The path from adolescence to young adulthood is rocky for most, but for those who don't conform to pre-established conventions, it can be downright treacherous. Digital platforms have ushered in new methods to bully and to be bullied. Texting, social media networks, and email, to name a few, are providing  ways to make a youth's life miserable, often in a public forum. All too frequently, victims of bullying are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

But these modern digital weapons of torture can also be turned and used against the perpetrators. Over the last several years there has been an observed spike in youth suicides, many attributed to bullying of LGBT youth. This has prompted the growth of social media-generated anti-bullying publicity, followed by a massive outcry across the country. Public attitudes and tolerance around sexual identity and orientation continue to evolve alongside an increase in online resources and awareness campaigns for LGBT students. This includes the It Gets Better Project, an Internet-based video project founded by syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage with his partner Terry Miller. After learning about the number of LGBT students being bullied and consequently taking their own lives, they determined to show that no matter how bad things are for LGBT youth, it gets better. They aim to provide LGBT young people with a window into a better future and a message--that it will get better once they get through their teen years. They achieve this by featuring a number of high-profile, influential, successful, openly gay adults for whom things did get better.

In February 2013, the second-annual "Out for Undergraduate Technology Conference" was held at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to afford high-achieving LGBT students the opportunity to connect with some of Silicon Valley's biggest employers. As event organizer Michael Ruderman put it, the conference is "mostly about helping the next generation of LGBT employees realize they don't have to hide their sexual orientation to get ahead."

This infographic examines some of the issues facing LGBT students, how they're affected, and how support for these students--much of it Web-based--has evolved over the years.

Sources:

KQED, "Tech Conference Gives LGBT Students Support to Stay Out", January 2013

It Gets Better Project

For a complete list of sources, please view the Infographic.

The path from adolescence to young adulthood is rocky for most, but for those who don't conform to pre-established conventions, it can be downright treacherous. Digital platforms have ushered in new methods to bully and to be bullied. Texting, social media networks, and email, to name a few, are providing  ways to make a youth's life miserable, often in a public forum. All too frequently, victims of bullying are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

But these modern digital weapons of torture can also be turned and used against the perpetrators. Over the last several years there has been an observed spike in youth suicides, many attributed to bullying of LGBT youth. This has prompted the growth of social media-generated anti-bullying publicity, followed by a massive outcry across the country. Public attitudes and tolerance around sexual identity and orientation continue to evolve alongside an increase in online resources and awareness campaigns for LGBT students. This includes the It Gets Better Project, an Internet-based video project founded by syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage with his partner Terry Miller. After learning about the number of LGBT students being bullied and consequently taking their own lives, they determined to show that no matter how bad things are for LGBT youth, it gets better. They aim to provide LGBT young people with a window into a better future and a message--that it will get better once they get through their teen years. They achieve this by featuring a number of high-profile, influential, successful, openly gay adults for whom things did get better.

In February 2013, the second-annual "Out for Undergraduate Technology Conference" was held at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to afford high-achieving LGBT students the opportunity to connect with some of Silicon Valley's biggest employers. As event organizer Michael Ruderman put it, the conference is "mostly about helping the next generation of LGBT employees realize they don't have to hide their sexual orientation to get ahead."

This infographic examines some of the issues facing LGBT students, how they're affected, and how support for these students--much of it Web-based--has evolved over the years.

Sources:

KQED, "Tech Conference Gives LGBT Students Support to Stay Out", January 2013

It Gets Better Project

For a complete list of sources, please view the Infographic.

The path from adolescence to young adulthood is rocky for most, but for those who don't conform to pre-established conventions, it can be downright treacherous. Digital platforms have ushered in new methods to bully and to be bullied. Texting, social media networks, and email, to name a few, are providing  ways to make a youth's life miserable, often in a public forum. All too frequently, victims of bullying are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

But these modern digital weapons of torture can also be turned and used against the perpetrators. Over the last several years there has been an observed spike in youth suicides, many attributed to bullying of LGBT youth. This has prompted the growth of social media-generated anti-bullying publicity, followed by a massive outcry across the country. Public attitudes and tolerance around sexual identity and orientation continue to evolve alongside an increase in online resources and awareness campaigns for LGBT students. This includes the It Gets Better Project, an Internet-based video project founded by syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage with his partner Terry Miller. After learning about the number of LGBT students being bullied and consequently taking their own lives, they determined to show that no matter how bad things are for LGBT youth, it gets better. They aim to provide LGBT young people with a window into a better future and a message--that it will get better once they get through their teen years. They achieve this by featuring a number of high-profile, influential, successful, openly gay adults for whom things did get better.

In February 2013, the second-annual "Out for Undergraduate Technology Conference" was held at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to afford high-achieving LGBT students the opportunity to connect with some of Silicon Valley's biggest employers. As event organizer Michael Ruderman put it, the conference is "mostly about helping the next generation of LGBT employees realize they don't have to hide their sexual orientation to get ahead."

This infographic examines some of the issues facing LGBT students, how they're affected, and how support for these students--much of it Web-based--has evolved over the years.

Sources:

KQED, "Tech Conference Gives LGBT Students Support to Stay Out", January 2013

It Gets Better Project

For a complete list of sources, please view the Infographic.