Homophobic Bullying in Schools project gets underway
29 Apr 2014 12:57 PM
The
National Centre for Social Research awarded contract for first phase of
project.
The National Centre for
Social Research has been awarded a contract to take forward the first
stage of a project to help drive out homophobic, biphobic and transphobic
bullying in schools.
The
project, announced in November
2013, seeks to understand the most effective ways to reduce this type of
bullying and its impacts among school-age children and young people. The first
phase of the project is a full review of all the available evidence and
existing practices currently in place in schools to tackle this issue.
Organisations were invited to bid for funding to conduct this work, and NatCen
was the successful bidder. This work is now under way and NatCen will report
back in the summer.
A
recent Youth Chances survey showed that:
- Overall nearly half (49%) of LGBT young people
questioned reported that their time at school was affected by discrimination or
fear of discrimination.
Minister for Women and Equalities Jenny Willott,
said:
Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic taunts and teasing
in the school playground may seem harmless but it can seriously affect
children’s health and well-being, lead to poor educational performance
and prevent them getting ahead in life.
Young people should be able to go to school without fear
of bullying or discrimination. We expect schools to take a strong stand against
all forms of bullying and to deal with incidents quickly when they
occur.
This project will help us to understand all the issues,
what works best in tackling this type of bullying, and to develop effective,
evidence-based tools and best practice that will help schools and others to
stamp out this harmful behaviour.
Michelle Gray, Project Research Director at NatCen,
said:
We
are delighted to be carrying out this important and well needed piece of
research and have put together a team who fully understand and have experience
in the areas of equalities and LGBT research. We have designed a mixed methods
programme of work which we hope will really get to the bottom of what works and
why to eventually help all of those working with children and young people to
eradicate homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.
The
project builds on action the government has already taken to tackle bullying in
schools including publishing updated advice and guidance for schools and
governing bodies; and giving schools greater legal powers to tackle bad
behaviour and cyber-bullying.