Tomorrow will be my last day in school ever apart from to collect results and on the whole I think I will miss it but I am also ready for a change.
Certainly one thing I wont miss is the leisurely even institutional homophobia within the student population. The word gay certainly before I entered sixth form, although it hung around was used to describe just about anything in a negative manner. Its not that anyone would launch into a homophobic rant but the very use of that word to mean a negative description is enough to put pressure upon students. The negative use of gay quickly and all to easily slipped into “you’re gay” or “batty boy” once again the victim of the taunt wouldn’t actually be gay but it’s the use of the insult that sets the culture.
The whole thing seems so institutionalised that not much could be done about it. The use of gay as a negative adjective is not of interest to teachers more concerned with getting targets out of problematic children. The homophobia seems casual and meant in jest however a recent survey by Stonewall has revealed differently.
Two thirds of gay, lesbian or bisexual students have been verbally bullied, 41% physically attacked. A third do not feel safe within their own school.
Most shockingly of all though is that a third report abuse from staff a half had heard homophobic remarks from staff only a half of teachers had stepped in on homophobic bullying. Only a tiny 25% of schools actually told pupils that homophobic bullying is wrong. The survey found that this form of early injection could cut bullying by 60%.
I need not tell anyone likely to read this that these stats are appalling. What is most appalling is not the way in that we are dealing with a few but appalling cases, but instead widespread casual homophobia. So to is the fact that it is so prevalent within youth culture and schools. Teachers and individual institutions have an absolute duty to attack homophobic bullying at the point of source and early on. Failure to do so would act as an endorsement of such attitudes and language allowing people to enter the adult world and bring up children educating them with the same attitudes.
Ideologically there might be some problem allowing teachers to teach a certain ideology about homosexuality. That is not what we are dealing with though, bullying immediately curtails the freedoms of the victim.
Teachers as educators, people who at an early age teach behaviour that should guarantee us all our freedom cannot escape their duty to quickly intervene on homophobic bullying whatever their personal view.
To show your support to fight homophobic bullying please sign the online petition