Back to School

Table of Contents

Creating a School Support Plan: An Exercise for Youth

School can be overwhelming! Reconnecting with and meeting new peers, teachers, administrators, parents... it can be a lot to navigate! And sometimes, people can be unintentionally disrespectful or even intentionally violent.

One way to feel more confident and safe is to go to school with a plan. Use our tool linked below as a starting point to determine your own support plan.

Start a Genders & Sexualities Alliance

A Genders & Sexualities Alliance (GSA) is a student-run club, typically in a high school or middle school, which provides a safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and work to end homophobia and transphobia.

Why start a GSA?

• GSAs function as a support group and provide safety and confidentiality to students.

• GSAs provide a sense of community and a space for LGBTQIA+ and allied youth to build a social network where their identities are respected.

• GSAs work on educating themselves and the broader school community about sexual orientation and gender identity issues.

Intergenerational Advice

We asked Continuum, Youth OUTright’s Intergenerational Community Building group, to share some advice for youth returning to school. Here’s are some of their recommended strategies for resilience:

• Breathing & Visualizing: Check out our resource on Rainbow Breathing below!

• Herbal Oils & Medicine: Consider carrying a calming aromatic, like lavender, with you.

• Mantras & Phrases: Come up with language you can repeat to yourself when you need a self-confidence boost.

  • Example: Self-determination is power and I am the only one with the right to define myself.

Rainbow Breathing Technique

One recommendation for feeling grounded is to practice mindful visualizations. Below we’ve outlined the rainbow breathing technique.

1. Visualize a rainbow above you.

2. Breath in through your nose as you slowly raise your arms toward the top of the rainbow, tracing the arc with your fingertips along the way.

3. When you reach the top, begin exhaling through your mouth and lowering your arms back down, continuing to trace the arc.

4. Repeat for each color of the rainbow or until you feel calm and grounded.

Remember – this exercise can be completed through physical movement or visualization.

Schools May not prevent students from:

• Bringing same-sex dates to school functions (like prom)

• Openly discussing their sexual orientation or gender identity

• Wearing LGBTQIA+ pride clothing

School employees may not:

• Tell anyone that a student identifies as LGBTQIA+ without the student's permission.

youth without housing

Students who are homeless have the right to go to school with other students, and may not be discriminated against or separated from other students based on their living situations.

Schools MUST immediately enroll students who are homeless, even if the students do not have all of their enrollment paperwork (including medical records, former school records, proof of residency, and/or immunization records), and even if there is a disagreement about where the child should be enrolled.