Dear Safe Schools Coalition Members and Friends:
(1) GLSEN Washington State Small Grants -- Fund Your GSA Projects--Grants Due February 1st!!
(2) New BOOK: Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation by Simon LeVay
(3) New brief from federal agency describes the links between suicide and bullying for LGBT youth
(4) First-of-a-Kind, FaceBook-based Service To Help Prevent Suicides
(5) Start the new year strategically: safe schools checklist for GSAs from the GSA Network
(6) National Association of GSAs' new GSA Advisor Handbook
(7) new Bulletin—“Bullying in Schools: An Overview”
****************************************
(1) GLSEN Washington State Small Grants -- Fund Your GSA Projects--Grants Due February 1st!!
GLSEN Washington is offering three grants to students, staff, and teachers in Washington schools. These grants are intended to be spent on projects, events, or curriculum materials to help make schools safer for all students, regardless of sexual orientation
and gender identity/expression. Grants may be up to $100.
Grants will be offered to the students, staff, or teachers who best articulate how they will use the grant to implement an anti-bias, no discrimination plan during No-Name Calling week or other GLSEN related events. Applicants will submit a grant application
that will be evaluated by the review committee who will determine the recipients of the grant. Recipients will be asked to provide a short report on the event or project and receipts for all purchases. Recipients will also be asked to attend our Annual Awards
Reception and present their project.
Apply online by clicking
here
to fill out the information about your project. Applications were also mailed to your school site. Please feel free to submit online, via mail or by fax to 206.329.1185. If you have any questions about your application or GLSEN Washington, please call 206-330-2009
or email mail@glsenwa.org.
Grants Due February 1st.
*************
(2) New BOOK: Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation by Simon LeVay
Order it from your local bookseller or click here to order it from our friends at Elliot Bay Books:
*************
(3) New brief from federal agency describes the links between suicide and bullying for LGBT youth
HHS’ SAMHSA Partner SPRC Announces New Brief Which Describes the Links Between Suicide and Bullying for LGBT Youth
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center has released, “Suicide and Bullying,” a brief on the relationship between bullying and suicide, especially as it relates to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered youth. The brief describes the extent of the problem
and identifies strategies for bullying and suicide prevention.
In addition, action steps may help create synergy in addressing both suicide and bullying:
• Start prevention early. Bullying begins at an age before many of the warning signs of suicide are evident. Intervening in bullying among younger children, and assessing both bullies and victims
of bullying for risk factors associated with suicide, may have significant benefits as children enter the developmental stage when suicide risk begins to rise.
• Keep up with technology. Bullying often takes place in areas hidden from adult supervision. Cyberspace has become such an area. At the same time, young people may also use social media and
new technologies to express suicidal thoughts that they are unwilling to share with their parents and other adults. Both bullying prevention programs and suicide prevention programs need to learn how to navigate in this new world.
• Pay special attention to the needs of LGBT youth and young people who do not conform to gender expectations. These youth are at increased risk for both bullying victimization and suicidal
behavior. It is essential to respond to the needs of these young people, especially the need for an environment in which they feel safe, not just from physical harm, but from intolerance and assaults upon their emotional well-being.
• Use a comprehensive approach. Reducing the risk of bullying and suicide requires interventions that focus on young people (e.g., mental health services for youth suffering from depression)
as well as the environment (especially the school and family environments) in which they live.
*************
(4) First-of-a-Kind, FaceBook-based Service To Help Prevent Suicides
HHS’ SAMHSA and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Collaborate with Facebook to Provide a First-of-a-Kind Service To Help Prevent Suicides
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) In partnership with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, Facebook is announcing a new service that harnesses the power
of social networking and crisis support to help prevent suicides across the Nation and Canada. The new service enables Facebook users to report a suicidal comment they see posted by a friend to Facebook using either the Report Suicidal Content link or the report
links found throughout the site. The person who posted the suicidal comment will then immediately receive an email from Facebook encouraging them to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/)
at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or to click on a link to begin a confidential chat session with a crisis worker.
*************
(5) Start the new year strategically: safe schools checklist for GSAs from the GSA Network
Make a New Year's Revolution
Welcome back to school GSA members! The end of one year and the beginning of a new one can be a good time to pause and reflect. We can take a moment to look back on our previous year and decide what we want to build in our next year. For GSAs, this is
a great time to think about what you want to do for the rest of your school year.
