A new group in town, the Inclusive Schools Working Group (Inclusive Schools), strives to support and encourage the district in its efforts to provide a more inclusive and diverse academic environment for students. Their current focus is on LGBTQ initiatives.
Inclusive Schools saw an opportunity to support an organization whose interests overlapped their own when it became time for the annual IAM Strong 5K. The IAM Strong Foundation is an organization working towards removing judgment and shame from teenagers’ mental health struggles. Nationwide, suicide is the second leading cause of death in children ages 12-19 according to the CDC1 and rates are frighteningly high for LGBTQ youth. LGBTQ students experience greater rates of depression and suicide than their non-LGTBQ peers. They also report being harassed at school at twice the rates of non-LGTBQ youth. In a CDC survey, 6.4 percent of heterosexual students compared to 29.4 percent of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students and 13.7 percent of questioning students had attempted suicide one or more times during the 12 months before the CDC’s survey.
There is good news, however. Data shows that creating inclusive environments for LGBTQ students and their families, by visibly supporting those students and by not tolerating physical or verbal abuse or bullying, results in an environment where all kids feel safer and where academic outcomes are improved for LGBTQ students and their non-LGBTQ peers. Everybody wins.
The Inclusive Schools Team was made up of adults, teens and children who showed up to walk or run in support of the IAM Strong Foundation and their efforts in support of teen mental health. A total of 46 participants ran or walked wearing the Inclusive Schools logo, which is a rainbow heart with a “W” in the center.
The Inclusive Schools Working Group is under the Neighbors In Action umbrella. Neighbors in Action is a grassroots civic engagement organization that offers residents of Westwood and surrounding areas a forum for dialogue and activism on common issues of concern. They currently have groups focused on the 2018 Elections, Immigration, Environmental, and Healthcare issues and Inclusive Schools. Their next meeting is on Wednesday, May 17, at 7 p.m. in the main Westwood Library. For more information, contact neighbors.in.action.ww@gmail.com.
