From high-profile bullying incidents to book bans to state legislation restricting transgender youth access to health care and sports teams, the bombardment of news of these events and policies can have a corrosive effect on LGBTQ+ students鈥� mental health.
But what educators may not fully understand is that this is true even if kids don鈥檛 appear to be directly affected by an event or policy, said Amy Cannava, a school psychologist and the chair of the sexual-orientation and gender-diversity committee for the National Association of School Psychologists.
Following the death of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teenager in Oklahoma who died the day after being involved in a fight in their school restroom, , illustrating how this incident had ripple effects far beyond the school community it originated in. Nex鈥檚 family said the teen was bullied, and the state鈥檚 medical examiner has ruled their death a suicide.
鈥淓ven if a person isn鈥檛 right next to an event or an experience, they feel a kinship with the person, because they share something in common, such as being nonbinary or LGBTQ,鈥� said Cannava. 鈥淎s a result, they feel the impact of a death in a strong manner that sometimes older generations might not realize, because the thought might be, 鈥榃ell, you didn鈥檛 know them, so how could you be affected?鈥欌��
It鈥檚 vital for the adults in LGBTQ+ kids鈥� lives to understand how these events and the resulting news coverage and public debate affect them in order to better support them, said Cannava.
Surveys show that LGTBQ+ youth are very plugged in to current events that relate to them, and it鈥檚 vital for the adults in their lives鈥攅specially educators鈥攖o understand how far-reaching the effects of these events are, said Cannava, and to take steps to support LGBTQ+ students.
A , a nonprofit that focuses on suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth, found that 85 percent of LGBTQ+ youth said they pay some or a lot of attention to media reports about LGBTQ+ people鈥檚 rights. The survey included more than 28,000 LGBTQ+ youth ages 13-24 across the country.
Nearly 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ young people said their mental health was poor most or all the time because of policies and legislation related to LGBTQ+ issues. And about 2 out of 3 said that hearing in the media and through other sources about potential laws banning people from discussing LGBTQ+ issues in school made their mental health a lot worse. (On the flip side, nearly 8 in 10 LGBTQ+ youth said that hearing about potential state laws that would ban made them feel better.)
Assessing their safety all the time
News of anti-LGBTQ+ incidents and policies force LGBTQ+ youth to constantly assess their safety, said Madi Bourdon, a school counselor in Oregon and the American School Counselor Association鈥檚 DEI and LGBTQ+ committee lead. And the pace and quantity of that news can begin to feel overwhelming.
Consider, for instance, that 526 bills relating to transgender issues鈥攕uch as banning gender-affirming care for minors or prohibiting trans students from participating on school sports teams that align with their gender identity鈥攈ave been filed this year in 41 state legislatures, according to the . Those legislative developments are often covered extensively by the local and national media and prompt angry debates on social media.
Groups tracking requests to remove books from schools and libraries have found that a record number of titles were targeted last year, many of which were related to LGBTQ+ issues. (An analysis by The Washington Post found that while many books are put back on shelves after being challenged, ). That can be especially disheartening to LGBTQ+ youth when they read about it in the news or on social media.
Another recent analysis of FBI data by The Washington Post found that have risen sharply in recent years. And the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned last year that .
鈥淚n the long run, that affects kids鈥� mental health and their sense of belonging,鈥� said Bourdon. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 learn if you鈥檙e in a space of feeling threatened, so their education is directly affected when they do not feel safe in school.鈥�
LGBTQ+ students鈥� mental health is already at greater risk than their non-LGBTQ peers鈥�.
Federal data from the show that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer high school students were much more likely than their heterosexual peers to report feeling persistently sad and hopeless鈥�69 percent compared with 35 percent. (The survey, conducted in 2021, did not include data on transgender youth.)
There are data suggesting that what happens in politics and state legislatures trickles down to K-12 schools. In , states that had enacted laws targeting LGBTQ+ people saw the biggest increases in hate crimes on K-12 campuses.
鈥淢any of our kids are looking up to us to see where the boundary line is,鈥� said Bourdon. 鈥淲hen that boundary is not held at a high level to protect our kids, how are other students going to rise above the morality of adults?鈥�
How schools can respond
What can educators and schools do?
Schools鈥� anti-bullying policies should enumerate or specifically list groups of students who are more likely or vulnerable to being bullied, said Cannava of the NASP.
鈥淲e know that if the policy isn鈥檛 enumerated for protected classes, whether its trans, or gay, or ethnic minorities, or bilingual students, or students with disabilities, the power of that policy is weakened,鈥� she said.
Surveys of LGBTQ+ high schoolers by GLSEN, a nonprofit advocacy organization focusing on LGBTQ+ students in K-12 schools, have found that students are less likely to be bullied and more likely to report that teachers intervened when they were being bullied when their schools had enumerated policies. But while three-quarters of that their school had an anti-bullying policy, only 12 percent said the policy enumerates sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
School leaders also need to listen to students and parents, Cannava said, and focus on whether someone was hurt.
鈥淲hen students and parents report bullying, a school district鈥檚 initial thought might be this doesn鈥檛 constitute bullying because it hasn鈥檛 been repeated or there鈥檚 no evidence of a power differential,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o me, the point is not whether or not it constitutes bullying, the point is that some form of harassment or harm has taken place. And that should be the focus, rather than focusing on whether it meets a specific disciplinary category.鈥�
Allowing for affinity groups, like gender and sexualities alliance clubs, or GSAs , are another way schools can support LGBTQ+ youth mental health when they are feeling overwhelmed by news coverage that is disheartening to them, said Bourdon.
Individual teachers, Cannava said, can have the biggest impact by simply being observant and taking concerns to a school counselor, psychologist, or social worker.
鈥淭eachers have tremendous power for good,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey are the first line of defense for mental health concerns in general.鈥�
That鈥檚 not to say that teachers are responsible for providing mental health care, said Cannava, but they see students every day and are more likely to notice a change in a student鈥檚 demeanor or grades.
Putting LGBTQ+-affirming messages or decorations up in the classroom, even subtle ones, is also helpful, said Cannava. She acknowledged that many teachers are in a tricky spot when it comes to showing open support for LGBTQ+ students in their classrooms. Hanging up a pride flag may run afoul of school, district, or state rules.
鈥淚 know there are plenty of places you can鈥檛 have anything LGBTQ up,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut there are symbols that are innocuous, like posters of rainbow crayons.鈥�
Finally, teachers can support LGBTQ+ students by recognizing how the cumulative effect of the punditry, political rhetoric, and online commentary on LGBTQ+-related issues erodes kids鈥� mental health, said Bourdon.
鈥淲e, as educators, need to know what is going on to inform how we support our students,鈥� she said. 鈥淓verything that鈥檚 going on, not only does it affect conversations in the classroom, it affects school communities at large. For educators to be able to at least acknowledge the things that are affecting our students鈥攊t鈥檚 vital.鈥�
