PRIORITY DIRECTIONS OF SOCIAL WORK WITH BISEXUAL AND HOMOSEXUAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

Today, bisexual and homosexual adolescents remain invisible to the educational space, but account for 3-7% of its population. Tabooing the existence of LGBT students, stigma and discrimination of homosexual teens actualizes this topic. The article analyzes the main problems and priority boards of social work with LGBT schoolchildren in modern educational institutions of Ukraine. The main risk factors for LGBT teenagers are emotional stress; insulation; homophobia; depression; suicidal behavior; victimization and violence; family conflicts; deterioration in academic performance; the problem of sexually transmitted infections. The purpose of the article is to characterize the model of social work with homosexual and bisexual adolescents in a modern Ukrainian institution of general secondary education. Proceeding from the purpose and tasks of the research, the following methods of research were used: theoretical (analysis of sociological, psychological, pedagogical literature, comparative-historical method of foreign and domestic experience of social work with homosexual adolescents, generalization and systematization for conceptualization of the main provisions of the study); and empirical: diagnostic (interview). The author mentions the priority directions of social work with bisexual and homosexual students: individual work with a LGBT senior pupil; group work with pupils and pedagogical teams; individual-group work with the family environment of a homosexual teenager; work in wide and narrow communities. Individual work with a homosexual schoolboy is to provide him with psychological support, assistance in identifying and adopting his sexual orientation. Group work is based on high-quality, objective and impartial sexual education and the creation of an educational space free of stigma and discrimination. An individual group work with the family environment of a homosexual adolescent is that a school psychologist and social worker should help parents of a homosexual teenager cope with negative emotions and feelings of guilt. Work in wide and narrow communities involves the organization of educational activities aimed at normalizing homosexuality among residents of a certain territory.