This Week in School and Campus Safety

Good morning,

This Weekly Update by the Illinois School and Campus Safety Program shares information on the 100 deadliest days for teen drivers, links to LGBTQ resources in honor of Pride month, and provides a final chance to register for the Preparing for the Unimaginable: An In-Depth Look at Wellness, Trauma Recovery, and Resilience class.

Thank you for your interest in school and campus safety. However, if you wish to no longer receive our emails, let me know and I will remove you from our contacts list.

Respectfully,

Laura Black
le-black@wiu.edu
Program Coordinator
Illinois School and Campus Safety Program
The 100 Deadliest Days for Teen Drivers

For years, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of injury-related deaths for youths, although it was recently displaced by deaths from firearm-related injuries. Even so, with Memorial Day Weekend behind us, we are now in the 100 Deadliest Days (the days from Memorial Day to Labor Day) for teen drivers. According to AAA, "new teen drivers ages 16-17 are three times as likely as adults to be involved in a deadly crash," and "'There are more daily deaths in crashes involving teen drivers during the summer months than the rest of the year because teens tend to have more unstructured time behind the wheel.'”

To help promote teen driver safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's page on Teen Driving addresses risk factors such as distracted driving, passengers, speeding, seat belt usage, and more.
PRIDE Month 2022

Earlier in May, The Trevor Project released its 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, which included suicide risk factors, barriers to mental health care, the negative impacts of COVID-19 and anti-transgender legislation, and ways in which to support LGBTQ youth. The new survey showed that "45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year," which is an increase from 42% in the 2021 survey. Additionally, "60% of LGBTQ youth who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it." In the 2021 survey, the percentage of LGBTQ youth who wanted counseling but were unable to receive it was 48%.

On May 31st, the presidential Proclamation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, And Intersex Pride Month, 2022 stated "Today, the rights of LGBTQI+ Americans are under relentless attack. Members of the LGBTQI+ community — especially people of color and trans people — continue to face discrimination and cruel, persistent efforts to undermine their human rights. An onslaught of dangerous anti-LGBTQI+ legislation has been introduced and passed in States across the country, targeting transgender children and their parents and interfering with their access to health care. These unconscionable attacks have left countless LGBTQI+ families in fear and pain. All of this compounded has been especially difficult on LGBTQI+ youth, 45 percent of whom seriously considered attempting suicide in the last year — a devastating reality that our Nation must work urgently to address."

With this information in mind, and in honor of Pride Month, we have provided a list of some LGBTQ resources for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education, and the youths they serve.









Last Chance to Register! Preparing for the Unimaginable: An In-Depth Look at Wellness, Trauma Recovery, and Resilience on June 8th via Zoom

This is the last chance to register for the Preparing for the Unimaginable: An In-Depth Look at Wellness, Trauma Recovery, and Resilience class on June 8th from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm via Zoom. This class is for both K-12 schools and Institutions of Higher Education, as well as law enforcement and other school and campus safety stakeholders. Professional development hours will be available for K-12 educators seeking them from Regional Office of Education 35. For more information and to register, click here.
Illinois School and Campus Safety Program www.ilschoolsafety.org
schoolsafety@iletsbei.com