Approximately 30% of adolescents in the United States who date were affected by teen dating violence (TDV) in 2013, according to self-report from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS; Vagi, Olsen, Basile, & Vivolo-Kantor, 2015). Limited interest in researching TDV arose around 30 years ago. In the past 10 years, research on TDV and…

Research reveals that students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) often do not feel safe at school as a result of higher rates of bullying in comparison to their heterosexual peers (Kann et al., 2016; Kosciw, Greytak, Palmer, & Boesen, 2014; Russell, Clarke, & Lamb, 2009). Compared to general…

The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) believes school psychologists are ethically obligated to ensure all youth with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and/or gender expressions, are able to develop and express their personal identities in a school climate that is safe, accepting, and respectful of all persons and…

The question from students and some educators usually sounds like this: "How can we have so much variation in gender if, biologically speaking, we only have two sexes?" Given the vast diversity of human sexual and reproductive anatomy (SRA), it is staggering how little we, as a society, know about it. There are many reasons for this…

Supporting students who are trans and nonbinary is essential work. Students in this population are at high risk for mental health and academic problems. Until trans and nonbinary students can express their individuality on their terms, school psychologists must continue to advocate for their rights and seek to support school staff in providing a…

Awareness of peer victimization and resilience among LGBT youth is important to the practice of competent school psychologists. Research illustrates the negative effects attributable to peer victimization and social risk. This paper highlights how building resiliency and fostering protective factors can help reduce peer victimization and its…

Overall, people whose gender identity and/or expression do not correspond to traditional norms are increasingly sharing their life experiences publicly. These narratives are offered by adults as well as children and their families. Within the last year, almost every major television network and news outlet has featured at least one such story.…

There have been increasing calls to integrate counseling into multidisciplinary care for students with differences in sex development, the literature on mental health needs of this population remains scarce and there is no empirical consensus regarding mental health outcomes or appropriate intervention for these youth (Schwiezer, Brunner,…

Transgender students have unique and intense needs to be addressed for a safer and more inclusive school experience. Experiencing harassment and feeling unsafe at school can lead to negative educational outcomes, such as depression, victimization, poor academic outcomes, substance abuse, school avoidance, risky sexual behavior, suicidal ideation,…

The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) supports efforts to ensure that schools are safe and inclusive learning environments for all students, family members, and school staff, including those who are transgender or gender diverse. NASP acknowledges that neither having a transgender identity nor being perceived as gender diverse is…

This article provides an overview of the joint "Resolution on Gender and Sexual Orientation Diversity in Children and Adolescents in Schools" that was adopted by the American Psychological Association's (APA) Council of Representatives (CoR) and the National Association of School Psychologists' (NASP) Leadership Assembly during the…

It is important that districts and schools do everything they can to create and maintain school climates and environments that are sensitive and responsive to the various educational, social, emotional, and behavioral needs of transgender and gender diverse students, regardless of the actual presence of a student who identifies as something other…

Home-school collaboration is strongly related to educational outcomes of children. However, not all families feel equally welcome at their children's schools. Children of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) couples are often met with perceived hostility when they attempt to participate in discussions about family, and their parents…

Gender, although widely understood as one of the fundamental organizing principles of social life and a prism through which we understand our experiences and ourselves, is rarely pondered in daily life (Dragowski, Scharrón-del Río, & Sandigorsky, 2011; Kimmel, 2011). For most people, gender is implicitly understood as a self-evident reality--a…

School psychologists are leaders in the most essential efforts to create a world in which all children and youth thrive in school, at home, and throughout life. Their leadership derives from their commitment to uphold the dignity and rights of all children, to doing so through evidence-based practice, and to recognizing the important role of…