Friday Feature: Bullying

Friday Feature: Bullying

How would you feel if you spent six hours of every day in an environment where you could not be yourself, for fear of peer retaliation, an environment where slurs about your sexuality were commonplace, a place where a term for what you identify with was used as a synonym for 'stupid'? Gay students across America feel complete isolation at school every day of their lives. From verbal slurs to threats, these youths are faced by peers who cannot, evidently, control their hate.
Not too long ago, it was other minorities facing such abhorrent discrimination. However, in the cases of African-Americans, Native Americans, and other groups, we seemed to have moved past our former prejudices, generally, and accepted that people are people no matter what they look like or where they come from. A person's a person, no matter how different. And yet, in 2010, we still cannot come to terms with the fact that some people are different from others, that its these differences that make us special and bring us together, not pull us apart. We are unable to accept that 'different' doesn't mean bad, or abnormal. Different just means different, the same way that each and every person on Earth is different from each other. Most importantly, beyond accepting differences or reveling in them, is the idea that, even if you cannot accept that someone is not the same as you are, that it is not appropriate to normalize slurs against them. Still, this is what is happening with gay youths. Incredibly offensive uses of gay slurs are mainstream in middle and high schools, and as young as elementary school, students hear these insults at home and at school.
Just like it would not be right to say that gay students could not participate in school activities, it is not right to bar them from a safe, mentally healthy education. However, by using these discriminatory terms, their peers are doing just that.
Maybe students don't realize how their words affect others. Maybe they truly are prejudiced; maybe they are just ignorant. Regardless of the reason, it is not appropriate for bias against gay people to become normal in schools. Stories about violence against gay teens are not rare. This violence doesn't spring out of a healthy environment. Violence does not occur where student conversation is civil. Violence occurs when slurs are used at homes, which manifests into insults and threats at school. This can mutate into the sort of extreme, irrational hate that causes violence. So while students may think their language is innocent, they do not realize what can be caused.