Bullying
According to the 2009 report published by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN.org), homophobic bullying is pervasive within schools. Students are more likely to be subjected to homophobic bullying than bullying for most other reasons.
Nearly all students (93%) heard homophobic remarks at school and 86% heard negative remarks about someone's gender expression.
Eighty-seven percent of students reported being verbally harassed because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Students also reported other forms of harassment ranging from having lies told about them (88%), being sexually harassed (72%), and having property deliberately damaged or stolen (51%).
Nearly 60% of students who were harassed or assaulted in Michigan schools never reported it to school personnel or family members. Among those that did report incidents to school staff, only 43% reported that an effective intervention was implemented. These statistics are not surprising given that 28% of students reported hearing staff make negative remarks about someone's gender expression and 20% heard staff make homophobic remarks.
These incidents are not occuring only in Michigan and not only among teenagers in High Schools. And their impact is not insignificant.
In Massachusetts on April 6, 2009 eleven year old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover hanged himself. Ten days later, in Georgia, Jaheem Herrera (also eleven) hanged himself as well. Each of the boys had been the target of homophobic taunts at school.
There is a proven link between being bullied and suicide. A recent meta-analysis of thirty-seven studies from thirteen countries conducted by researchers at Yale School of Medicine published in the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health confirmed the connection between bullying and suicide.
Nearly every one of the studies found connections between being bullied and suicidal thoughts among children. In five of the thirty-seven studies it was reported that bullying victims were between two to nine times more likely to report suicidal thoughts than other children were.
A study conducted by Columbia University and published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the connection between being bullied and suicide disproportionately affects minority children. No child should be a victim of or even witness homophobic bullying. Like other hate crimes, bullying has more than one victim; it creates an atmosphere of fear and terror throughout the whole community.
Signs that a child may be being bullied include:
withdrawal from friends and activities
changes in appetite or sleep patterns
avoidance of school or other groups
emotional distress or moodiness
"acting out" in anger at home
changes in behavior
dropping grades
anxiety
Nearly all students (93%) heard homophobic remarks at school and 86% heard negative remarks about someone's gender expression.
Eighty-seven percent of students reported being verbally harassed because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Students also reported other forms of harassment ranging from having lies told about them (88%), being sexually harassed (72%), and having property deliberately damaged or stolen (51%).
Nearly 60% of students who were harassed or assaulted in Michigan schools never reported it to school personnel or family members. Among those that did report incidents to school staff, only 43% reported that an effective intervention was implemented. These statistics are not surprising given that 28% of students reported hearing staff make negative remarks about someone's gender expression and 20% heard staff make homophobic remarks.
These incidents are not occuring only in Michigan and not only among teenagers in High Schools. And their impact is not insignificant.
In Massachusetts on April 6, 2009 eleven year old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover hanged himself. Ten days later, in Georgia, Jaheem Herrera (also eleven) hanged himself as well. Each of the boys had been the target of homophobic taunts at school.
There is a proven link between being bullied and suicide. A recent meta-analysis of thirty-seven studies from thirteen countries conducted by researchers at Yale School of Medicine published in the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health confirmed the connection between bullying and suicide.
Nearly every one of the studies found connections between being bullied and suicidal thoughts among children. In five of the thirty-seven studies it was reported that bullying victims were between two to nine times more likely to report suicidal thoughts than other children were.
A study conducted by Columbia University and published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the connection between being bullied and suicide disproportionately affects minority children. No child should be a victim of or even witness homophobic bullying. Like other hate crimes, bullying has more than one victim; it creates an atmosphere of fear and terror throughout the whole community.
Signs that a child may be being bullied include:
withdrawal from friends and activities
changes in appetite or sleep patterns
avoidance of school or other groups
emotional distress or moodiness
"acting out" in anger at home
changes in behavior
dropping grades
anxiety