Gay Teens In High School Essay Research free essay sample

Gay Teens In High School Essay, Research Paper GAY TEENAGERS One homosexual adult male remembers his high school old ages as filled with intense solitariness, fright and self-hatred. Another recalls disbursement every tiffin period in a bathroom stall. A sapphic recollects her bottling up all her emotions and hushing all self-generated gestures, terrified of stating or making anything to bewray her ain secret. Unusual memories? Not at all. Most cheery people, and many of today? s homosexual teens in high school, can depict similar narratives. In most adolescents? lives, they experience a fantastic four old ages of high school ; but cheery adolescents experience something much different. These pupils go through school seeking to suit in and merely be accepted by the society around them. In many instances, there is good that comes from being homosexual and being out ( to declare 1s gender ) in school but the bad things will ever overmaster the good. We will write a custom essay sample on Gay Teens In High School Essay Research or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A survey done in 1995 by the US Department of Health and Human Services showed that homosexual and sapphic young persons are 35 % more likely to travel through with self-destruction. Every twelvemonth that rate gets higher and higher. Now is the clip to look past indifference and see a individual for who that individual is # 8230 ; a human being. In many high schools across the state, there are at least a smattering of childs in each high school that are cheery, sapphic, and/or bisexual but are concealing themselves. In other words, they are playing heterosexual ( moving straight person ) . In an mean high school? about 3 % ? of pupils are really cheery, with? about 1 % ? of those pupils who are out to everyone. ( Hopkins, Gary: www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin087 ) On norm, a high school pupil, homosexual or heterosexual, will hear? anti-gay comments about 25-40 times? in one school twenty-four hours. ( Hopkins, Gary: www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin087 ) Out of all the verbal maltreatment heard, ? 80 % of it is failed to be reported? due to the fact that pupils are non confident with their gender yet. A study done in 1996 on over 8,400 high school pupils by The Safe School Anti-Violence Undertaking reported some interesting statistics. Out of the 8,400 pupils: ? 95 % characterize themselves as heterosexual ; 5 % as homosexual or bisexual, and 4 % as uncertain. ? ( The Safe School Anti-Violence Undertaking of Washington: www.relioustolerance.org/hom_stud ) Among the gay/lesbian/bisexual pupils, ? 34 % has been harassed? due to their? sexual orientation. ? Besides, they were? 3 times more likely to be injured in a battle that necessitating medical attention. ? ( The Safe School Anti-violence Project of Washington: www.religiuotolerance.org/hom_stud ) Furthermore, about? 75 % of pupils reported experiencing insecure? in school and have stated feeling? strongly about suicide. ? ( The Safe School Anti-violence Project of Washington: www.religiuotolerance.org/hom_stud ) When a adolescent realizes for the first clip their gender, they feel it? s highly difficult to state anyone. Gay adolescents feel it? s hard to come out into today? s society, due to the great figure of factors halting them ; homophobia ( irrational fright of homophiles ) is one of the factors. Adolescents have to travel through people that hate them merely because of their sexual orientation. Gay adolescents in high school have to confront homophobic adolescents everyday. In many instances of homophobia, cheery adolescents lose their friends and household. They don? T feel accepted if they do state their household and friends. The overpowering esthesis of forsaking is so great, the adolescent feels that he/she will stop up acquiring kicked out of the house. Or, that his/her friends will no longer desire to be his/her friend any longer. Adolescents wear? Ts cognize how? to experience or respond under these conditions. ? ( Wilson, Terry: Chicago Tribune 25 Mar. 1997 ) This leads to mass? confusion and solitariness? . ( Wilson, Terry: Chicago Tribune 25 Mar. 1997 ) The feeling of rejection is another factor that makes it difficult to come out. Your friends leave you, households disown you, and society looks down upon you. The deficiency of support makes it difficult for cheery young persons to come out. They don? T know whom to swear with this secret. ? The adolescent has no 1 to look up too. ? ( Cloud, John: Timess 8 dec. 1999 82-83 ) The pupil feels they are the lone one in their school and is afraid to come out. ( Cloud, John: Timess 8 Dec. 1999 82-83 ) The