Presenter(s)

• Julianna Casella, Graduate Student, University at Buffalo
• Amanda Nickerson, SUNY-Buffalo

Abstract

Students of minoritized backgrounds, including racially and ethnically minoritized students and LGBTQIA+ students, are known to be more likely to experience bullying and be at-risk for mental health concerns (Moyano & Sanchez-Fuentes, 2020; Xu et al., 2020). It is important to understand students’ relationships within the larger school community in order to understand how to minimize the likelihood of minoritized youth being victimized and increase the likelihood of them engaging in bystander intervention. This poster presentation will answer the following questions: (1) Do White students and non-White students differ significantly in their perceptions of school climate, perceived social norms regarding bullying and sexual harassment, and likelihood to intervene in situations of bullying? (2) Do heterosexual students and LGBTQIA+ students significantly differ in their perceptions of the school climate, perceived social norms regarding bullying and sexual harassment, and likelihood to intervene in situations of bullying? Participants included 359 high school students from a suburban school in the Northeast United States who were participating a pilot study for an intervention for bullying and sexual harassment prevention. The current study highlights that students’ identities play an important role in the way they interact with their peers and the school community. The study specifically highlights the importance of sexual orientation in the way students perceive their school and classmates, but also highlights an increased likelihood to intervene in situations of bullying. These results are important to understanding how to better support students from minoritized backgrounds, particularly in schools that have a predominantly White and heterosexual student body.