Articles
Learning About School Policies
There are many ways to find out whether your child's school has incorporated welcoming practices and policies.
What Welcoming Schools Offer
There are a number of concrete steps that schools can take to demonstrate their commitment to LGBT inclusiveness. These include implementing LGB-inclusive policies such as employment non-discrimination and anti-harassment as well as providing LGBT-related in-service trainings to all school staff, a Gay Straight Alliance for students and resources on LGBT issues.
School Resources for Parents
While we go through the same motions preparing for the school year as do all parents — buying school supplies, reviewing the bus schedule, lining up child care - we have the added anxiety about meeting a new teacher, introducing “our family,” and waiting to see how the school reacts to us and to our children.
How to Help if an Attack Occurs
Preparing your child to deal with prejudice when it is still an abstract concept is one thing. Helping your child cope when he or she has heard anti-gay sentiments, or witnessed or been involved in an anti-gay attack, is another story.
How to Prepare Your Child
The key to helping your child find a healthy way to deal with prejudice is to start early, think about the messages and values you'd like to communicate, and provide your child with the tools that will help him or her face whatever situation may arise.