'Healthy Schools' project hoped to ease discrimination

APA receives funding from CDC for project aimed at improving school services for gay and lesbian students.

By Rebecca A. Clay

Jamie Nabozny realized he was gay around the time he entered seventh grade and decided not to hide his sexual orientation. That decision nearly cost him his life.

For the rest of his middle and high school career, other students in his Ashland, Wis., school district subjected him to nonstop torment. They spat on him and called him names. They beat him severely. One student even urinated on him.

Despite pleas for help from Nabozny and his parents, school administrators did nothing. Some even joined students in mocking Nabozny. In response to a simulated rape carried out in front of laughing students, the school principal allegedly told Nabozny he should expect such behavior if he was going to be so openly gay. Nabozny eventually dropped out.

Following two suicide attempts and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, Nabozny sued the school district. In 1996, he won more than $900,000. The case has since prompted other students to file similar lawsuits.

Thanks to a recent cooperative agreement between APA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stories like Nabozny's may become a thing of the past. Backed by new data showing that Nabozny's was not an isolated case, the five-year grant will allow APA to develop a Healthy Schools Project for Lesbian and Gay Students.

Designed to prevent HIV infection and other health problems among lesbian, gay and bisexual students, the project will provide information and resources to schools around the country.

"These students fall through the cracks," says Karen M. Anderson, PhD, director of the APA Center for Psychology in Schools and Education and assistant executive director in APA's Education Directorate. "Many schools believe they don't actually have any gay and lesbian students. And schools are often concerned about being seen as promoting homosexuality."

Changing schools' culture

Recent data reveal the consequences of such attitudes, says Clinton W. Anderson, the officer in charge of lesbian, gay and bisexual concerns in APA's Public Interest Directorate. He and Karen Anderson, no relation, will co-direct the project.

Using the Massachusetts and Vermont Youth Risk Behaviors Survey, several large-scale studies have found that young people reporting same-sex attraction or behavior are at significantly higher risk than their heterosexual peers.

They are more likely to use alcohol and other drugs, to skip school because of safety concerns, to face threats or injuries from people with weapons, to become teen parents and to attempt suicide. Male adolescents who have sex with other males face a well-documented risk of infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Data also reveal that school personnel are ill-equipped to protect students from such risks. A national survey of secondary school counselors found that most felt only moderately competent to deal with gay students, for example. A report card issued by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network gave 42 of the nation's largest school districts failing grades when it came to protecting students and teachers from harassment and discrimination.

"Schools obviously play an important role in these problems," says Clinton Anderson. "They're where the problems are carried out, but also where there are people who could help."

The project will take a multifaceted approach to helping schools do a better job of protecting students: