Last week The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance Program released a report documenting the effect of the 2016 election on schools and students. Over ten thousand teachers, school counselors and administrators participated in an online survey. Nine out of ten educators who responded said they had seen a negative impact on students’ mood and behavior following the election. Eight in ten reported heightened anxiety on the part of marginalized students. Teachers reported that targeting and harassment in their schools had skyrocketed, particularly against immigrants, Muslims, girls, LGBT students, and kids with disabilities. Many educators described a profound change in the environments of their schools. According to the report, “students are tense, have lost trust in each other and are struggling to get along.”
In this changed school environment, the glow media films are more important than ever! The films are about students from different racial, ethnic and class backgrounds. In the first three films we see main characters grapple with issues related to sexual identity, body image and pressure to succeed. The students are kind and respectful to one another and support each other through difficult times. The films are intended to destigmatize challenges such as these that can make teens feel vulnerable and alone, and to worry that they are different from their peers. Students watching the glow media films will learn that struggling with anxiety, depression or an eating disorder in adolescence is common, and that there is help available. Not only will this help them to cope with their own challenges, but should heighten their sensitivity and empathy to other students who may be struggling. Classroom discussions of the films can help to teach tolerance, build community, and increase trust between students.
It’s easy to focus on the negative aspects of this past election. It’s harder to look at the differences that were highlighted and learn from them to impact real change.
For more information about glow media visit www.glowmedia.org or our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/glowmediaorg
In this changed school environment, the glow media films are more important than ever! The films are about students from different racial, ethnic and class backgrounds. In the first three films we see main characters grapple with issues related to sexual identity, body image and pressure to succeed. The students are kind and respectful to one another and support each other through difficult times. The films are intended to destigmatize challenges such as these that can make teens feel vulnerable and alone, and to worry that they are different from their peers. Students watching the glow media films will learn that struggling with anxiety, depression or an eating disorder in adolescence is common, and that there is help available. Not only will this help them to cope with their own challenges, but should heighten their sensitivity and empathy to other students who may be struggling. Classroom discussions of the films can help to teach tolerance, build community, and increase trust between students.
It’s easy to focus on the negative aspects of this past election. It’s harder to look at the differences that were highlighted and learn from them to impact real change.
For more information about glow media visit www.glowmedia.org or our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/glowmediaorg
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