 The county council is developing ways to tackle the problem |
Three-quarters of teachers working in Northamptonshire schools have witnessed homophobic bullying, a survey claims. The study also found almost two thirds of children had witnessed the problem and a quarter admitted to being a victim of homophobic bullying.
The county council, which commissioned the report, said it had uncovered "an alarming trend" which could have gone on undetected.
The study was carried out at three schools and included almost 900 pupils.
Olwen Loud, cabinet member for schools, said: "This survey clearly shows that not only are the vast majority of students aware and have witnessed this type of bullying, hardly any know of what can be done about it and what, if any, support is in place.
Bullying strategy
"This is wrong and something which needs tackling and needs tackling now."
The research was carried at three schools which volunteered for the work and involved 877 year nine and year 10 students and 69 teachers.
The survey found:
64% of students had witnessed homophobic bullying 65% believed the behaviour was stupid and should be stopped 13% knew of policies and rules about homophobic bullying 25% of students had been the victim of it 20% who had been bullied had been targeted more than 30 times in six months 20% of students who had been bullied reported it The county council said it was developing strategies to tackle the problem and would look at the use of homophobic language and create ways to help teachers challenge the behaviour.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