deficiencies of support and function theoretical accounts in schools leave many homosexual and sapphic pupils experiencing entirely and ashamed during their adolescence. The high rate of self-destruction among cheery and sapphic pupils is the consequence of a sense of profound isolation and loneliness experienced through high school. ( Lopes, Paula: interview 31 Jan. 2000 ) Many adolescents fear coming out because of the force they have observed. One incident is the Matthew Shepard onslaught. Anti-gay offenses like that leave adolescents experiencing even more fearful of coming out. Even worse the force may come from within their ain places. A 17-year-old adolescent told his parents that he was homosexual. His ain male parent beat him to near decease while the female parent stood by shouting anti-gay slurs at her boy. ( Safe Schools Coalition of Washington State: Jan. 1999 www.safes.org ) If cheery adolescents fear coming out in today? s society, is it society maintaining these adolescents in the closet? Most people teach their childs to hassle homosexual adolescents. These childs grow up in a place where they hear their ain parents? doing anti-gay slurs, more. Two sapphic misss are at a school football game. A few rows up from them are a group of parents shouting out anti-gay comments to the immature misss. Feeling upset they leave. On the manner out a group of immature childs throw nutrient at them and name them names every bit good. ( Safe Schools Coalition of Washington State: Jan. 1999 www.safeschools-wa.org ) Besides, many racialist groups threaten immature adolescents with verbal and/or physical torment. Some racialist groups could be the KKK, different packs, and highly conservative spiritual groups. These people make these adolescents feel ashamed for who they are. There is no safe manner for these adolescents? to research the possibilities? with out acquiring? criticized and physically harmed. ? ( Marcus, Eric 56 ) Gay and sapphic pupils frequently feel unseeable in their ain schools. Their invisibleness is typically reinforced by heterosexism ( everyone should be heterosexual ) in their environment, which causes homosexual and sapphic pupils feel unseeable, unsupported and stray. ( Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Young person: Report of Mass. Governor? s Commission on Gay and sapphic Youth, 1993 ) Society? s at titude, behaviours and inclinations to render homosexual and sapphic pupils unseeable in the school and within the household. The pupils? feelings of uncomfortableness and isolation are reinforced as their schools further perpetuate the myth of their nonentity. ( Lopes, Paula: interview 31 Jan. 2000 ) The deficiency of cognition of homosexual and sapphic pupils is a major function that society holds on maintaining them in the cupboard. ? Some myths are: All gay people have HIV/AIDS, If you stand following to a homosexual individual you will go homosexual, and Gay people are ever seeking to enroll other people. ? ( Katz, Jonathan 103 ) For the pupils that are out and in high school, we should clap them. These adolescents had the strength to get the better of all of the negative facets, which kept them from coming out. But, we do hold to expression at both sides of coming out excessively ; the positive side and so the negative side. Abuses take many signifiers ; they all hurt. Racial, cultural and sexual slurs are peculiarly opprobrious. Whereas most of us would non let a racialist slur to happen unbridled, we do non ever accord the same criterions to those comments made at the disbursal of sapphic and cheery people. Sometimes such slurs wear? T even acquire recognized as being hurtful and may be considered socially acceptable. Many immature people use footings such as? lezzie? , ? fagot? or? fagot? when mentioning to gay and sapphic people or to people who we Don? T like or esteem. This behaviour attacks the self-pride of a sapphic and cheery young person and Teachs immature people that hatred of homophiles is tolerated by our society. When a adolescent comes out while still in high school, that individual now has a peace of head. ? They no longer hold to contend within themselves. ? ( Cloud, John: Timess 8 Dec 1997 82-83 ) These adolescents now have a topographic point to belong in this brainsick universe. These pupils have a batch of bravery to confront all their frights. A immense load has been lifted off their thorax. They can keep their caput up high and say I? m proud to be gay/lesbian/bisexual. These teens have? accomplished a major undertaking in their life. ? ( Cloud, John: Timess 8 Dec 1997 82-83 ) When the adolescent does come out to his/her parents, and the parents understand, the adolescent has an overpowering feeling of credence. They know their household will be at that place to steer and back up them through midst and thin. These cheery adolescents have the power of apprehension of themselves ; they are now a whole individual. Yet, with good effects there are the bad 1s as good. Many high school pupils walk the halls listening to verbal torment: Hey you Fag! Expression at the Dykes! Stupid fagots! All cheery people should be shot. Those were merely a really short list of some verbal torment. Verbal torment is merely as damaging as physical, sometimes more so. Teachers that hear the verbal torment? fail to describe about 97 % of it. ? ( Hopkins, Gary: www.education-world.com/a_admin/admon087 ) While in school about ? 