06/17/2002 "Homophobia sends teachers back to school"

Homophobia sends teachers back to school
By SHERELE MOODY - BNews.net.au

The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society project will see a community liaison officer visit metropolitan and regional schools to show staff how to make schools safer places for same sex attracted young people.

About 60 percent of queer school students experience homophobic verbal and physical violence from fellow students and from some teachers, the Centre’s research reveals.
Liaison officer Sylvia Azzopardi said she had already started visiting schools.
“Research shows that same sex attracted youth are not as safe at school as their heterosexual peers,” Ms Azzopardi said.

“Some children feel like the teachers have not handled homophobia very well or been homophobic themselves but a lot of the harassment is from peers.

“There’s bullying, harassment, verbal taunts and graffiti, but the other major issue is that sexuality is not well handled by the teachers, so kids don’t feel safe to talk about it.”
Ms Azzopardi said staff at around 30 secondary and primary schools would hear about the latest research into safety and same sex attracted youth.

“The training covers how homophobia operates both covertly and overtly in our communities,” she said.
“We look at how the teachers can identify homophobia in the schools, how it manifests and what can they do about it in terms of practical strategies.”

Ms Azzopardi said some teachers had “moral” concerns regarding queer sexuality.
“During the training we talk about homosexuality and the confusion that a lot of adolescents face, but the main focus is on safety,” she said.

“We try to put forward that this is not a moral issue of whether or not you think it’s OK to be gay, it’s a safety issue and it’s a duty of care issue.”
The project is being funded by the Federal Government’s Youth Suicide Initiative.