{"id":134287,"date":"2023-09-25T00:06:41","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T04:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=134287"},"modified":"2023-09-24T11:55:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T15:55:48","slug":"professor-matches-lgbt-adults-with-teens-for-online-mentoring-without-parent-consent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/professor-matches-lgbt-adults-with-teens-for-online-mentoring-without-parent-consent\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor matches LGBT adults with teens for online ‘mentoring’ without parent consent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taxpayers shell out $200,000 to help match gay adults with gay teens online<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Teenagers who struggle with gender confusion or homosexual inclinations can get an adult mentor online — without their parents knowing.<\/p>\n

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Professor Katie Edwards created the pilot program with the help of $203,050 from the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

She is a professor of educational psychology and works at the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools, a university initiative.<\/p>\n

This program differs from others that are in-person and require the permission of a parent or guardian, according to the grant summary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A flaw in other programs for other LGBT teens is they \u201coften require guardian permission; generally occur in person via community organizations which precludes TGMY in high stigma, rural areas of the United States from accessing such programs.\u201d This pilot instead will “complete feasibility and pilot testing of a synchronous, group-delivered eHealth mentoring and skill-building program.”<\/p>\n

The program will recruit 140 LGBT youth from social media sites and LGBT organizations. Half will then be paired with a mentor, while the other 70 will be put on a waitlist as the control group.<\/p>\n

The College Fix<\/em> contacted Edwards twice via email in the past several weeks to ask about the vetting and recruitment process for mentors but she has yet to respond.<\/p>\n

Edwards also studied<\/a> \u201cintimate partner violence\u201d and its link to a campus\u2019s \u201cPride Index.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now\u00a0The College Fix<\/em>\u00a0has a back-to-school campaign to help us continue to support our amazing student journalists. A\u00a0donation today<\/a><\/span>\u00a0will be matched thanks to a generous limited-time matching gift opportunity from a friend of\u00a0The Fix<\/em>!\u00a0CLICK HERE<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for more details \u2014 and thank you!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

An ethicist at the Ethics and Public Policy Center raised concerns about the program, particularly because it does not require parental permission.<\/p>\n

“Deliberately pairing adult strangers with children without parental knowledge, let alone consent, is a bad idea especially because these adult mentors are to be recruited online and are apparently not required to have any special training or skills other than a transgender identity,\u201d Nathanael Blake told The Fix<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Typically, mentoring programs are unable to function without guardian consent, as most parents are continually aware of the location of their child. However, the virtual design of this program allows it to function secretly.<\/p>\n

According to Blake, the program could encourage \u201cdamaging\u201d procedures. \u201cEncouraging children to transition is encouraging them to engage in self-harm \u2026 puberty blockers, wrong-sex hormones and surgical transition [which] are all physically damaging. Furthermore, transition does not address the underlying reasons why a child hates his or her body.\u201d Blake told The Fix.<\/p>\n

This is not the only taxpayer-funded research Edwards has on her plate. She also has a $771,707 grant from the NIH to study \u201csexual minority men\u201d and why their peers sexually assault them. One reason why homosexual men might sexually assault fellow gay men, according to the grant, is because of \u201cinternalized homonegativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edwards pledged not to just focus on non-straight white men.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo ensure racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in our sample for the purpose of addressing intersectionality we will oversample Black and\/or Latinx SM men as well as trans and transmasculine men,\u201d the summary stated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> DePaul ‘queer peers’ pairs older gay students with younger gay students<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Mix and Match Studio\/Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

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