Safe Schools Bill Moves to Senate

Talking Points

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) released the study “From Teasing to Torment: A Profile of School Climate in Michigan,” which provides a rare look into Michigan students’ experiences with bullying and harassment as well as their attitudes about this serious problem. The results are based on students in Michigan who were surveyed as part of a national study of secondary school students and teachers conducted by Harris Interactive®.

“Bullying and harassment are clearly significant issues in Michigan schools,” said Nkosi Figeroa, GLSEN Detroit chair. “It is time that parents, teachers, students, school administrators and legislators work together to make sure schools are safer for all students.”

Results from the survey demonstrate that bullying is common in Michigan schools, and the basis for which students are frequent targets of verbal and physical harassment:

• More than a third (35%) of all Michigan students thought that bullying, name calling and harassment was a somewhat or serious problem in their schools.
• The most common types of bullying, name calling and harassment were based on appearance, actual or perceived sexual orientation, and gender expression. A majority (71%) of the students were harassed due to appearance, two-thirds (67%) were harassed because they were or were thought to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and 60% were harassed due to their gender expression.
• A vast majority (90%) of Michigan students reported hearing homophobic remarks such as, “that is so gay” to indicate bad or worthless; and derogatory terms like “faggot” were heard by 82% of students.
• When teachers or other staff heard derogatory remarks or biased language, intervention was not as common as expected. There was no correction or consequences when racist, homophobic, or sexist remarks were made as often as 30%, 27%, and 25% of the time respectively.
• A majority (67%) of students who experienced harassment or assault at school did not report it to a teacher, principal or other school staff person; More than a quarter (26%) of students said they didn’t report incidents because they believed that school staff would not care or believe them, or that it would only make the situation worse.

Just over half (54%) of Michigan students reported that they were protected by a school anti-harassment policy that specifically mentioned sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. About a fifth (18%) were not sure if their school provided any anti-harassment protections at all.

“Everyone agrees that we want our students to be safe, so it is time to listen to students and teachers and make some changes in Michigan schools,” said Kevin Jennings, Founder and Executive Director of GLSEN. “Training sessions can help teachers assess and respond to incidents of verbal and physical harassment, and state-level safe school legislation that provides for specific categories can help ensure that Michigan’s schools are safe for all students.”

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/1880.html