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Written by WiG
Jan 18, 2012
The most common form of biased language in elementary schools, heard regularly by both students and teachers, is the use of the word “gay” in a negative way.
That’s the finding of a new study from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. GLSEN released the study “Playgrounds and Prejudice: Elementary School Climate in the United States” on Jan. 18, the same day it released a safe-schools tool kit for elementary school educators.
The report, based on national surveys of 1,065 students in grades 3-6 and 1,099 elementary school teachers of kindergarten through sixth grade, examines experiences with biased remarks and bullying.
“School climate and victimization can affect students’ educational outcomes and personal development at every grade level,” said GLSEN executive director Eliza Byard. “‘Playgrounds and Prejudice’ offers invaluable insights into biased remarks and bullying in America’s elementary schools. The report also shows the need for elementary schools to do more to address issues of homophobia, gender expression and family diversity.”
The study found that 45 percent of elementary school students and 49 percent of elementary school teachers regularly hear “that’s so gay.”
The study also found:
• Twenty-six percent of students and teachers hear homophobic remarks such as “fag” and “lesbo” in grade school. Students at a similar percentage hear negative racial comments.
• Three-fourths of students report that students at their school are called names, made fun of or bullied with at least some regularity. Most commonly this is because of students’ looks or body size, followed by not being good at sports, how well they do at schoolwork, not conforming to traditional gender norms/roles or because other people think they’re gay.
• Seven in 10 students say they have learned about family diversity, but only two in 10 have learned about families with gay or lesbian parents.
• Nearly 90 percent of elementary school teachers surveyed said they include representations of different families in the classroom, but only 21 percent report representation of LGB parents and only 8 percent report representation of transgender parents.
• About 48 percent of teachers said they feel comfortable answering questions from students about LGB people and 41 percent are comfortable answering questions about transgender people.
