LGBTQ+ YOUTH: A Guided Workbook to Support Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity by Lee-Anne Gray

Author:Lee-Anne Gray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBTQ+ YOUTH: A Guided Workbook to Support Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Publisher: PESI Publishing & Media
Published: 2018-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

REFLECT

• This is the framework used for Part II, and also for understanding Educational Trauma.

• You can fill out the form above with any LGBTQ+ youth you care about in mind, or you can give it to them to complete about themselves. When you complete it about someone else, it’s an activity that compliments Chapter Eight.

• When you offer this form to an LGBTQ+ youth you care about, it reflects the activities in Chapter Nine.

EDUCATIONAL TRAUMA

LEARN

Educational Trauma is the systemic and cyclical harm faced by students, educators, parents, administrators, and communities as a result of interacting educational systems (Gray, 2013, 2015, 2016). It is perpetrated inadvertently in many instances, and exists on a spectrum ranging from mild to so severe as to ruin a person’s life.

The spectrum of Educational Trauma explains the pervasive trauma rampant in schools, and is a range of events impacting communities by spreading a sense of helplessness and feelings of disempowerment. Poor communities, people ofcolor, and LGBTQ+ youth are among those most vulnerable to Educational Trauma (Snapp et al., 2015; Losen & Gillespie, 2012).

“My teen collaborators define Educational Trauma as any trauma that happens at school.”

PRACTICE

The Spectrum of Educational Trauma

The following are examples of harm occurring in schools:

• Testing and grade-based/age-based standardized curricula

• Bullying of/by educators

• Bullying of/by students

• Collective punishment

• Corporal punishment

• Special and gifted education

• ADHD and the use of stimulant medication

• Rejection, harassment, abuse, assault, and bathroom/locker room issues related to LGBTQ+ youth in schools

• The School-to-Prison Pipeline and the legal segregation of black, brown, poor, and LGBTQ+ youth (for more, see Chapter 11, #6) (Alexander, 2012; Losen & Gillespie, 2012; Snapp et al., 2015)

Signs and Symptoms of Educational Trauma

• Resistance to school tasks and assignments

• Low self-esteem

• School refusal

• Eating disorders

• Anxiety and sadness

• Aversion to school events

• Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and powerlessness

• Mood disorders

• Failure to function at average/expected levels; doesn’t meet potential

• Theft

• Learning difficulties

• Low or inconsistent academic achievement

• Attention problems

• Substance abuse

• Aggressive behavior

• Disruptive behavior

• Oppositional behavior

• Defiance

• Irritability

• Explosive behavior

• Suicidal and/or homicidal ideation

Misdiagnoses of Educational Trauma:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• Major Depressive Disorder

• Learning disabilities

• Disorders of communication, such as Receptive and Expressive Language Disorders and Selective Mutism

• Oppositional Defiant Disorder

• Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• Intermittent Explosive Disorder

• Somatic problems

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Eating disorders

REFLECT

• Thinking about the LGBTQ+ youth you care about, do any of these experiences resonate with the ones they report?

• Now, reflecting on the educational system, school policies, and the laws that govern how students learn, are there any you disagree with? Why or why not?

• Could you see yourself standing up and advocating for LGBTQ+ youth in schools where Educational Trauma happens disproportionately to them every day (Snapp et al.)?

• If and when you do voice your opposition to harmful educational practices that have been normalized in our culture, by laws and policies, you will be serving an important role!

“One action doesn’t remedy the system, yet it is critical to the system being remedied!”

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