RESOURCES

• StopBullying.gov offers separate sections for kids, teens and young adults to help them understand how to identify and stop bullying. (Español)
• MTV's A Thin Line campaign was developed to empower you to identify, respond to, and stop the spread of digital abuse in your life and amongst your peers.
• Cyberbullying.org has resources for teens to help deal with cyberbullying.
• Hey, Terra! answers your questions with thoughtful advice.

• For a great list of books that address bullying for preschool thru middle school check out ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Curriculum Connections.
• StopBullying.gov helps parents understand what to do if their child is being bullied or might be a bully and offers resources for getting help. (Español)
• PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center offers a number of helpful resources.
• PACER’s information sheet Help Your Child Recognize Bullying offers helpful tips for starting this important conversation with your children.

• Project Cornerstone offers a range of services to help schools reduce bullying and improve climate.
• Teaching Tolerance is dedicated to promoting tolerant, inclusive, hate-free environments at home, in schools and communities.
• The National Bullying Prevention Center promotes awareness and teach ways to respond to bullying.
• The Anti-Defamation League offers curriculum and resources to help create safe schools for all students, recognize bias, explore diversity; improve intergroup relations and combat racism, anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice and bigotry.
• Common Sense Media has developed Standing up, Not Standing By: A Free Cyberbullying Toolkit for Educators to assist schools in taking a stand against cyberbullying.
• Welcoming Schools offers an LGBT-inclusive approach to addressing family diversity, gender stereotyping, bullying and name-calling in K-5 learning environments.

Resources for youth:

• The Trevor Project is determined to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources including our nationwide, 24/7 crisis intervention lifeline, digital community and advocacy/educational programs that create a safe, supportive and positive environment for everyone.
• LGBTQQ Resources for Elementary and Middle Schools has been compiled by Palo Alto Unified School District and contains resources for elementary and middle school aged youth and families.
• It Gets Better Project was founded to prevent suicide among LGBTQ youth by having gay adults convey the message that these teens’ lives will improve. The site offers many kids something they've never had before: the ear of a sympathetic adult who understands exactly what they're going through.

Resources for schools:

• The California Safe Schools Coalition works to eliminate discrimination and harassment on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity in California schools.
• A Guide for Schools Responding to Questions About the U.S. Department of Education’s Guidance on the Rights of Transgender Students.
• Welcoming Schools offers an LGBT-inclusive approach to addressing family diversity, gender stereotyping, bullying and name-calling in K-5 learning environments.
• The Welcoming Schools Guide offers tools, lessons and resources on embracing family diversity, avoiding gender stereotyping and ending bullying and name-calling in elementary schools. It offers an LGBT-inclusive approach that is also inclusive of the many types of diversity found in our communities.
• The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Network empowers youth activists to fight homophobia and transphobia in the schools.
• The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is a national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students.

• Common Sense Media offers information for parents to help young people understand online bullying and learn how to be an UP-stander instead of a bystander when it occurs.
  • Being a Digital Citizen
  • Posting Photos Online
• The Cyberbullying Research Center provides information and data about the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of cyberbullying among adolescents.
• The Anti-Defamation League offers tools to respond to cyberbullying for educators, families and youth.
• A guide to Smart Social Networking from Cyberbullying Research Center.

• PACER (the Minnesota Parent Training and Information Center) is dedicated to supporting families with children who have disabilities.
• Telling Classmates About Your Child’s Disability May Foster Acceptance helps families develop strategies to educate the school community about a disabled child’s abilities and differences.

Body Image

Body image is based on a person's thoughts and feelings about the way their body looks.

Resources

• About Kids Health is a website for parents on how to promote positive body image.
• Body Positive is a website for parents about the dilemmas surrounding child weight issues.
• Body Shaming and Weight Bias is an article from Kidpower.
• The Body Positive trains mental health professionals, dietitians, educators, school counselors, medical professionals, coaches, and community organizers to use the Be Body Positive Model to conduct positive body image campaigns in schools and community-based settings.
• National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) has a wealth of information and research about eating disorders, including Identity & Eating Disorders.
• Eating Disorders Resource Center Silicon Valley: The mission of Eating Disorders Resource Center (EDRC) is to increase awareness and understanding of eating disorders for the general public and for health professionals; to promote early diagnosis, effective treatment, and recovery; and to advocate for mental health parity legislation and effective insurance coverage.
• Eating Disorder: Recovery During a Crisis - Affirmations and Activities. Recovering from an eating disorder (ED) is often physically and emotionally exhausting in any season. But recovering during a crisis can be especially difficult. Consider the coronavirus pandemic, for example. Physical isolation, interruptions to daily routines and major transitions at work or school can be triggering for people in recovery.
• About Face offers programs/workshops to promote healthy body image for girls 7th grade and up.
• Teaching Tolerance offers a lesson plan for Healthy Bodies, Healthy Body Image.
• Children's books about body image:
  • Positive body image for girls
  • Help build a positive body image in children
  • Help kids feel good about their bodies

Faith & Religion

Belief in God or in a set of religious doctrines and spiritual practices.

