Patrick OutFront Minnesota Flyer FINAL

PROFILING FOR GOOD:
STOPPING GLBT BULLYING BEFORE IT STARTS
BRECK SCHOOL 123 Ottawa Ave North, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55422
81.9% were harassed verbally
38.3% were physically harassed
63.5% felt unsafe at school due to their
perceived sexuality
8.3% were physically assaulted
55.2% experienced cyberbullying
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However, the School Climate Survey only established where and when this behavior was happening, and even then in very
general terms, such as X% of incidents happened in hallways or Y% of incidents happened in classrooms. It did not establish the
types of communities or schools in which this behavior was occurring in, nor did it attempt to establish a link between
community demographics and bullying behavior. In essence, it gave details of events, but no context.
GOAL: Build Upon the School Climate Survey
• PREDICT WHO is likely to be an aggressor in GLBT bullying...
• PREDICT WHAT environmental factors are likely to be present
that facilitate GLBT bullying...
• PREDICT WHERE communities and schools with climates
conducive to GLBT are likely to be...
• PREDICT WHEN GLBT bullying likely to occur...
...to INTERVENE and PREVENT bullying before it occurs.
Course Website: amr.breckschool.org
is one of the largest and oldest gay rights
organizations in Minnesota OutFront’s Safe
Schools Outreach division has partnered with
Breck School’s Advanced Mathematics
Research program to make this project possible.
Their aid and expertise has been invaluable.
http://www.outfront.org
What is gay?
Patrick Curoe has been on the
front line of GLBT issues for
his entire life. Patrick has
worked with local GSAs,
PFLAG and OutFront MN on
an activist basis and saw this
partnership with the Safe
Schools Initiative as an
opportunity to combine his
love of data with his activist
roots to have an even louder,
more credible voice.
Patrick Curoe
Andrea James / Wikimedia Commons
[email protected]
Patrick Curoe is taking a new approach to GLBT bullying - Stop
it before it starts! Through surveys and demographic research,
Patrick is creating a predictive model of communities and
schools in Minnesota where GLBT bullying is likely to occur.
This model will be used by the Safe Schools Initiative at
OutFront Minnesota to proactively target educational resources.
Advanced Mathematics Research
offers promising math students an
opportunity to perform
community-based research in
mathematics. Participants are
consulting mathematicians,
working with a governmental, civic,
or non-profit group to identify and
solve real problems. After
collaborating with host personnel
to identify an area of inquiry,
students determine appropriate
research and analytical methods.
They gather data, analyze results
and make specific
recommendations. Ultimately the
researchers will compile their
findings into a report and
presentation materials for their
organization, as well as presenting
their findings to the community.
Behavior is predictable. People may object to being thought of as an amalgam
of data, but if it saves lives, GLBT people are more than willing to set aside
that objection in favor of preventing suicides and ruined high school
experiences caused by bullying behavior.
How does this work?
People are shaped into who they are by their environments: families, schools,
churches, communities, etc. If one can understand the environment, one can
make educated guesses at what the people it produces will be like, and the
behaviors they may engage in. Bullying behaviors can be profiled and groups
with an endemic bullying profile can be targeted proactively with resources
geared toward their demographic.
The Profiling for Good project is surveying GLBT college and high school
students from around the state to collect stories of their high school
experiences. In addition to their personal stories, extensive demographic
information is collected about their schools and communities. Analysis not
dissimilar to targeted marketing (narrowcasting) is applied to find correlations
between stories and environments. This allows organizations such as
OutFront Minnesota to efficiently direct appropriate resources to those areas.
Course Website: amr.breckschool.org