Study urges action Hawaii's public school system could begin curbing bullying of gay teenagers -- cited as a national problem -- when it implements new rules aimed at protecting gay and lesbian students against harassment.
to halt bullying
of gay students
New harassment rules
at isle schools may help
stop such behaviorBy Crystal Kua
Star-BulletinAs many as 2 million gay teenagers are subjected to such widespread bullying and teacher indifference in U.S. schools that they do not receive an adequate education, a new study said yesterday.
The 203-page study, conducted by Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit advocacy and research organization, found school officials often refuse to accept reports of harassment of gays or hold the perpetrators accountable. In some cases they have encouraged or participated in the abuse, it said.
"I think it's important that this issue is being raised by organizations and individuals other than the students themselves and the usual advocates," said Nancy Kern, a member of Hawaii Safe Schools Coalition. "Hopefully it will demonstrate to all (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) students around the country that there are people who really care about them and want them to succeed in school."
The report called for immediate action by school districts, states and the federal government, including enactment and enforcement of policies prohibiting harassment and discrimination of both students and school officials based on sexual orientation.
It is a recommendation that school officials here are already taking up, but not without debate.
The Board of Education in November voted to add to administrative rules on student misconduct a section that prohibits harassment based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, religion, disability or sexual orientation.
Kern said that along with Hawaii's new anti-harassment rules should come a message from administrators that harassment of any student will not be tolerated. "It's not going to suffice to simply send a copy of the rules to the school and say these are now being implemented."
Support for the rules came from those who said "sexual orientation" should be included because gay and lesbian students are targets of harassment.
Reuters contributed to this report.