Bullied students that go it alone because they don’t know who to turn to are far more likely to fall behind in their studies, get sick and/or depressed, miss school, and drop out. Read NEA's 10 Steps to Stop and Prevent Bullying.
One Caring Adult Can Make a Difference
One caring adult can keep a bullied student from dropping out of school. One caring adult may save a bullied student’s life. NEA, through its Bully Free: It Starts With Me campaign, is asking you to be that caring adult. Just take the pledge — to listen to bullied students who approach you and take action to stop the bullying. In return, NEA will provide you with free resources to help you support these students.
MSEA's Safe Schools Programs
MSEA offers three NEA programs designed to help you address bullying and harassment:
- Quit It! (elementary school)
- Bully Proof (middle school)
- Flirting or Hurting (high school)
Safe Schools for LGBT students
In “Safe at School: Addressing the School Environment and LGBT Safety through Policy and Legislation,” research confirms that the mistreatment of gay students harms academic achievement and lives. It also shows that schools have ignored the positive roles that can be played by LGBT educators, misplaced LGBT students in special education, and failed to address homophobia in school sports.
The report’s recommendations include:
- A new focus on an inclusive school climate
- An end to discriminatory and inappropriate special education referrals
- The implementation of LGBT-specific programs, like safe zones, gay-straight student alliances, and suicide prevention programs.
In 2003, the Maryland State Board of Education voted to include “sexual orientation” in its regulation promising students the “right to educational environments that are safe.”
It Gets Better
In September 2010, in response to a number of students taking their own lives after being bullied in school, columnist and author Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry to inspire hope for young people facing harassment. They wanted to create a personal way for supporters everywhere to tell LGBT youth that, yes, it does indeed get better.
Since 2010, the It Gets Better Project has turned into a worldwide movement, inspiring thousands of user-created videos viewed millions of times.
