Mentor High School in Ohio has no glee club, but aside from this it could easily be the real life version of Glee’s McKinley High. There is a football team, a cheerleading squad and a team of ten guidance workers. There is another unfortunate comparison to be drawn with the student body of McKinley  – bullying occurs there, and it has cost the lives of four students at Mentor in just the last two years. One student was bullied for her Croatian accent, another for being disabled and attending extra classes, and two for being gay or being perceived to be gay. All took their own lives, and two sets of parents are now suing the school for failing to prevent the bullying which they feel contributed directly to their children’s deaths.

It was teen suicides which led journalist Dan Savage to launch the It Gets Better project, video messages from adults telling young LGBT people that their lot will improve. Celebrities as well as ordinary LGBT people have recorded the messages and the campaign is focused on showing LGBT youth a future where they will be happy. But how much does this help when you are a good 5 years away from things ‘getting better’?

Tuesday’s Glee focused on 17 year old Kurt Hummel and his efforts to relieve his own loneliness and isolation as the only out gay kid at McKinley High. A bully was making his life a misery, using violence and mockery to intimidate and threaten Kurt. In one of the most dramatic scenes this season Kurt fought back, demanding an explanation for the bully’s behaviour, and received his first kiss, from the confused bully himself.  The episode also saw him gaining a role model from a rival glee club, the self-assured Blaine played by Darren Criss. With Blaine’s help, Kurt was able to fight his own battles, but the It Gets Better Project, while worthy and well-meaning, would suggest that for now at least, Kurt is on his own. It may get better in the future – but Kurt is suffering now.

Recent research in adolescent brain development suggests that teenagers, the focus of It Gets Better, may be unable to even accept the central message of the campaign. The project was set up to combat LGBT teen suicide by presenting evidence that life could and would improve in adulthood. However the area of the brain which controls a human being’s ability to set goals and rationalise their thoughts – for example, to understand that in the future you might think and act differently – is not fully formed in teens and young adults. The amygdala on the other hand, is working overtime, and this is the part of the brain which discriminates fear. Place yourself then, in the position of a gay teenager who is suffering threats and intimidation. The feeling of fear is racing off like the proverbial hare, with the ‘it gets better’ tortoise is lagging way behind.

In the state of Ohio, where Glee is set, same-sex marriage is banned. It is also one of the few states which still does not explicitly allow same-sex couples to adopt. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network went as far as calling its schools ‘unsafe for LGBT young people’ in a 2009 report, a conclusion which echoed that of a National School Climate survey two years earlier.  In this context, recent storylines on Glee take on a chilling resonance as the rest of the USA reflects on the lengths that social pressure and bullying are pushing its children to.

No-one can doubt the sentiment behind the It Gets Better project, it has certainly caught the imagination of celebrities such as Madonna, Zachary Quinto, Ian Somerhalder and Glee’s own Chris Colfer. However, when the UK pressure group Stonewall adopted the campaign they made one major addition – a timescale by which LGBT teens could hope to expect their lives to improve. When does it get better? Stonewall says today.

Stonewall  added “In Britain we have partnership rights, the right to serve in the military and the right to have children. Our government is committed to tackling homophobic bullying and many schools, supported by Stonewall’s Education for All campaign, are taking bold steps to do just that.”

The difference in the UK is that Stonewall’s objectives are broadly supported by national legislation. It is an offence to discriminate against LGBT people, and schools are covered by the new Single Equality Act, which expects them to actively promote LGBT equality within the school, building on the 2007 Act which made it unlawful to treat LGBT students differently, either because of identification as LGBT or by association with someone who does (eg parents or carers).  A similar law exists in the US in the 14^th Amendment right to equal protection, but it does not require schools to promote equality or take any preventative action against homophobic bullying.

For Kurt at least, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.  It’s reported that he will get a boyfriend and will be able to overcome some of his bullying issues by the end of season 2. If only it were that easy in real life.