Overall, my grant project is to create and instill curricula in schools for teachers and students around LGBT issues with the goal of educating teachers and students, decreasing discrimination towards LGBT folks, and eventually making the community more LGBT accepting. The LGBT population continually faces discrimination resulting in numerous disparities. LGBT youth are some of the most vulnerable to these disparities include verbal harassment, physical harassment, and physical assault which can result in decreased academic outcomes, more school missed, substance abuse, decreased self esteem and even suicide. It has been shown that a curriculum regarding LGBT issues can decrease these negative outcomes. Supportive school educators have also shown to decrease negative outcomes. This proposal is to implement a curriculum for both students and teachers in Alachua County. This will educate both staff and students on LGBT terminology, history, and ways to decrease discrimination in their schools with the hope of changing the culture around the LGBT population. Once created and tested in Alachua County, it is hoped that there will be concrete evidence for the curriculum's positive effects so that Florida will make it a requirement in their curriculum.
Trauma-informed
The entirety of the course and its delivery will aim to be trauma informed. Due to the potentially sensitive nature of the topics discussed, resources will be given for local Crisis Lines and LGBT support lines that students and teachers can call 24/7 if they feel they need extra support. The curriculum will encourage a strength-based approach as it will inform and educate students and staff on ways that they can proactively stop discrimination against LGBT individuals. The overall curriculum for both students and staff will be reviewed to be sure that it is culturally sensitive and inclusive prior to dissemination. If any student wants to take a break during the class and leave that will be permitted to be sure they have the time and space to deal with any anxiety that may come up. Individuals will be provided a means to give feedback about the course and request further resources or information privately through an anonymous online system. Overall, the course will continually look at feedback from students and staff and make changes accordingly.
Social Ecological Model
This project will address the organizational and interpersonal levels of McLeroy's Social Ecological Model. In this situation the institution is the school, in which we are changing the curricula for both teacher and student training. Changing practices of the institution as a whole will help to change the culture in school. At the interpersonal level, the project aims to utilize the influence that student peers and teachers have on one another.
Public Health Framework
This project will use a public health framework by making the entire school system a safe place for LGBT students. Training for the teachers as well as the students will change the culture in the schools and eventually the community as a whole. As students graduate and become working members of the community, what they learned in school will be taken with them. The project will focus on primary and secondary prevention. We are hoping to prevent trauma, build resiliency for future trauma, and build resiliency for trauma that has occurred. Instilling policies that make the schools go over such training for students and teachers will, over time, prevent cases of bullying and other mistreatment on LGBT individuals. We hope that normalizing a spectrum of sexualities will help all students feel empowered to be who they are and want to be in spite of any mistreatment they may have already endured.
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