5 Friday Facts: June 30, 2023 Edition
Do you know how many Americans now identify as LGBTQ+, how many nurses want to quit their jobs, or the effects of teen dating violence? Read on to find out.
Image via Adobe, by Nelos
Welcome to the June 2023 edition of Campus Safety’s Friday Facts!
As I search the internet every day for breaking news and other need-to-know updates on school, university, and healthcare security, public safety, emergency management, facilities management, and technology, I come across a lot of research. Much of it we cover in our online news posts and newsletters, but some of it doesn’t directly apply to our core mission. It’s just really random information or factoids that I find fascinating, heartbreaking, meaningful, or funny in some way.
The intention of Friday Facts, which runs the last Friday of every month, is to review what Campus Safety has recently covered, as well as highlight the quirky, interesting stuff I come across on practically a daily basis.
This month’s edition is more serious than May’s edition, covering the safety and security risks experienced by the LGBTQ+ community, nurses wanting to quit their profession, the effects of teen toxic relationships and more.
Friday Fact No 1: 1 in 5 Gen Z adults identify as LGBT.
In honor of Pride Month, I want to highlight a Gallop survey from last year, which found that 7.1% of U.S. residents now identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, which is double the percentage from just 11 years ago.
When broken down by generation, about 21% of Generation Z Americans who are adults (those born between 1997 and 2003) identify as LGBT. Older respondents are less likely to identify as LGBT: 10.5% of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996); 4.2% of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980); 2.6% of Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964); and 0.8% of Traditionalists (born before 1946).
This data leads to the next fact…
Friday Fact No. 2: Threats of violence against the LGBTQ+ community are on the rise and intensifying.
DHS said domestic violence extremists and others known to commit hate crimes have increased their threatening behavior within the past year. The issues inspiring these threats, says DHS, could lead to a rise in potential attacks against larger targets, such as public spaces and healthcare facilities that may be linked to the LGBTQ+ community.
There were some other disturbing trends CS covered recently including:
Friday Fact No. 3: Nearly 1 in 3 nurses want to quit nursing.
The 2023 AMN Healthcare survey, taken by over 18,000 nurses from Jan. 5 to Jan. 18, found that 30% of participants are looking to quit nursing altogether — up 7% from 2021 when resignations began to increase during the height of the pandemic. It also found 18% are likely to retire from nursing due to the pandemic and 36% plan to continue working in the sector but may change workplaces.
Another serious trend CS recently covered includes:
Friday Fact No. 4: Teens who are in toxic and controlling relationships are at greater risk for mental and physical health problems years into the future.
A group of researchers reviewed 38 articles from 23 unique studies conducted between 2004 and 2022 that looked at the effects of various teen dating violence, including sexual, physical, cyber, and psychological abuse.
The studies found that individuals, most often females, who had been in troubled relationships during their teen years were more likely to start drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes and marijuana. The authors also said teen dating violence was “significantly associated with increased sexual risk behaviors, such as unprotected sex or sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol.” Several of the studies also linked teen dating violence with symptoms of depression in young women for up to six years after the unhealthy relationship ended.
But we also reported on some good news…
Friday Fact No. 5: California schools had a 70% decline in reports of guns.
Despite the recent rise in school gun incidents and active shooter events in the U.S., researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found that California schools have experienced a big drop in violence since 2001.
From 2001 to 2019, there were 70% fewer reports of someone carrying a gun onto school grounds and a 68% reduction in reports of other weapons. Additionally, California schools saw a massive reduction in all types of victimizations, including physical threats with or without weapons, verbal and psychological abuse, and property offenses.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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