With homosexual student suicides making headlines, anti-bullying and anti-gay advocates are stepping up and pushing schools to make a change in their sexual education lessons.
The New York Times published an article in November 2010, “In Efforts to End Bullying, Some See Agenda,” which highlights both sides of the argument. It begins, “Alarmed by evidence that gay and lesbian students are common victims of schoolyard bullies, many school districts are bolstering their anti-harassment rules with early lessons in tolerance, explaining that some children have ‘two moms’ or will grow up to love members of the same sex.”
On one side of the argument, people are concerned that educating students about same-sex relationships will endorse same-sex marriages and relations. On the other side of the debate, people feel it’s not about endorsing a lifestyle, but yet making sure children understand diversity. While both sides agree that schoolyard harassment should be stopped; they are conflicted with how to end sex-oriented bullying.
The Federal Department of Education has told schools they are obligated, under civil rights laws, to try to prevent harassment, including situations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The department did not address more explicit classroom materials.
Bullying and Homosexuality
The following information has been taken from MBNBD.com.
In a 2007 study posted on MBNBD.com, research indicates that gay and lesbian youth may be more likely to think about and attempt suicide than heterosexual teens.
In a 2005 survey, students said their peers were most often bullied because of their appearance. The next top reason mentioned was because of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender expression. ("From Teasing to Torment: School Climate of America"—GLSEN and Harris Interactive) According to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network 2007 National School Climate Survey of more than 6,000 students:
- Nearly nine out of 10 LGBT youth reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation
- Nearly half (44.1 percent) reported being physically harassed
- About a quarter (22.1 percent) reported being physically assaulted
- Nearly two-thirds (60.8 percent) who experienced harassment or assault never reported the incident to the school
- Of those who did report the incident, nearly one-third (31.1 percent) said the school staff did nothing in response
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying.us released a study February 2010, sampling 4,441 youths between the ages of 10 and 18 from a large school district in southern U.S. This study revealed 20.8% of students have been cyberbullied at some point in their lifetime.
8.4% admitted to being threatened through a text message; 7.2% admitted to being threatened online; 5% admitted to being victim of a mean or hurtful picture of them posted online; and 14.3 admitted to being hurt by mean comments being posted online about them.
In this same study, 19.4% admitted to cyberbullying others.
Females seem to be more likely to be harassed online than males. 25.1% of females reported being bullied online, whereas only 16.6% of males reported online harassment.
