Most teachers have not been trained to tackle homophobic bullying, new research from YouGov reveals.
The study, for Stonewall, shows that fewer than one in ten (8%) primary school teachers and fewer than one in five (17%) secondary school teachers have received training on tackling homophobic bullying.
YouGov gathered the views of 2,000 school staff and found that the vast majority (86%) of secondary school teachers say homophobic bullying happens in their school. A majority of secondary school teachers also think that such bullying can have a negative effect on a child’s educational performance, with two thirds (66 per cent) believing behaviour has a detrimental impact on students’ achievement and attainment at school.
However, YouGov’s findings show that a great degree of uncertainty when it comes to children learning about sexual orientation in the classroom. Three in ten (29%) secondary school teachers and more than one in three (37%) primary school teachers do not know whether they are allowed to teach lesbian, gay and bisexual issues.
While the report finds that the percentage of teachers who say homophobic bullying happens often in their schools has fallen from 25% in 2009 to 13% in 2014, it also shows that problems remain – even among some school staff. The survey found that more than a third of secondary school teachers (36 per cent) and nearly a third of primary school teachers (29 per cent) have heard homophobic language or negative remarks about lesbian, gay or bisexual people from other school staff.
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