Resources

• Anti-Defamation League Religious Freedom Statement
• Finding Common Ground: First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Schools
• Teaching Tolerance
  • Understanding Other Religious Beliefs lesson helps students learn more about different religions and discuss the importance of religion freedom.
  • Speaking with Respect is a worksheet that corresponds with the activity of having each student research a religion, create a poster board on it, and present to the class.
• Children's books about faith and religion

Family Status

The world is a melting pot of families of different configurations, beliefs, cultural norms, and personal practices. Every child and family comes with different family values and experiences.

Resources

• Changing American Family from the New York Times takes a look at the changing definition of family in the United States
• How to Help Children Understand Diverse Families is a resource from Bright Horizons that looks at diverse family structures
• The Perfect Family on HealthyChildren.org from the American Academy of Pediatrics has research about the changing institution of the family
• Understanding Family Dynamics helps educators understand how family dynamics influence youth
• There Is No Longer Any Such Thing as a Typical Family is an article about changing families in Time magazine
• Children's books about families

Gender

Gender Identity: One's innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One's gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth.

Gender Expression: External appearance of one's gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.

Resources

• County of Santa Clara Office of LGBTQ Affairs provides leadership, resources, and support for the well-being and longevity of LGBTQ communities in Santa Clara County through coordinated, integrated approaches.
• Genderbread Person is a visual diagram to help understand gender and sexuality.
• Gender Spectrum helps to create gender sensitive and inclusive environments for all children and teens. They have a variety of resources for youth, parents, and educators.
• GLSEN's mission is to create safe and affirming schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.  Their Safe Space Kit is designed to help school create a safe place for LGBTQ youth.
• Gender Non-Conforming & Transgender Children from the American Academy of Pediatrics is available on their webpage at HealthyChildren.org
• Free Spirit Articles
  • How respecting personal pronouns is part of respecting boundaries (Lydia Bowers, author of We Listen to Our Bodies)
  • How to break the habit of using gendered terms in your classroom (Lydia Bowers)
  • How parents can challenge their gender stereotypes (Afsaneh Moradian, author of Jamie and Bubbie: A Book About People's Pronouns
• Human Rights Campaign Resources: Tools for Equality and Inclusion
• LGBTQQ Resources for Elementary and Middle Schools has been compiled by Palo Alto Unified School District and contains resources for elementary and middle school aged youth and families.
• Outlet empowers Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQQ+) youth and builds safe and accepting communities through support, education, and advocacy.
• Welcoming Schools is dedicated to creating respectful and supportive elementary schools by embracing family diversity, creating LGBTQ- and gender-inclusive schools, preventing bias-based bullying, and supporting transgender and non-binary students.
  • Challenging Gender Limits with Picture Books
  • Diverse Children's Books with Transgender, Non-Binary and Gender Expansive Children
  • What Can We Do? Bias, Bullying & Bystanders training video
• Children's books about gender identity

Immigration Status

How one's family came to the United States, their immigration story, and their legal status.

Resources

• Family History Worksheet can be used to promote positive cultural identity.
• Pathways to America: Teaching About Immigration Changes looks at the legal discussion about immigration.
• Scholastic Immigration Lesson Plan compares and contrast the stories of immigrants from decades ago to those of recent immigrants.
• SIREN offers immigration legal services in Santa Clara County including free workshops.
• Teaching Tolerance offers resources about understanding and teaching about immigration.
• Children's books about immigration:
  • Books for Kids About the Immigrant Experience in America
  • Middle Grade Books that Reflect the US Immigration Experience

Sexual Orientation

An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people.

