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Gay bulling commonplace still

Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6239098.stm
Almost two thirds of homosexual pupils in Britain's schools have suffered homophobic bullying, a survey suggests.

Almost all of those had experienced verbal bullying but 41% had been physically attacked, while 17% said they had received death threats.

...

There have been ongoing complaints from Stonewall that faith schools in particular do nothing to deter homophobia.

Sickening, but unsupprising I guess. Especially about Faith Schools being intollerant. Who'd of thought, really?! Especially after the hoyl books preach tollerance and acceptance! And after all the problems with Paedo's in the Catholic Church... :rolleyes:

Well, seems more still has to be done, especially educating children over this issue.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I doubt this is anything which is more prevalent in faith schools tbh. I reckon it's just kids being kids and picking on anything that seperates someone from the 'norm.' What percentage of ginger people have been physically bullied? Or black kids in a white majority school? Or people of different relegions? I reckon the blame lies with a lack of education in schools about gay issues. Did anyone have education about it? We didn't, but then I went to a Catholic school.
  • Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    I doubt this is anything which is more prevalent in faith schools tbh. I reckon it's just kids being kids and picking on anything that seperates someone from the 'norm.' What percentage of ginger people have been physically bullied? Or black kids in a white majority school? Or people of different relegions? I reckon the blame lies with a lack of education in schools about gay issues. Did anyone have education about it? We didn't, but then I went to a Catholic school.

    Closest thing we got to that was... singing that song "The world is black, the world is white" whatever it is.

    No talks on tollerance at our school, and practically zero action on bullying. So I started threatening to kill people. Most of the time, it worked! They stopped!

    Mine wasn't a faith school. It was a poorly run, falling apart (literally and methphorically), pile of crap school which had too many stuents, and not enough funding. Also, crap teachers who didn't give a shit half the time.

    And to think it is the best school in our area, makes my mind boggle.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Racist bullying would be stomped on immediately by teachers.

    But any gay, overweight or ginger kids, for example, appear to be open season.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Section 28 was still in when I was in school.

    I think reports like this just show how much we have to work to show kids that these people are 'normal'... That gay is 'normal', not better, not second best, but no different to 'straight' people other than the partners a gay person chooses.
    Racist bullying would be stomped on immediately by teachers.

    But any gay, overweight or ginger kids, for example, appear to be open season.

    Yep... But even homophobia happens towards 'straight' kids (if that makes sense). You know? If a boy doesn't act butch enough, or displays his sensitive side then he's a 'queer'. It annoys me a bit, how even with adults 'gay' seems to sometimes be an insult, or a word for bad (because it's totally GAY).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I dunno, i think a lot of schools if someone was openly gay and they went to a teacher about being discrimated against it woudl be treated as seriously as racial bullying would be.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    where is everyone getting this info that racial bullying is treated seriously and stamped out imediately?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teh_Gerbil wrote: »
    Closest thing we got to that was... singing that song "The world is black, the world is white" whatever it is.

    No talks on tollerance at our school, and practically zero action on bullying. So I started threatening to kill people. Most of the time, it worked! They stopped!

    Mine wasn't a faith school. It was a poorly run, falling apart (literally and methphorically), pile of crap school which had too many stuents, and not enough funding. Also, crap teachers who didn't give a shit half the time.

    And to think it is the best school in our area, makes my mind boggle.

    What he said. Oddly.

    Hell, even the teachers bullied us at our school :D.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well its treated a lto more seriously than other forms of bullying

    Bullying in general is pretty difficult to prevent though
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jonny8888 wrote: »
    Well its treated a lto more seriously than other forms of bullying

    It is? When?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think it's possible to eliminate verbal bullying in schools but physical bullying can.

    I mean, I called everyone, gay and straight, "faggots" and "gay cunts" in school. That's what teenagers do.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yerascrote wrote: »
    I don't think it's possible to eliminate verbal bullying in schools but physical bullying can.

