For every 100 students you teach, three will identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) at some point in their life. Yet despite progress towards civil rights legislation designed to create equal opportunity, discrimination and victimization of LGBT people remains high, as reaction to the Pvt. Chelsea Manning case illustrates. Discrimination for LGBT students can be a matter of life or death as was seen with Alexander “AJ” Betts Jr. and Carlos Vigil, who took their lives as a result of bullying. Furthermore, there have been suggestions that homophobic- and gender-based bullying has been tolerated by teachers. As the new school year begins, make a commitment to civil rights by ending sexual- and gender-based bullying in your classroom.
Gender describes the characteristics and activities we associate with men and women, like “boys hate reading and have short hair” and “girls love pink and have long hair.” A survey of elementary school students showed that one in three children heard classmates being bullied for wearing or doing something usually associated with the other gender. Forty-three percent of elementary teachers also reported hearing sexist comments from their students. Of the surveyed students, one in 10 said they didn’t conform to gender norms; they were twice as likely to be bullied at school.
While the problem begins in elementary school, it continues and worsens in middle and high school when issues of gender begin to encompass sexual orientation. Another survey of LGBT students in sixth through 12th grade showed that 30 percent felt unsafe in school and 29 percent felt unsafe on their way to and from school. One-quarter had experienced cyber-bullying as a result of their gender expression or sexual orientation, and one-third had been sexually harassed online.
Gender describes the characteristics and activities we associate with men and women, like “boys hate reading and have short hair” and “girls love pink and have long hair.” A survey of elementary school students showed that one in three children heard classmates being bullied for wearing or doing something usually associated with the other gender. Forty-three percent of elementary teachers also reported hearing sexist comments from their students. Of the surveyed students, one in 10 said they didn’t conform to gender norms; they were twice as likely to be bullied at school.
While the problem begins in elementary school, it continues and worsens in middle and high school when issues of gender begin to encompass sexual orientation. Another survey of LGBT students in sixth through 12th grade showed that 30 percent felt unsafe in school and 29 percent felt unsafe on their way to and from school. One-quarter had experienced cyber-bullying as a result of their gender expression or sexual orientation, and one-third had been sexually harassed online.
RSS Feed