December 29, 2010 ®*t* $3ortlanò ©bseruer Page 15 Respecting Differences Advertise with diversits IlKPordahd Observer Call 503-288-0033 c o n t i n u e d f r o m fr o n t e d u c a tio n , a n d , W a lla c e s a id , school d istric ts co u ld lose state funding if there is no an a n ti-b u lly ­ ing policy in place. P ortland P ublic S chools recently step p ed up its an ti-b u lly in g efforts w hich focus on prev en tio n to c re ­ ate a safe and w elco m in g clim ate w here students are not w o rry in g ab o u t how they w ill be treated by th eir peers. B ut w ith 201 school districts in the state, the co alition has a big challenge ahead o f them in trying to see that the legislation is enfo rced across the board. The Safe Schools A ct is especially im portant now , as aw areness o f bul­ lying am ong teens has increased in recent m onths, escalated after the reports o f at least five young m en A cco rd in g to the survey: w ho com m itted suicide as a result o f N early tw o -th ird s o f stu d en ts peerharassment. This prom pted “Sav­ rep o rted that they felt unsafe in age L ove” colum nist D an Savage school b ecau se o f th eir sexual o ri­ and his partner to start the It G ets en tatio n , and m ore than a third felt B etter cam paign, w hich involves ce­ unsafe b ecau se o f th e ir g en d er e x ­ lebrities, politicians, and citizens tell­ p re ssio n . ing their stories o f being bullied w hen T w en ty -n in e p ercen t o f L G B T school-aged, and how their lives are students m issed a class at least once, better now. and 30 p ercent m issed at least one A ccording to the 2009 N ational day o f school in the past m onth School C lim ate Survey, a 10-year b ecau se o f safety co n cern s; c o m ­ study do cu m en tin g the experien ces pared to only 8 p ercen t and 6.7 p er­ o f le s b ia n , g a y , b is e x u a l a n d cent, resp ectiv ely , o f o th er seco n d ­ tran sg en d er students, nearly 9 out ary school students. o f 10 L G B T students experien ced T h e g ra d e p o in t a v e ra g e o f s tu ­ h arassm ent at school in the past d e n ts w h o w e re m o re fre q u e n tly y ear and nearly tw o-thirds felt u n ­ h a ra ss e d b e c a u se o f th e ir sex u a l safe b ecause o f th eir sexual orien ta­ o rie n ta tio n o r g e n d e r e x p re ss io n tion. w as a lm o st h a lf a g ra d e lo w e r th an R e le a s e d in S e p te m b e r, th e fo r stu d e n ts w h o w e re le ss o fte n stu d y fo u n d th a t 8 4 .6 p e rc e n t o f h a ra s s e d (2 .7 v e rsu s 3.1 p e rc e n t). L G B T s tu d e n ts re p o rte d b e in g Increased levels o f v ictim ization v e rb a lly h a ra ss e d , 40.1 p e rc e n t w ere related to in creased levels o f r e p o r te d b e in g p h y s ic a lly h a ­ d e p re ssio n an d a n x ie ty and d e ­ ra s s e d a n d 18.8 p e rc e n t re p o rte d creased levels o f self-esteem . b e in g p h y s ic a lly a s s a u lte d a t T h o u g h P o rtlan d is the first m a­ sc h o o l in th e p a st y e a r b e c a u s e o f jo r city in the n ation to elect a gay th e ir sex u a l o rie n ta tio n . m ayor, O reg o n as a w hole is no t as In Loving Memory ads($portl