    I mean, I called everyone, gay and straight, "faggots" and "gay cunts" in school. That's what teenagers do.

    Yeah... But for a kid who's really gay, or in the closet and being called that, or seeing kids call each other that it can be frightening.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ah, thats ok then
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ah, thats ok then

    What's Ok, calling somebody gay, or a kid bein' scared?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    katralla wrote: »
    It is? When?


    A boy at my school (back when i use to go school) got expelled for calling a black boy a nigger
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jonny8888 wrote: »
    I dunno, i think a lot of schools if someone was openly gay and they went to a teacher about being discrimated against it woudl be treated as seriously as racial bullying would be.

    Well tbh, race issues are far more visible, you know? If you're ripping on a kid who is Asian then teachers can see the racism there. Your sexuality you can hide... A disability, skin colour, religion (sometimes) and some other things that kids get bullied for, they can't. I am not saying that these are any worse or any better ways to discriminate, just that each case is different and that teachers have for longer been informed with race issues, or disability issues than with gay issues.

    Kids growing up, they are experiencing new feelings and new attractions. They're a bundle of hormones and whilst their mates may be shagging away, a young person who's gay could be further outcast for not having sex with women... Or a person whose straight but wants to wait for the right partner, or has confidence issues and doesn't go with the opposite sex could be labelled gay.

    Uhmmm but what I mean is that it's a really complicated issue and multi-layered, just as race is, but in a different way. The difference being that you can say something is "really gay" but not "really black".
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Namaste wrote: »
    Yeah... But for a kid who's really gay, or in the closet and being called that, or seeing kids call each other that it can be frightening.

    yes however there is a slight difference between bullying and the need for a thicker skin.... only a thin line but it has to be recognised - i got called a geek at school, didnt put me off studying, jsut made me realise who my friends were and weren't


    also being black actually theres no real difference the people, so its silly calling peopel names based on that... being gay is a different way of life(sex life anyway) even if not by choice and well peopel are entitled to say whether they like a practice or not, i have gay mates who find straight sex odd, but theres a point when that can become bullying especially if its systematic - its not the action but the type of action


    nonetheless at the school i work at i do try to enforce the thing of not letting peopel call things they dont like gay, but it just makes them change their language, they use gigolo at the moment it seems
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jonny8888 wrote: »
    A boy at my school (back when i use to go school) got expelled for calling a black boy a nigger

    whoah, fair enough. I'm not saying that it's not true, I just wndered whether people are assuming that racial bullying is treated more seriously, or whether there is evidence that it is.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Namaste wrote: »
    Yeah... But for a kid who's really gay, or in the closet and being called that, or seeing kids call each other that it can be frightening.

    I'm sure it's frightening but that's school for ya, obviously it's worrying but I'd be much more concerned if this high percentage occured in the workplace in an adult environment.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yes however there is a slight difference between bullying and the need for a thicker skin.... only a thin line but it has to be recognised - i got called a geek at school, didnt put me off studying, jsut made me realise who my friends were and weren't


    also being black actually theres no real difference the people, so its silly calling peopel names based on that... being gay is a different way of life(sex life anyway) even if not by choice and well peopel are entitled to say whether they like a practice or not, i have gay mates who find straight sex odd, but theres a point when that can become bullying especially if its systematic - its not the action but the type of action


    nonetheless at the school i work at i do try to enforce the thing of not letting peopel call things they dont like gay, but it just makes them change their language, they use gigolo at the moment it seems
    I got called a 'geek' too... But there's a difference between choosing to work and choosing whether or not to make yourself happy by finding other partners who posess the body that you find attractive. I don't think that being gay is a 'different way of life' to be honest, apart from what's between your partner's legs of course.

    Coming out is hard... As if you're not already in a hormonal turmoil as a straight teenager, coming out as gay is terrifying because it means you could risk losing friendship, it means you automatially become a target, some people I know have even been disowned by their parents and that is only folks who aren't religious.

