As a teacher who has worked in schools for almost 15 years the thought has occurred to me that if we are to win the battle for tolerance and acceptance, then we must start in the Schools.

A recent national study by La Trobe university has shown what many teachers know from experience to be true, but are afraid to admit. Adolescents perceived as gay or lesbian are suffering alarming levels of abuse from fellow school students, including severe bashings and rape as reported inThe Age newspaper

However, overt physical violence is just the tip of the iceberg. Gay and lesbian adolescents or any teenagers whose sexual identity is uncertain face a number of challenges and barriers in the formation of a positive self-identity. Students whose homosexual orientation is self-discovered typically experience intense conflicts that are often the result of internalised and external homophobia. Those who hide their sexual orientation from others, spend vast amounts of energy monitoring their behaviour and interaction with others. These conflicts exact a heavy toll on the social and psychological health of the gay or lesbian adolescent.

That Australian schools have largely adopted a stance of ignoring or not acknowledging the issue of homosexuality is a dangerous course to take. There are considerable gains to be made by directing attention, funding and policy towards the needs of gay and lesbian students. Early intervention can be particularly effective as the social and mental health problems that many lesbian and gay adolescents experience are often the direct result of misinformation, isolation and discrimination.

I think its very hard to make any kind of generalisations about the experiences of Gay guys/girls at high schools… At my school, those who were out experienced both extremes… On one hand they were surrounded by a huge social group of highly supportive individuals (oftentimes girls- aka, Fag Hags- lol, excuse my crude references)… but at the same time, for many of the blokey blokes, jocks, etc these poor guys would end up being the butt of most of their jokes…It must have been a really difficult experience for those guys… two hugely different experiences in the same environment – what concerned me a little with this was the fact that my school was quite a progressive state high school… I can’t imagine what it would be like for any gay guys at the local boys high school… Your school Shantih sounds kind of utopic!- but it all goes to show how hard it is to pin down one common experience for Gay students…

I don’t know if this was just my observation at my school or if it has a more broad application… but I often found that the lesbians experienced a very different kind of treatment from people- the guys would often shy away from criticising them (maybe they we’re just afraid they’d get bashed up… some of those girls we’re pretty fiesty:P).. and the girls in general seemed much more open-minded about most issues, so felt reasonably comfortable accepting them…

But I definately agree with what your saying Shantih… As a fairly visible Christian at my high school- it would depend on the individual- but quite often people had very little time for me as a Christian- though I have to say, in retro-spect I think some of my more overzealous actions probably didn’t help this… For instance the time I told my best friend that he would go straight to the fiery pit because of his hinduism … needless to say, we didn’t stay friends long, and since then I’ve stumbled upon an amazing concept know as tactfulness…

Chris

As the resident primary school/elemenatary teacher I can shed light on the topic both from a gay and an education POV. LOL hope I’m not overselling this!

As a gay man, I can relate to the bullying side of it. High school was torturous for me, what with name calling, beatings, teasing, wanting to be invisible but that not being possible being over 6ft tall by the age of 14. Added on top of this the realisation that I was gonna rot in Hell when I died over something I couldn’t change, its a miracle I’m still here to be honest

As an educationalist, I do agree that tolerance of difference – whether its race, gender, religion or sexual orientation – HAS to be taught from a young age, and I’m talking pre-school age. At university, we have learnt about the Sex and Relationship Education programme taking place in the Netherlands, we saw a video of a class Health lesson for 5-6 year olds where they discussed the terms ‘homosexual’ and ‘lesbian’ and what those terms meant and what made the people who were called them different. IT WAS AMAZING! Obviously there were some giggles but the teacher handled it amazingly! The success of the programme is clear when you see that statistics from the Netherlands show a low number of teen pregnancies, a higher average age for losing their virginity etc. Compare that with Scotland where everyone has had sex by 14 and the highest teen pregnancy rate in EUROPE!

Something is wrong here people! Wake Up!

LOL that’s my rant over!

Thank God, Im not the only one then 😆 Over zealous is a very soft word for how I was LOL.

I even believed any drop of liquor was a sin, I was so critical and judgemental 🙄

How was the conference Anthony?