anti-gay bullying

[tombishop]

A question for users in the UK: Do you feel that your teachers adequately dealt with anti-gay bullying?

I'm a journalist researching the legacy of Section 28, trying to find the real effect it has had on gays and lesbians in school.

I would be fascinated to hear about any of your own experiences.

In my school in the late 80s, we were just told: "There's this disease called Aids, which some people think is the gay plague." And that was it. Hopefully things have improved since then.

If you would prefer to contact me directly, my email address is on my profile.


Tom

[Shadow]

Well, to be 100% honest, there is no law that governs the Channel Islands that adequately reflects that which currently exists in the UK, so I cannot really help you except to confirm that ...

... however, my experience of bullying in school is that if you're going to be bullied, you'll be bullied for some bullsh!t reason, and being gay is just one of many - you might be fat, or wear glasses, or be gay, or black, or talk with a squeaky voice, or have kissed that girl at that party - it really doesn't matter, the bully will find some reason to have a go at you.

Teasing and heavy-handed play is in the make-up of kids - helping them to see that it is unacceptable is in the duty of adults, parents, teachers and so on ...

... and to my mind, bullying is just an acute form of that ... and usually stems from the bully having something wrong with them that causes them to act out in such a fashion.

!?!?! Shadow !?!?!

[tombishop]

yeah you're right shadow - kids usually find some reason to bully one another.

but a lot of people have said the introduction of Section 28 (almost 20 years ago) led to an increase in anti-gay bullying. i'm not sure whether that is true.

and apparently teachers felt less able to deal with it when it did happen, because they were told never to discuss homosexuality.

if this is what really happened, it would have made school a miserable experience for a lot of gays and lesbians. hopefully i'll find out more.


Tom

[Shadow]

To be honest, whilst I've never studied that particular area of the law, it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that ...

It often seems to be the case that there's more animosity from "political correctness" style legislation than makes it a worthwhile exercise ...

... but, as I say, I've never studied section 28, so I don't really know what it was designed to achieve, how it went about doing it, what powers it gives and protection it purports to give, and so on ...

Best of luck in your search mile:.

!?!?! Shadow !?!?!

[wouldlikemuscle]

The only anti-gay bullying I received was from another gay (something happened between us on a school holiday trip, when we got back, he made the most of trying to out me, I went into strong denial)! I never went to teachers about it so I have no idea how they would have handled it.

[holmzie]

intersting convo guys, i have never been bullied in school thats because i was the bully.i used to pick on a camp lad and to be honest the teachers did handle it well.so who would have thought i would turn out gay! lifes funny in it guys

[wouldlikemuscle]

lifes funny in it guys

Not for the lad you bullied... I speak from experience! :mad: :mad:

[holmzie]

look my friend that was when i was younger,to show off make my self look big do u think im proud of it? no im bloody not! i was just sayin i was diciplined well by the teachers and actually gt to know the person i was bullying quite well 2.im sorry 2 hear u wer bullied in school. but kids will be kids you will always find bullys everywhere in the world of all ages which is sad and as i hav grown older i hav begun to regret my attitude towards my victims.

[wouldlikemuscle]

look my friend that was when i was younger,to show off make my self look big do u think im proud of it? no im bloody not! i was just sayin i was diciplined well by the teachers and actually gt to know the person i was bullying quite well 2.im sorry 2 hear u wer bullied in school. but kids will be kids you will always find bullys everywhere in the world of all ages which is sad and as i hav grown older i hav begun to regret my attitude towards my victims.

The comment I quoted before just irritated me - considering the reason for picking on him, tis all... you seemed to make light of it. I'm sure you've changed since the old school days... like most of us will have.

[Shadow]

Delicate subject, evidently ... however upon reading through it anew, Holmzie's comments do raise an interesting point, which is to back up what I was saying earlier when I said :-

... and to my mind, bullying is just an acute form of that ... and usually stems from the bully having something wrong with them that causes them to act out in such a fashion.

Taken out of context that could be construed as really harsh criticism and you've only been here a few minutes so I will explain where I'm coming from so you don't feel I'm lambasting you ... all I mean is that historically-speaking, in a lot of instances some of the most outspoken voices against certain things are, in fact, themselves the same thing ...

... so you'll find Clergymen berating Paedophiles and then nipping off with the choirboys, just as you'll find Politicans bashing Homosexuals, and then copping off with somebody in the nearest public lav.

Holmzie bullied a gay lad, and has turned out to be gay himself - go figure !!

It's a crazy world we live in that's for sure, and I'm glad to hear that you (Holmzie) were able to be made to see what you were doing, the effect it was having, and elected to make a change for the better.

We all make mistakes, we all make stupid decisions and, as Holmzie has said, he's not proud of what he did by any means, so perhaps it's just best to let the past stay in the past, and look forward to a better future, non ??

mile:

!?!?! Shadow !?!?!