Ellen Becker