69 % of all GLBT ( gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender ) crimes? take topographic point. ( Byrd, Richard: www.glccftl.org/library/youthgroup/0598 ) 97 % of all pupils in public high schools report on a regular basis hearing homophobic comments from their equals. ( Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Young person: Report of Mass. Governor? s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, 1993 ) With verbal torment, physical torment International Relations and Security Network? T far behind. Gay people are three times more likely to be victimized. ( Kuklin, Susan: 71 ) About 15 % of all tribades or bisexual adult females have reported being victimized or raped at least one time in their lives because of their sexual orientation. ( Katz, Jonathan: 23 ) A 16-year-old miss is dating another female. Five male childs from school find out, so they force her into a vacant schoolroom and state her if she doesn? t perform unwritten sex on them they will kill her. They boys name her names and they rip off all her apparels. They start to ravish her 1 at a clip. After they are done ravishing her, they about beat her to decease. Right before they leave, they tell her? Following clip we see you with your girlfriend, you won? t unrecorded to see the following day. ? ( Safe Schools Coalition of Washington State: Jan. 1999 www.safes.org ) In 1995, there were 2,395 studies of physical torment. In 1996, there were 2,529 studies ; that is a 6 % addition within one twelvemonth. ( Byrd, Richard: www.glccftl.org/library/youthgroup/0598 ) The hardest portion of coming out is being accepted ; most times you? re non. You hope that your friends understand you and will assist you through the unsmooth times. They merely turn their dorsums on you. Then you think your household will assist you so. They have excessively ; they? re your flesh and blood. You tell them, they tell you that you are no longer their son/daughter. You have no 1 to accept you now. When stating your household you are gay/lesbian, your ma and dad boot you out of the house. You hold merely been abandoned. ? 26 % of homosexual and tribades young persons are forced to go forth their place because of struggles with their households over their sexual identities. ? ( Remafedi. G: Pediatricss, 79 ) Another negative facet of coming out and non being able to populate in peace is suicide. As declared before, 35 % of homosexual and sapphic young persons are more likely to finish a self-destruction. Gay and sapphic adolescents sometimes can? t handle the isolation and torment so they feel it is best to stop the torment by stoping their lives. ? Gay and sapphic self-destructions makes up approximately 28 % of the self-destruction rate in the US. ? ( The Safe School Anti-Violence Project of Washington: www.relioustolerance.org/hom_stud ) ? In a survey of depression in homosexual and sapphic young persons, research workers found depression work stoppages homosexual youth four to five times more badly than their non-gay peers. ? ( The Safe School Anti-Violence Project of Washington: www.relioustolerance.org/hom_stud ) While depressed adolescents are more likely drink, ? 68 % of homosexual males use intoxicant and 44 % usage other drugs ; 83 % of tribades use intoxicant and 56 % usage other drugs. ? ( Hunter. J. Unpublished research by the Columbia University HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, 1992 ) ? 80 % of tribades, homosexual and bisexual young person study terrible isolation jobs from being depressed. ? ( Hetrick. E.S. : Martin. A.D. , Journal of Homosexuality 14 ( 1/2 ) . 25-43. 1987 ) Gay young persons are more than? five times more likely to jump categories or school because they feel unsafe. ? Marcus, Eric: 19 ) So many pupils have skipped categories to remain off from other schoolmates that verbally hassle them, sometimes repeatedly losing certain categories. In a national survey, ? 28 % of sapphic, homosexual, and bisexual high school pupils were seen to hold dropped out of school because of torment. ? ( Remafedi. G: Pediatricss, 142 )