Changing the narrative in schools: Addressing systemic barriers and stereotypes that prevent gender and sexual diverse youth from thriving

UFGLI students comprise 34% of the students enrolled in four-year universities. Unlike some students, UFGLI students face internal and systemic barriers throughout their educational experience and their struggles are often dismissed and disregarded. Working and raising a family while taking courses, minimal support systems, and financial struggles require students to optimize their resources. We explore the issues of UFGLI students and the importance of their spiritual and religious supports using a literature review and a case study. Religious and spiritual identities are resources that should be explored and supported by staff at university counselling centers. Affirming UFGLI students’ religious and spiritual identities and understanding how religion and spirituality work in their lives can assist these students in their acclimation to and success at university.

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Teen Dating Violence Help-Seeking Intentions and Behaviors Among Ethnically and Racially Diverse Youth: A Systematic Review

Trauma Violence & Abuse ◽

10.1177/1524838020985569 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 152483802098556

Author(s):

Diana M. Padilla-Medina ◽

Jessica R. Williams ◽

Kristen Ravi ◽

Bernadette Ombayo ◽

Beverly M. Black

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Dating Violence ◽

Ethnic Differences ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Ethnically Diverse ◽

Teen Dating Violence ◽

Racial And Ethnic Differences ◽

And Behaviors ◽

Teen Dating ◽

Diverse Youth

Teen dating violence (TDV) affects millions of youth in the United States and globally each year. A systematic review was conducted to examine the help-seeking intentions and behaviors of youth between the ages of 12 and 19 based on racial and ethnic differences. Considering the high prevalence of TDV among racially and ethnically diverse youth, previous systematic reviews have recommended that future scholarship address help-seeking intentions and behaviors among racially and ethnically diverse youth. The methodologies and results of TDV and help-seeking studies published since 2000 were reviewed and analyzed. A systematic search of peer-reviewed journal articles published in English was conducted using an electronic search. The rigorous search identified 10 studies that addressed help-seeking intentions and behaviors and racial and ethnic differences in youth meeting eligibility requirements. The search yielded few studies, indicating a need to conduct future research in this area. The strength of the studies’ methodologies limited generalizability and external validity. The studies primarily addressed differences among African American and Latino youth. Youth relied on informal sources of support, with youth from both groups preferring to seek help from parents and friends. Mistrust, lack of closeness, and feelings of mistrust, shame, and embarrassment informed youths’ help-seeking intentions and behaviors. Racially and ethnically specific factors such as negative perceptions of father figures, familism, acculturation, and traditional gender role notions were identified as barriers to help-seeking. As part of appraising and synthesizing the evidence, recommendations for research, practice, and policy are presented.

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Gender dysphoria in adolescents: can adolescents or parents give valid consent to puberty blockers?

Journal of Medical Ethics ◽

10.1136/medethics-2020-106999 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. medethics-2020-106999

Author(s):

Simona Giordano ◽

Fae Garland ◽

Soren Holm

Keyword(s):

Gender Dysphoria ◽

Pubertal Development ◽

Hormonal Treatment ◽

Conveyor Belt ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Healthcare Settings ◽

Gender Diverse ◽

Valid Consent ◽

Diverse Youth

This article considers the claim that gender diverse minors and their families should not be able to consent to hormonal treatment for gender dysphoria. The claim refers particularly to hormonal treatment with so-called ‘blockers’, analogues that suspend temporarily pubertal development. We discuss particularly four reasons why consent may be deemed invalid in these cases: (1) the decision is too complex; (2) the decision-makers are too emotionally involved; (3) the decision-makers are on a ‘conveyor belt’; (4) the possibility of detransitioning. We examine each of these reasons and we show that none of these stand up to scrutiny, and that some are based on a misunderstanding of the nature and purposes of this stage of treatment and of the circumstances in which it is usually prescribed. Moreover, accepting these claims at face value could have serious negative implications, not just for gender diverse youth, but for many other minors and families and in a much broader range of healthcare settings.

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Reward Processing in Gender-Diverse Youth: The Role of Minority Stress on the Anticipation of Loss

Biological Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.02.675 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 89 (9) ◽

pp. S270

Author(s):

Hannah Loso ◽

Aya Cheaito ◽

Bader Chaarani ◽

Sarah Jane Dube ◽

Hugh Garavan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Minority Stress ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Gender Diverse ◽

Diverse Youth

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Cracks to Craters: College Advising During COVID-19

AERA Open ◽

10.1177/23328584211018715 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 233285842110187

Author(s):

Meredith R. Naughton

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Study ◽

Marginalized Students ◽

School Closures ◽

Wide Range ◽

College Advising ◽

Communication Challenges ◽

High Need Schools ◽

Education Of Students ◽

The Impact ◽

Systemic Barriers

The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease–2019) pandemic disrupted the education of students across the globe in the spring of 2020. Students who were previously at most risk for falling behind their peers and through the cracks because of academic, financial, racial, and/or generational disadvantage faced a wide range of additional obstacles in the pursuit of their college goals. This qualitative study sought to uncover postsecondary advising implications for students through the perspectives of near-peer college advisers (n = 23) serving in high-need schools in two different states as intensive, in-person advising was forced to adapt to virtual formats. Two key thematic findings reveal that advisers faced new communication challenges and existing systemic barriers for marginalized students became even larger. For seniors who had not yet made final postsecondary decisions or who had remaining to-dos, the impact of school closures and distanced advising may have fatally widened existing cracks in the path to college.

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