A lot of people start off the New Year with resolutions. For your GSA, this could be:
- Get more members
- Write a mission statement
- Make a meeting calendar
- Elect new officers
At GSA Network, we think these resolutions are great. And we encourage GSAs to make a New Year's revolution. So, what is a revolution exactly?
- Revolutions start with a few dedicated people and make lasting change.
- Revolutions challenge existing rules or social norms.
- Revolutions are about making long-term change at your school.
On the first page of the checklist, you'll see our Safe School House. This house has three important pieces: the foundation, known as school policies, the walls, which are teachers and staff, and the roof,
which is the students. Developing tactics targeted at each piece of the house is crucial in building a safe school. You will probably have to research the checklist items to make yourself more familiar with the policies, staff and students at your school.
Click here to read more>>
*************
(6) National Association of GSAs' new GSA Advisor Handbook
*************
(7) new Bulletin—“Bullying in Schools: An Overview”
U.S. Justice’s OJP’s OJJDP Announces a new Bulletin—“Bullying in Schools: An Overview”
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs’ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has released Bullying in Schools: An Overview.
This bulletin examines the connection between different types and frequencies of bullying, truancy, and student achievement, and whether students’ engagement in school mediates these factors. It discusses the results of three studies conducted in 2007
at the National Center for School Engagement, and compares these results with those from a Swedish study.
The authors conclude that victimization in the form of bullying can distance students from learning. Schools can overcome this negative effect if they adopt strategies that engage students in their work, creating positive learning environments that produce
academic achievement.
qqqqqqqqqq
Or mail this
form with your check made to "Safe Schools Coalition":
Safe Schools Coalition
c/o Rosehedge
1401 East Jefferson Street, Suite 401
Seattle, WA 98122
- - - - - - - - - -
About this Listserv
To SUBSCRIBE to the Safe Schools Coalition's IMPORTANTNEWS List, which averages 2 messages/week including only: urgent messages, action items, SSC meeting minutes
To SUBSCRIBE to the Safe Schools Coalition's NEWS List, which averages 2 messages/day including THOSE SAME THINGS plus: events (conferences, courses, rallies, TV specials, activism opportunities)
, resources (books, DVDs, scholarships, curricula, and more), jobs and volunteer and internship opportunities, news digests, opinion digests
To UNSUBSCRIBE or
To SWITCH LISTS (from NEWS to IMPORTANT NEWS or vice versa) or
To CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS, if you are already a subscriber,
**************************************
The Safe Schools Coalition is a public-private partnership of 60+ organizations (government agencies, schools, community agencies, churches, youth/student groups, gay/lesbian groups, human rights groups) and 100+ individuals working to help schools
become safe places where every family can belong, where every educator can teach, and where every child can learn, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Safe Schools' website: http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org
Got a problem at school with anti-gay harassment?
In Washington State:
1-877-SAFE-SAFE (1-877-723-3723) 24 hours a day - the phone line is answered at the Sexual Assault Hotline and they will have a Safe Schools Coalition Intervention Specialist volunteer get back to you within 24 hours. Or contact us by email (click here:
Intervention)
http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/contact/?id=10and we will respond within 24 hours.
For non-emergencies: 206-451-SAFE (7233).
Or email us:
Co-Chairs:
Beth Reis, Public Health - Seattle & King County, 206-296-4970
Mo Lewis, King County Sexual Assault Resource Center
Listserv Managers:
Beth Reis for
Action Items,
Resource messages (books, films, curricula, etc.),
Professional Journal messages and
Help Needed
by Reporters/Authors, Researchers, and Member Organizations
Ethan Blustein for
Jobs, Internships, and
Volunteer Opportunity messages
Julie Parmenter for Opinion (blogs, editorials, letters to the editor)
messages
Gabi Clayton for
Legislative/Elective messages and
Fundraising* messages
* Note: Fundraising messages are only sent for member organizations.
Send Events to be Posted on the Safe Schools Coalition Calendar!
Buy cool Safe Schools T-Shirts & Gear
This message has been distributed as a free, non-profit informational service, to members of the Coalition and others who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Please do not publish
or post in a public place on the Internet, copyrighted material without attribution. Forwarding of this material should not necessarily be construed as an endorsement of the content.