A government study released Monday found gay and bisexual high school students to engage in riskier business than their heterosexual classmates, the Associated Press reports.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anonymously surveyed 156,000 high school students regarding behavior ranging from not utilizing a bicycle helmet, to drug use, to attempting suicide.
In 50 to 90 percent of the risk categories listed, gay, lesbian and bisexual students reported worse behavior.
We as a society have seen children struggle in educational settings where they feel like outcasts or lack self-worth. Officials can’t say for sure what lies at the root of it all, but could gay bashing and bullying be a possibility? Is the LGBT stigma leading these teens to engage in riskier behavior than their counterparts?
“Many risk behaviors are related to how people feel about themselves and the environment they’re in,” lead author Laura Kann of the CDC’s division of adolescent and school health explained.
The findings are not considered nationally representative – having only been conducted in states along the East coast, and San Francisco – but this study has proven to be larger and more diverse than past studies.
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