    The fact is homophobia exists, I'm not saying that there aren't heterophobic, biphobic and transphobic people... Just that already a young queer person, unless already fortunate enough to have a lot of support and very accepting friends will be vulnerable. Sexuality is very personal, especially when you're first discovering it.

    'Gigolo'? :D I say 'Ruth Kelly'.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i see more and more of a case for home education every day.

    *if only I had the patience*
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    School is school, kids get bullied, some of it is harsh but it'll still happen.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm not sure why they're just highlighting gay bullying, it's still bullying and is just as bad as all other forms of bullying.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Namaste wrote: »

    Yep... But even homophobia happens towards 'straight' kids (if that makes sense). You know? If a boy doesn't act butch enough, or displays his sensitive side then he's a 'queer'. It annoys me a bit, how even with adults 'gay' seems to sometimes be an insult, or a word for bad (because it's totally GAY).

    (This post contains one example of what could be considered 'racist' language, used purely to reproduce a conversation, please feel free to remove if deemed inappropriate since no offence was intended)

    I think you also have to take in to consideration the way in which words are used changes.

    Gay once meant "Happy", then it meant "homosexual" and now it can be used to describe lots of things in various ways.


    I do agree how certain groups do seem to be left to be picked on (overweight people, small people, ginger people etc...) and it doesn't seem to be a "serious matter" yet if it involves race, and increasingly sexuality it's a serious matter - Which I agree, it is serious, but just the same as the other 'groups' being bullied.

    At my school (going back about 8 years now) this (ginger) lad was relentlessly bullied all throughout school, usually name calling, rubbers and paper thrown at him, and empty threats to kill him etc...
    He would get chased around alot, and then occassionally pushed around, he would tell the teachers on a regular basis and all that would happen (and this was very rarely) would be one of the bullies would get spoken to.

    Then one day in the PE Changing rooms he was called several times, he told the bully to leave him alone, it continued, he told him to 'fuck off', so the bully continued, threatened him and pushed him into the wall, to which the ginger lad snapped back with "just fuck off you black cunt".
    That was it, he didn't continue with any abuse, just snapped that out of frustration, he didn't use any other racist word, just that one descriptive word in response to clear and obvious bullying, which at it's most mild was similar, being insulted with a descriptive word that singled him out "Ginger cunt", "ginger ***" etc...

    Yet despite an history of being bullied and not responding, once he did and used the word "black" he was suspended for 2 weeks!


    Personally i find it disgraceful.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i see more and more of a case for home education every day.

    *if only I had the patience*
    I'm feelin ya sister!
  • Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    Whowhere wrote: »
    School is school, kids get bullied, some of it is harsh but it'll still happen.

    And that does NOT make it right.

    It's happened for years, it is wrong. slavery happened for years - but people eventually stopped it. For years we kept invading France to show 'em who's boss....

    .. wait, that one is OK.

    Anyway. Just because no-one has ever stopped it yet, doesn't make it OK. Bullying needs stopping. I doubt we'll ever irradicate it, but more needs to be done. It ruins lives.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Schools are disgraceful when it comes to dealing with bullying and I would agree, Mr Orange, that the bullying you describe is far far worse than a silly comment made in frustration. It's a phenomenon I've had described to me a lot in just my personal circles, let alone strangers on messageboards: the school does not deal with the bullying, the kid being bullied 'strikes back' in some way and they are the one then punished.

    The lesson the schools are sending out there is that self-defence, self-preservation, anything other than complete submission, despair or suicide in the face of the bullies will be punished. You must report things to the school and never take them into your own hands, but when the school fails to act or makes the situation worse (e.g. puts you in the same room with your tormentor and makes you shake hands) there is nothing left within the rules besides accepting your lot and struggling and crying your way through school until - if you're lucky - your tormentor gets bored.

