By A.C. Thompson, ProPublica
A new national survey of more than 50,000 teens charts a surge in abusive and hateful behavior among young people since the beginning of the presidential election campaign.
“Our biggest takeaway was that 70 percent of all respondents had witnessed bullying, hate speech or harassment since the 2016 election,” said Allison Turner, assistant press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, a prominent LGBT advocacy group that conducted the survey. HRC polled a large, though not demographically representative, sample of the nation’s youth.
Race, sexual orientation, and immigration status were the factors most often linked to bullying and social marginalization, according to the survey, which documented the experiences of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18, many of them gay, lesbian, or transgender; some 45 percent of the teens who participated identified as heterosexual.
Most of the teens surveyed said hateful incidents have been on the increase since the start of the highly contentious presidential campaign, which culminated with the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
In recent months, phone calls, texts and instant messages have been pouring into the Trevor Project, a crisis center for LGBT young people, said social worker David W. Bond, a vice president with organization. The day after the election, Bond and his colleagues were deluged with young people seeking help.
“The volume has continued to be higher than typical levels for November and December. This is very indicative of a higher level of emotional distress” for LGBT youth throughout the country, he said. “They’re clearly more distressed, so much that they feel the need to reach out for help.”
In the survey, high school students described bus rides bristling with homophobic and racist epithets and attacks on student groups like the Gay-Straight Alliance.
“The election results and the rhetoric going on in the media are enabling what would otherwise have been latent discrimination,” Bond said. His organization, he said, is now counseling youth confronted by a wave of more “obvious and observable discrimination that is seemingly more welcome in the public eye, unfortunately.”
After more than 18 months of political invective aimed at Mexico and Mexican immigrants, Latino young people are, unsurprisingly, rattled. The survey found Latinos were “20 percent more likely than other youth to have been personally bullied.”
Hate crimes and bias incidents are a national problem, but there’s no reliable data on their nature or prevalence. We’re collecting reports to create a national database for use by journalists and civil-rights organizations. See the project.
An 18-year-old Californian reported a fear of speaking Spanish in public, while a young person in Illinois wrote, “My family and I go shopping and wash clothes at 2 am to avoid seeing and hearing people’s comments.”
To conduct the survey, HRC and allied organizations used social-media platforms, including Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram to engage young people during December and January. The technique, called “convenience sampling” by researchers, in this case was likely to draw in participants who have experienced abuse, or are supportive of LGBT equality.
Michael S. Pollard, a sociologist with the RAND Corporation who evaluated the survey and its methodology for ProPublica, said the study “was not designed to be representative of all US teens,” but its findings should be considered seriously because of the “very large group of adolescents” who took part.
The surveyors acknowledged the limitations of the data, writing that “although the sample’s demographics do not reflect the full racial and ethnic diversity of the nation’s youth, the large number of participants allows us to nonetheless learn first-hand about the experiences” of young people across the nation, particularly those who may feel targeted.
“We saw a lot of hateful speech during the election season,” said Turner of HRC. “We can see through our findings that this is affecting young people in a profound way.”
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.