LGBT Bullying in Schools

LGBT rights go through legislation and debates while they are fought for and petitioned against. All of this effort works toward affecting an older generation and their rights in society as adults, with things like the right to marry whom they please, and are also issues that are well known addressed. What about children in schools though, and bullying about being either part of the LGBT society or being associated with it by their peers? What is being done in the school systems to prevent this bullying and what are they doing for the cases and complaints that have been previously made? On top of that, how does this affect the child and their school experience?

Bullying regarding LGBT rights has been an issue in many schools, and has led to some suicides including an eleven year old boy who hung himself earlier this month because he had been taunted at school for being homosexual. This is about one year after another eight year old student was shot by another student in California, and that is only two cases of around five that have been reported this year. The mother of the student talked with the school district about the taunting, but nothing was really done and the situation was not confronted by the school beyond the meetings with his mother and administrators. The day he hung himself she was again going to a meeting at the school regarding this issue, but the lack of attention paid to it beforehand drove this eleven year old to take his life. And, though he was teased for being homosexual, his friends and parents had no reason to believe he associated with that community. Bullying and taunting about being homosexual or gay is a common practice for kids in schools today because it is one of the easiest ways to taunt another student and make an impact. Being called gay is one of the first things that students learn is hurtful and can hurt others, whether the actual term applies to them or not, because being called gay is associated with being called uncool. The expression “That’s so gay” is also one heard a lot at the schools and means something is stupid, furthering the negative connotations of the word.

To confront this issue, many schools now are participating in the Day of Silence to recognize LGBT rights and previous rights violations, and are having students in schools sign pledges saying they will not bully other students regarding being homosexual. Is this enough though to prevent bullying or do they need to explore other options? The mother of the boy who hung himself said that he had complained to her about the bullying and that she had contacted the school around seven or eight times but nothing was done by the school district to help him or prevent further taunting. After awhile, he stopped complaining to his mother and trying to get her to do something about it, realizing it wasn’t helping, and shortly after that was when he decided that the best way out of the taunting was to kill himself. He is not the only one to do this either, and in fact, about a month before he killed himself another boy in Massachusetts killed himself for similar reasons of being taunted and being called gay.

While all of this is happening in schools, LGBT protests and legislation are being considered for things like gay marriage and reforming “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” but what attention is being paid to the schools and to preventing occurrences like this one from occurring? More attention needs to be paid to bullying in the school districts regarding LGBT bullying and LGBT rights, but what can be done to promote more action from the school district in regards to the issue and what steps can be taken to prevent further problems from occurring?

School administrators and teachers are one group that needs to take action first to establish a school free of bullying, but many are reluctant to help in these cases because they either are uncomfortable or embarrassed with the situation or they don’t know what to do. Many are also wary of the societal atmosphere that surrounds the LGBT community and their rights and of getting involved in that. This is a problem because according to a 2005 survey, this was the second highest reason for bullying in schools, after appearance. One of the things that needs to be done is more active participation from school administration and making sure that each phone call received is taken seriously and treated seriously, and dealt with when it is received. One of the main comments from parents who have children that have been bullied is that the school district may acknowledge the problem but does not always actively work to prevent further attacks and work to discipline the current actions. On top of that, many do not speak with the victim of the bullying to better understand the problem, make the problem better or get their thoughts on what is going on. Another big thing that would help a lot is getting rid of the language and idea that being called gay means that a person is uncool. Even just changing this idea can get rid of some of the negative connotations associated with the word. The overall goal though is to change the way that sexual orientation is perceived. In doing so, this will help change how the LGBT community and ideas are integrated into schools and can help with some of the fear that homosexual children have in coming to class each day. This also includes further promotion of gay-straight alliance groups in schools and work done with the older generation working as teachers and administrators to help get rid of their biases and become more comfortable with the situation, getting rid of ideas that could negatively influence the children they teach.

Finally, there is also a connection to be seen with the children who are taunted by kids over LGBT issues in schools and those that are taunted by people on the streets or even violated by the police officers. With these situations as well there is a lack of something being done to help or solve the problem and situation. Complaints may come into the police department but they are not always acted on because the police are unwilling to talk against each other or the incident is brushed off. Likewise, many are afraid to speak out against the police and don’t voice their incidents. The same goes with the school district. Many kids try to take it on their selves, mainly because they believe that the adults around are going to be unable to help them or know that they will not do anything if it is reported. This puts all the weight on the child’s shoulders which eventually gets too much to bear and can lead to the idea that death would be better than living with the bullying. This connection also shows that the problem goes beyond the school districts and is present in everyday settings, like the streets, and that in starting in one place, like a school, solutions can possibly be spread to other situations to prevent this taunting and violence in other circumstances as well.

Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=7328091&page=3
http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/2400.html
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=90214
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/23/bullying.suicide/