    My other point, however, is that bullying that targets sexuality or non-white races is certainly different to other forms of bullying, in the same way using the 'n-word' is different to calling someone a 'regular' swearword. This is because homosexuality has been dragged down (and continues to be) by certain organised religions; homosexual sex was illegal until relatively recently and is still illegal in certain places in the world including, correct me if I'm wrong, parts of the United States. Surely we all know enough about black history to understand that slavery and all its horrors are enough to give racist bullying particularly awful power too. It has never been illegal to be fat, to wear glasses; slaves were not chosen based on their ginger hair, nor is it outlawed in the feeble parts of the Bible. That's the difference and while all bullying is wrong it would be foolish not to understand this.

    At primary school my friends and I quickly caught on that racism was 'not on.' I don't know exactly how but it was instilled in me very early on, perhaps because I had a black friend or maybe it was just never considered an issue where I grew up. But sexuality was another matter entirely, everyone and everything was liable to be called gay. It was just from the ignorance of the majority thinking, "We all like girls. Why would boys like other boys?!" and not empathising, which is all understandable but maybe better education on sexuality from a young age would help things. I don't recall homosexuality ever being spoken about at school until I was fourteen, and parents still get very tetchy about the idea of their child learning about 'sodomy,' in a way they wouldn't react to their child learning about race.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    I think the way teachers deal with bullying can be seriously improved but you'll never stop kids picking on other kids for being different.
    Weekender Offender 
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Skive wrote: »
    I think the way teachers deal with bullying can be seriously improved but you'll never stop kids picking on other kids for being different.

    Well, they have learnt about racial bullying with some success - so I feel that a concerted effort on accepting children with other 'differences' is achievable but requires buy-in from teachers etc.

    There will always be a small minority who will continue to be rascist so one can expect a small minority continue to be bigots etc ... but if we can win over the majority of the children, it will be a job well done. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Mr Orange wrote: »
    (This post contains one example of what could be considered 'racist' language, used purely to reproduce a conversation, please feel free to remove if deemed inappropriate since no offence was intended)

    I think you also have to take in to consideration the way in which words are used changes.

    Gay once meant "Happy", then it meant "homosexual" and now it can be used to describe lots of things in various ways.


    I do agree how certain groups do seem to be left to be picked on (overweight people, small people, ginger people etc...) and it doesn't seem to be a "serious matter" yet if it involves race, and increasingly sexuality it's a serious matter - Which I agree, it is serious, but just the same as the other 'groups' being bullied.

    At my school (going back about 8 years now) this (ginger) lad was relentlessly bullied all throughout school, usually name calling, rubbers and paper thrown at him, and empty threats to kill him etc...
    He would get chased around alot, and then occassionally pushed around, he would tell the teachers on a regular basis and all that would happen (and this was very rarely) would be one of the bullies would get spoken to.

    Then one day in the PE Changing rooms he was called several times, he told the bully to leave him alone, it continued, he told him to 'fuck off', so the bully continued, threatened him and pushed him into the wall, to which the ginger lad snapped back with "just fuck off you black cunt".
    That was it, he didn't continue with any abuse, just snapped that out of frustration, he didn't use any other racist word, just that one descriptive word in response to clear and obvious bullying, which at it's most mild was similar, being insulted with a descriptive word that singled him out "Ginger cunt", "ginger ***" etc...

    Yet despite an history of being bullied and not responding, once he did and used the word "black" he was suspended for 2 weeks!


    Personally i find it disgraceful.

    i must add that's mightily hypocritcal of the school, you'd probably do well in a court case in those circumstances under the human right act or under the racial discrimination act


    there's a difference between teasing and bullying, a very fine difference too - children are cruel in general, but people have a right to offend, well in my opinion they do as long as they dont encourage violence or treating people as subhuman - people who defend themselves from bullies after a school does nothing, shouldnt get punished, its a lesson learnt to the bully in most cases

    another factor to be aware of that most bullies have an inferiority complex going on
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