HOMOPHOBIC BULLYING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS ( ARE TEACHERS DOING ENOUGH?)

jamie124

So I thought I should start a thread about this topic since the marriage referendum is coming pretty soon but that aside , The question is , Are teachers doing enough about this???
I know in my school that this happens quite a lot and I am not one bit happy about it!:
For instance:
Someone in the classroom shouts "******"! directed at a certain individual on purpose , The teacher stares blankly and leaves it.

Another one - "You queers!" again directed at a person/s

This happens quite a lot and most teachers if not all don't seem to give a crap about this.
Yes school is for learning and nothing else blah blah blah but that is said so much easier than actually done , There are barriers in Secondary School every bloody day and homophobic bullying is one of the biggest problems in today's society ESPECIALLY in Secondary schools.

Opinions? / Suggestions? /Solutions?
I am sure I am going to get a lot of abusive comments but this is quite a serious topic to discuss......... (KEEP IT CLEAN)

Inspector Coptoor

Bullying of any form is wrong and should be dealt with accordingly.

Just because the type of bullying is homophobic doesn't mean the treatment should be any different.

As for "are teachers doing enough"?

That's a very hard question to ask about thousands of people in one go

gaeilgebeo

jamie124 wrote: »

This happens quite a lot and most teachers if not all don't seem to give a crap about this.

Not a fair statement.
I do a lot of work in this area as part of my pastoral role.
I have been to in-service on LGBT awareness and Homophobia.
Those in-service book out pretty quickly.
There is a huge interest in them.
Schools/teachers are being trained in the area and are making positive efforts for inclusion in schools.
Many schools are updating bullying policies to include issues of homophobia too.
I know from speaking to teachers at training days, that a lot of schools are striving to create a positive inclusive environment with a zero-tolerance attitude to homophobic bullying.
No school will ever be 100% bully-free but I do think we've come a long way in this area.
You may have had a bad experience, but that does not mean it the general experience in "all" schools with "all" teachers.

evolving_doors

To my mind its the same vein as, are teachers doing enough about....

Gender bias
Drugs/Alcoholism
Financial awareness
Suicide awareness/self harm
Bullying of any kind
Sexual identity
Sexism
Racism
Civic awareness
Environmental awareness
Inclusion of students with additional learning needs
Challenging Behaviour
Mindfullness
Globalisation
STEM awareness for girls
Child protection issues
etc.

They all impact on the learning experience of a student/teacher (and after school).

But getting back to ' Teachers' doing enough.

The answer will never be a yes.

Also consider the core remit of a secondary teacher. Generally its subject first and foremost. Thats what they went to college for. I dont think any of us ever said, 'ya Im going to go and do a physics degree so I can get into a school and combat homophobic bullying!'.
So essentially you could have a great physics teacher but lets students away with the comments and slurs in the corridor. But then again, the student who is the victim might find it very difficult to focus on learning while the bullying is in the back of their minds.

So essentially I think its another pastoral skill which every teacher needs to develop as it might have been acceptable when they were a student themselves.

spurious

When I was teaching, I never let a homophobic, racist or sexist comment pass.

I would be quite busy for a while with new classes, but they got the message eventually. I'm not daft enough to think I changed any neanderthal minds, but the few gay and lesbian kids I had (and those I hadn't) knew they were safe in my room. As a once was lesbian kid myself, who had a teacher (for Irish) who had a similar no tolerance approach, I knew this was important, even for just once class.

Section 37 made many straight teachers think twice about being seen to ally themselves with 'the gays', as the majority of schools are still religious owned/controlled. Hopefully it will be gone soon.

mirrorwall14

I have to agree, bully has to be stamped out as soon as it crops up in the classroom

Just as a random aside: I had convinced myself for some weird reason that gaeilgebeo and gebgbegb were the same person. I'm blaming baby brain

gaiscioch

Homophobic bullying is definitely a problem but I'm not so certain it is as big a problem as it's made out to be - it certainly is nothing like it was when I was in school. With some girls, it seems to be a badge of honour to say they're gay, whether they are or not I haven't a clue. I teach in a rough school and it is definitely not acceptable to slag people for being gay, and it's not unusual for certain males to openly say they're gay and have sufficient males friends to support them. Most kids are generally a lot more tolerant on this sort of issue nowadays. That's the big change since I was in school. The biggest form of bullying I see is a carry over in the class/school of online bullying, which is the major bullying problem in our school. Then, overweight kids get it in the neck all the time. The "stupid" kids also get put down regularly.

I remember once in one of the "you're gay" exchanges, I did the usual "what's wrong with being gay" etc interventions and ended up with not denying I was gay at the end of the class just to help out the kid involved. Anyway, a girl came up at the end fairly emotional to thank me "My brother's gay and everyone's giving him a hard time". It matters that we are seen to intervene in all forms of bullying, all the time, to send a clear message to the bullies that the most powerful person in the classroom is on the side of their victim. How we deal with a bullying incident has meaning for more people in the class than we think.

gaeilgebeo

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Just as a random aside: I had convinced myself for some weird reason that gaeilgebeo and gebgbegb were the same person. I'm blaming baby brain

Definitely not the same person!
And I hear ya on the baby brain.