Resources

• County of Santa Clara Office of LGBTQ Affairs provides leadership, resources, and support for the well-being and longevity of LGBTQQ communities in Santa Clara County through coordinated, integrated approaches.
• Genderbread Person is a visual diagram to help understand gender and sexuality.
• Gender Spectrum helps to create gender sensitive and inclusive environments for all children and teens. They have a variety of resources for youth, parents, and educators.
• GLSEN's mission is to create safe and affirming schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.  Their Safe Space Kit is designed to help school create a safe place for LGBTQQ youth.
• American Academy of Pediatrics website, HealthyChidren.org:
  • Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Teens: Facts for Teens and Their Parents
  • Coming Out: Information for Parents of LGBTQQ Teens
• Human Rights Campaign Resources: Tools for Equality and Inclusion
• Intelligent.com put together a list of LBGTQ-supportive colleges.
• It Gets Better was founded to prevent suicide among LGBTQQ youth by having gay adults convey the message that these teens’ lives will improve. The site offers many kids something they've never had before: the ear of a sympathetic adult who understands exactly what they're going through.
• LGBTQQ National Health Center provides free and confidential peer support and local resources.
• LGBTQQ Resources for Elementary and Middle Schools has been compiled by Palo Alto Unified School District and contains resources for elementary and middle school aged youth and families.
• Outlet empowers Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQQ) youth and builds safe and accepting communities through support, education, and advocacy.
• PFLAG offers guidance and support if you believe that a young person you care for may be struggling with his or her sexual identity or if he or she shares a homosexual or bisexual orientation with you and you wish to learn how best to be supportive.
• Parent, Educator & Youth Guide to LGBTQQ Cyberbullying from ConnectSafely
• Trevor Project is determined to end suicide among LGBTQQ youth by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources including our nationwide, 24/7 crisis intervention lifeline, digital community and advocacy/educational programs that create a safe, supportive and positive environment for everyone.
• The Welcoming Schools Guide offers tools, lessons and resources on embracing family diversity, avoiding gender stereotyping and ending bullying and name-calling in elementary schools. It offers an LGBTQQ inclusive approach that is also inclusive of the many types of diversity found in our communities.
• Children's books about LGBTQQ inclusion

• Ask Terra! answers your questions with thoughtful advice.
• Kidshealth.org has information for kids and teens about all kinds of health and wellness issues.
• Doing Good Together Silicon Valley curates family volunteer opportunities in Silicon Valley.
• Project Giving Kids connects kids and teens with  youth-friendly volunteer projects for the causes they believe in.
• Youth Community Services works to connect youth in the mid-peninsula with community service.
• United Way Bay Area, Volunteer Match and VolunteerInfo.org are sites that can help you find service opportunities.

• ARK Behavioral Health has a guide for parents: How to Tell if Your Child Has a Substance Abuse Issue
• Bank It makes it easier to help kids understand, talk about and manage money. www.bankit.com
• Challenge Success provided schools and families with the information and strategies they need to create a more balanced and academically fulfilling life for their kids.
• Community Connections has  Santa Clara County Events and Resources to Support Youth Development
• Doing Good Together has a great resource for meaningful family conversations.
• Hand In Hand Parenting has resources on their website to support healthy parenting
• Keep Connected from the Search Institute, offers information and resources to help families raise happy, healthy kids.
• KidsData.org offers all kinds of data about the health and wellbeing of children in California.
• Kidshealth.org has three separate sites for parents, kids, and teens about all kinds of health and wellness issues.
• Parent Project is the only program of its kind​​​ in the nation. It focuses on adolescent behaviors, and has grown to become the largest mandated Juvenile diversion program in the country. Parent Project addresses critical issues parents face and offers solutions to their questions.
• Sixty and Me has ideas on volunteering as an older adult
• Youth Community Services works to connect youth in the mid-peninsula with community service.

• Common Sense Media offers advice and reviews for parents about making smart media decisions and provides a K-12 curriculum to teach kids to be good digital citizens.
• Learn how to make smart and safer choices online at Yahoo! Safely.
• Understand Facebook’s safety measures.
• Protect your children from inappropriate videos by using YouTube’s Safety Mode.
• Guide from Norton about talking to your children about safety and social media.
• Managing the effects of social media on teen girls from The Family Institute at Northwestern.

• Project Cornerstone offers a range of services to help schools reduce bullying and improve climate.
• Welcoming Schools offers professional development tools, lessons aligned with the Common Core State Standards, and many additional resources for elementary schools on: Embracing Family Diversity, Creating LGBTQ-inclusive Schools, Preventing Bias-Based Bullying, and Supporting Transgender and Gender Expansive Students.
• Silicon Valley Faces offers intensive programs to high school communities, including Camp Everytown.
• Social Thinking provides practical frameworks, strategies and products to teach social problem solving, social emotional interpretation and social skills.