If schools treat the alliances as the problem, they are teaching all students that might makes right, and that the school's lessons about respecting others are not meant to be taken seriously. Teen years are a stressful time of rapid development into adulthood. That passage can be especially stressful for young people beginning to realize their gay, lesbian or bisexual orientation, because they face anti-gay prejudice. Isolated gay youth have a hard time concentrating on their education, leading many to drop out. Rather, isolated youth dealing with sexual orientation issues internalize the prevailing anti-gay sentiments in schools and in society and, based on little information, often judge themselves extremely harshly.
Student groups help diminish feelings of isolation and help build self-esteem for their members.
Student-initiated group discussions, social events, and political organizing are a safe and healthy means of working through what for many is otherwise a difficult and alienating time. A student club focusing on sexual orientation issues no more causes sexual activity than do student clubs such as a glee club, a math club, or a Young Republican club. All clubs, and many other circumstances, bring teenagers together to meet and get to know one another, sometimes leading to dating and other appropriate adolescent socializing. That is far from, however, bringing about sexual intercourse before a young person is ready. If schools sponsor athletic exhibitions, cheerleading, dances and proms without concerns about promoting sex, it is difficult to see how allowing a gay-straight student alliance to meet for discussions would promote sex.