When Carrie publicly disclosed that she was a lesbian, she knew she would be taunted by other students at her high school. She knew it would happen. Still, Carrie thought the harassment would be limited to verbal abuse and that, as long as she didn't initiate a fight, she would be safe from physical harm. Carrie was terrified, therefore, when another student knocked her to the floor in the hall one day.
Carrie is one of several teens, all with similar, horrifying stories, featured in an award-winning video-based professional development program (see box). As the video program and other statistics reveal, Carrie's story is all too common in schools today.
Consider these facts, published online by the organization Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG):
These numbers, however, may not indicate that school environments are now more hostile. It's difficult to draw such conclusions, cautions Stephen Wessler, director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Hate Violence at the University of Southern Maine. In the past, students have been reluctant to report harassment. "Has the number of hate crimes really increased, or are people now willing to report them?" Wessler asks. Still, he observes, whether due to increased reporting or an actual increase in such incidents, "the numbers are disturbingly high."
Words Do Hurt
What is equally distressing to Wessler is the pervasive use of antigay language in schools. Sometimes, he notes, the language is directly abusive. Studies indicate that the average high school student hears anti-gay slurs 25 times a day. In other cases, however, the slur is subtle. For example, "two 11-year-old girls are talking about a teacher's sweater and one remarks that the sweater is 'so gay.' The expression has no direct or real relationship to homosexuality," says Wessler, "but the girls are using the word as a way to describe a sweater they don't like." Gay has emerged as slang for things that aren't "cool."
Promoting Understanding
Students and teachers need to understand the effect that direct and subtle slurs have on others, Wessler and other experts say. Students and teachers must then promote an atmosphere free from such bigotry—and work together to maintain that environment.
"Many teachers let slide language that is derogatory because they assume students are teasing each other or don't really mean to be insulting," observes Annie Johnston, a history teacher at Berkeley (Calif.) High School. "But words like bitch, ho', faggot, and nigger are derogatory and insulting, and they really have no place in a respectful community." Teachers need to consistently call students on their use of such abusive language, she believes.
Wessler agrees. "How can you ever talk too much about the need for civility? It's an effort that needs to be ongoing and continual." And, although teachers can be good role models for students, it's vitally important to give students "the skills they need to intervene when they hear derogatory language."
It's primarily the students themselves who use—and hear—such language, affirms Johnston. "That's why supporting student activism around this issue is so important."
Encouraging student activism and leadership is the impetus for the informal workshops Wessler conducts for high- and middle-school students. As part of the Student Leaders Project, Wessler works with students who represent "every kind of group." The first part of each daylong workshop is spent talking about the impact of language. The second part of the workshop is devoted to "giving kids practice with intervention."
After each workshop, "traditional" student leaders leave "prepared to intervene when they hear derogatory language," Wessler notes. It's the impact on so-called "negative" leaders, however, that gives him greater hope. Some of these students, who frequently influence the behavior of their peers, have engaged in harassing behavior. But, through the workshop activities, Wessler has seen many of these students "get to a different place." They resolve "to stop using derogatory language or telling derogatory jokes." And through these small steps, "the culture starts to change."
That cultural shift can happen almost overnight, states Tom Edwards, principal at Freeport High School in Freeport, Me. Wessler has conducted workshops at the school, and each time, says Edwards, "the climate improves, noticeably." This happens, he asserts, "because every student knows that the dignity of all students must be thoughtfully supported."
ASCD Believes . . .
. . . THAT EDUCATORS SHOULD PREVENT THE HARASSMENT OF AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST STUDENTS BECAUSE OF THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION.
These Resources can help teachers and students build tolerant and respectful schools:
- Out! Making Schools Safe for Gay Teens, a video series from Attainment Company, Inc. Call 800-327-4269.
- The GLSEN Lunchbox: A Comprehensive Training Program for Ending Anti-Gay Bias in Schools. Call 800–247–6553
This article is the first in a two-part series