Addressing the issue of policy considering LGBTQ and the school environment is a serious step on the way to empower the members of LGBTQ community. Moreover, the solution of the problem of bullying and discrimination within the education system can increase self-determination and confidence of youths who are LGBTQ. The development and implementation of LGBTQ policy in the school environment, directed towards the changes within the institution, have the chance to be more successful in comparison with those that emphasize only the rights of the LGBTQ community members.
The focus is on the policy that changes the mindset and regulates the relationships inside the educational institutions and, therefore, recognizes the rights of people who are LGBTQ. The awareness about their rights relocates LGBTQ youths from the grey area of disregard to position where they can determine themselves as the members of the community.
Persons who are LGBTQ face discrimination on a daily basis either in the workplace, school, or society as a whole. The problem of bullying within the education system appears on two levels: the first is associated with the difficulties of the monitoring and collecting the evidence of the harassment actions until the victim’s report; and the second deals with the indifference of the institution administration.
The organizational disregard can be based on the intrinsic rules or policies of the school, or on the unwillingness to take actions. These can not only limit the rights of LGBTQ, but also end up with the serious consequences such as alienation, depression, and suicide.
Meneses and Grimm (2012) arguing about bullying in the school environment, provide the example of Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin school district in which nine students had been harassed by their peers, “school officials took no action to protect them because of the school district’s policy requiring school personnel to remain “neutral” on issues of homosexuality” (p. 140). Thus, the policy that aims to protect and empower LGBTQ students has to be oriented on the operation of the education institutions and their responsibility for bullying inside the schools.
The idle position of schools’ employees and policy that generates this attitude leads to unbinding the discriminative behaviors because bullies are not punished and, thus, students feel free to continue harassment of their LGBTQ peers. Swearer, Espelage, Vaillancourt, and Hymel’s study (2010) explores the effect of bullying on the school environment and performance. They state that the education institutions have less control over students while they move from elementary school to middle and secondary school.
Moreover, in some areas the violent acts are more prone to happen, “students often report feeling unsafe and afraid in unsupervised places in and around schools” (Swearer et al., 2010, p. 39). A socio-ecological model, offered by the authors, implies the holistic approach to the problem of bullying and takes in consideration an offender not as an isolated entity, but as a person whose behavior results from the different environments such as family, school, neighborhood, and society (Swearer et al., 2010). Although the application of this framework can help to understand the reasons for violent behavior, it should also recognize the LGBTQ rights. Thus, LGBTQ students will not be afraid of bullying and will feel comfortable to determine themselves.
The increase of the school environment safety and recognition of LGBTQ students’ rights are crucial steps on the way to solve the problem of discrimination. For example, the Safe School Improvement Act, which was introduced in the Senate in 2015, is an approach to prevent bullying through the instigation of “schools and school districts institute and implementing policies that include prevention and intervention strategies, professional development for school personnel, student and parent notification regarding rights and complaint procedures” (Russell, Kosciw, Horn, & Saewyc, 2010, p. 4). Robinson and Espelage (2012) emphasize the development and application of specific LGBTQ oriented policies as well.
To summarize, the anti-bullying policies may improve the situation in the schools. Moreover, they may underline the necessity of laws that consider the interest of LGBTQ individuals essential. The legislation should recognize and protect the LGBTQ’s rights within the school environment.
References
Meneses, C. M., & Grimm, N. E. (2012). Heeding the cry for help: Addressing LGBT bullying as a public health issue through law and policy. University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender & Class, 12(1), 140-168.
Robinson, J. P., & Espelage, D. L. (2012). Bullying explains only part of LGBTQ–heterosexual risk disparities implications for policy and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(8), 309-319.
Russell, S. T., Kosciw, J., Horn, S., & Saewyc, E. (2010). Safe Schools Policy for LGBTQ Students. Social Policy Report. Society for Research in Child Development, 24(4), 1-25.
Swearer, S. M., Espelage, D. L., Vaillancourt, T., & Hymel, S. (2010). What can be done about school bullying? Linking research to educational practice. Educational Researcher, 39(1), 38-47.