HOMOPHOBIC BULLYING is prevalent in schools across Northern Ireland, according to a report published in Belfast yesterday by the Rainbow Project and the Cara-Friend organisation.The report, Left Out of the Equation, which examines the experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) young people in Northern schools, found that they were “systemically denied their right to education and to access that right in a safe, welcoming and respectful environment”.
“What is clear from the evidence presented is that, when it comes to homophobic bullying, LGB young people are presented with a lose/lose choice: either remain marginalised through silence and invisibility or risk physical or emotional abuse by reporting bullying and becoming visible,” it added.
“Homophobic bullying relies upon and is fuelled by a climate in schools which asserts that anyone who is not heterosexual is abnormal, wrong and undeserving of respect. When schools do not counter this assertion, they are providing tacit approval,” it said.
“This can be seen by teachers not intervening when they hear homophobic language and not responding adequately.”
The report referred to a recent study by the Education Equality Project of 133 LGB young people aged between 14 and 25. It found that 75 per cent of those surveyed did not report incidents of bullying and harassment to school authorities.
“The most frequently cited reason for not reporting incidents was that young people thought that the school would not take it seriously (43 per cent). Of those who reported incidents to school authorities, 22 per cent believed that the school did not take their claim seriously and 40 per cent believed that the school took no action,” it added.
“When asked if, to their knowledge, their school made any efforts to tackle homophobic bullying 87 per cent of LGB young people said that their school made no efforts.
When asked how staff responded to homophobic language 69 per cent of respondents reported that staff ignored the homophobic language and 8 per cent reported that staff laughed along or joined in with the homophobic language.”
The Rainbow/Cara-Friend report said that there were numerous factors which contributed to the exclusion and isolation of “lesbian, gay and bisexual people including a lack of legal protections, the absence of the diversity of sexual orientation from the curriculum, inadequate teacher training and a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach to homophobic bullying”.
The Rainbow Project’s education equality officer, Gavin Boyd, said the report illustrated that when it comes to education, young people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual were left out of the equation.
“They get severely bullied but frequently don’t tell anyone because they don’t believe their school will do anything about it. They hear homophobic slurs every day but teachers don’t intervene,” he added.
“They aren’t taught that they can have stable and fulfilling relationships. They aren’t taught how to gauge risk and protect themselves from mental and sexual ill health. They are simply expected to suffer in silence,” said Mr Boyd.
John O’Dowd, the acting Deputy First Minister and Minister for Education who attended the launch of the report, said bullying could rear its “ugly head” in many forms, including racist, homophobic, gender or cyber-bullying.