which I am the Vice
President of and he
notified the principal
who told us we had
her support to run
an anti-bullying
campaign.”
Offered Support. Several students (6.7%)
indicated that when notified of an incident of harassment or assault, staff members provided some form of support, such as offering advice on how to handle incidents or providing comfort to the reporting student:
Gave me suggestion to talk to the student about why they were doing it. They talked to the student. (Transgender student, 12th grade, OR)
Comforted me and told me to come back if anything else happened. (Female student, 12th grade, NY)
The counselor basically told me advice on how to handle the situation and letting me know that being harassed is not okay. She immediately took action and resolved the issue. (Male student, 11th grade, FL)
A few students commented that, although staff offered comfort, they did not attempt to take action against the perpetrator or address the specific incident of harassment or assault:
[School staff member] gasped and said it was
horrible, but didn’t necessarily do anything about it. (Gender not reported, grade not reported, MA)
[School staff member] nodded and said that it
was wrong to do that, and everyone has their own opinion. She didn’t say anything to the person. (Female student, 8th grade, VA)
Mostly just tried to comfort me and shut me up. No real action was taken. Teachers and staff want to pacify for the most part. (Transgender student, 11th grade, AR)
Failing to intervene when harassment is reported, blaming students for their own victimization, and failing to appropriately address the situation are unacceptable and potentially harmful outcomes. As discussed above, many of the students who did not report incidents of harassment or assault to school authorities feared exactly these negative outcomes. Thus, staff who do not address reports of student victimization may not only be failing that student, but also sending a message that prevents other students from reporting when they are
Effectiveness of Staff Responses to Victimization
Students in our survey who said that they had reported incidents of victimization to school staff were also asked how effective staff members were in addressing the problem. As shown in Figure 22, only about a third (35.5%) of students who responded to the question believed that staff responded effectively to reports of victimization. We examined students’ determinations of effectiveness and the nature of the response. Students were more likely to report that school staff’s responses were effective when the staff spoke with the perpetrator about the incident, disciplinary action was taken, a report was filed or referral was made, or they received support from the staff person.28 Students were least likely to
report that response was effective when staff did nothing to address the incident, they themselves were blamed for the incident, or when staff simply promised to look into the matter.29
For students who did not report incidents of harassment or assault, the most common reason for not reporting was the belief that nothing would be done. For students who had reported harassment or assault, the most common outcome was that nothing was, in fact, done in response. School personnel are charged with providing a safe learning environment for all students. By not effectively addressing harassment and assault, those students are denied an adequate opportunity to learn. It is particularly troubling that some students were told by school staff that, because of their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression, they deserved the mistreatment that they experienced or somehow brought it upon themselves. This type of response may exacerbate the problem of an already hostile school climate for LGBT students and may deter them from reporting future incidents of harassment or assault.
When students reported incidents of harassment or assault to staff members, the interventions had varying degrees of effectiveness. Since we do not know the circumstances of the harassment or assault, we cannot know why certain staff responses (e.g., talking to a perpetrator) work in one instance and not in another. School- or district-wide implementation of educator trainings on issues related to LGBT students and bias-
43 educators some tools for effectively intervening.
In addition, such trainings may help educators become more aware of the experiences of harassment based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, which could play a vital role in improving school climate for LGBT students.
Figure 22. Effectiveness of Reporting Incidents of Victimization to a Teacher or
Other Staff Person (n=2001)
Not at All Effective 43.6% Somewhat Ineffective 20.8% Somewhat Effective 22.9% Very Effective 12.6%
Key Findings
LGBT students who experienced high levels of in-school victimization based on their sexual orientation or gender expression:
Had grade point averages (GPAs) almost •
half a grade lower than other students; Were less likely than other students •
to plan to pursue any post-secondary education;
Were about three times as likely to have •
missed school in the past month because of safety concerns;
Were less likely to feel a sense of •
belonging to their school community; and Had lower levels of self-esteem and •
higher levels of depression and anxiety.