These kinds of activities help individual students as well as help to build a consensus in your community and school that this work is important and should go forward. Included will be strategies for getting administrators, teachers, students, parents and community members on board and some concrete things that supporters can do to make schools safer for gay and lesbian students. Here are some things you can do in your school to build support and address issues and concerns. These recommendations outline some basic steps schools can take to become safer for all students. They have the backing of the Massachusetts Board of Education, Governor William Weld and the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education, Robert V. Antonucci.
Copies are also available in Spanish and Portuguese.
The report is filled with information about gay and lesbian youth and explains in detail why schools should address these issues to ensure the safety of gay and lesbian students. Publicize the Concerns of Gay, Lesbian and Straight Students in Your Own School Use the PTO Newsletter, school newspaper, community newspaper or local media to inform students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members about why your school is addressing issues affecting gay and lesbian students, how you are doing this, and what you hope to accomplish. Encourage students to write articles about their experiences witnessing, encountering or fighting anti-gay prejudice. Their surveys were designed to determine how safe the school environment was, if there was a need for support, and how many incidents of harassment had occurred. Giving school administrators and teachers survey results or testimony from students can alert them to the problems gay and lesbian students face in their schools.