Homophobia in schools "must be tackled"

Well said Mr. Clegg. Its just a shame that no one's going to listen to you as usual...

The first step should be to start phasing out the use of the word "gay" as an accepted derogatory term. Many high school students (and others) use the word as a put down or to say something is "stupid" or "dumb" as in "that's gay".

Phasing out this term, in its current use would be an excellent start.

Gay children or students are not the first nor the last to be bullied. Singling them out as the "only" ones that need to be saved is offensive and sad.

Go back in the closet

It is not singling them out. The adults working in education are the homophobic ones who need the training, which is the author point. Yes, bullying is going to happen everywhere and in many forms, but if the teachers and administrators are still ignorant of the cause - homophobia - then they are no help to the child, and in many cases fuel the fire...

true, jjammer, but there have been studies suggesting that gay students are bullied far more often. society's stigma with homosexuals is very perverse today -- society has never had such strong opinions about gays / gay rights as in recent years, thus leading to more conversation as well as more hatred and bullying.

no, gay students shouldn't singly be "saved," but schools should focus in improving tolerance for all students, across the board.

Clegg's got it right. It's certainly not the only thing that needs addressing in schools, but it's a start.

J_Jammer, you seem to make a lot of these types of knee-jerk comments whenever a story around gay issues comes up. I'm struggling to see anywhere in that article that gay students are "singled out as the 'only' ones that need to be saved" from bullying. So I'm wondering what your point is?

The suicide rate for these glbt kids sure seems to be high. Maybe a conversation with some sort of on site councilor in the schools may help them to deal with homophobic students in a healthier manor.

wow really? cuz when i was in high school 2 yrs ago, there were reports of gay rapes in the bathrooms, meaning, gay students would rape a none gay student when they come in the bathroom, so, they dont need to be singled out, everyone gets bullied. so what REALLY needs to change?! parental guidance and even go as far as how to act

WE should try and teach our children to, as most equal opportunity employers say, not to discriminate against anyone based on sex, race, sexual preference, handicap, etc.

No, stupidity and ignorance must be tackled.

maybe it would help if the school board wasn't homophobic. you never see any openly gay teachers.

You will not believe how many times I will hear people say "your gay" at school. It's a good thing that they're finally doing something about it, it's gotten to the point that it's ridiculous.

Homophobia should be tackled everywhere. Punishing high schoolers for their behavior will only help. If they go with impunity, they see nothing "wrong" with it and continue throughout the rest of their life.

The students have allready taken a stand. Check out The Day of Silence.

The LGBT group at my high school disbanded after several members received death threats. While the few openly gay students were obviously targetted, even those who were openly straight were subjected to the same harassment simply for supporting gay people in general. This is not an uncommon story.

@J-Jammer: Kids are always going to single out difference, and yes, homophobia is one among many such prejudices. Yet when similar threats were made to the Asian student organization, the school was called together to address issues of racism. One is not any worse than the other. The real issue is, that because school officials did nothing, the LGBT group simply had to stop meeting, out of fear for their personal safety; the point of this article is that homophobia has very real, disastrous consequences, and by "looking the other way" schools make a de-facto policy of not addressing issues of harassment related to sexual orientation.

Let's hold our school officials to a higher standard. Then the kids will (hopefully) follow suit.

WHAT DA FUCK IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT!!!? I WOULD LIKE TO REMEMBER EVERY SINGLE ONE A COUPLE OF THINGS!!!
1. You are YOU! If you are Male, you are to Engage a Woman for a Sexual relation, if;
1.1 You would like a Family with Children.
1.2 You care for your Religion and respect of Nature.

For me, Homosexuals have the right and freedom to be together if that makes the person happy. I also agree about legalizing the couple, I don't think Marriage is the word but Civil Marriage is fine.

Do NOT forget about Nature. If you are not happy with something then you should not be attacked, bullied or troubled by your Sexual or Love Orientation.

Do Remember: The Penis goes into the Vagina and the Vagina takes the Penis to reproduce and have couple sexual relations.

You can do whatever you want with your life as far as you respect others and REMEMBER what goes where and why.

Playing with the Sexual Orientation of someone is one of the worst offenses ever. It can cause a lot of change for the Person in it's future. Please be careful while you try to talk-out the reality of Homophobic bullies.

New Headline: HOMOPHOBICS MUST BE TACKLED

Condoms.

What is the saddest part is how easy it is for teens today to bully one another for their differences. It needs to start at home with parents who set a higher standard for their kids. Unless the parents set the example, discuss what is the proper way to treat others and intercede when they see their kids speak poorly of others, bullying will always exist for all types, not just homosexuals.

Anyone who doesn't think this is an issue needs some insight, here is a fact sheet of some issues affecting LGBT youth in education

http://www.lgbtyouth.org.uk/portalbase/pages/download.aspx?locationId=f1b04d24-4485-454f-bf0a-7c2537fdb334

Also lack of even any basic gay sex education meant i had to learn it all from gay youth groups, otherwise i wouldn't have known anything except what i had learned from the internet.

well im in school now and my bi friend josh never gets bullied he's actually pretty popular we go shopping,we get into cat fights and no bodys mean i think are school established tolorence