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YOUTH SCHOOLS AND TRANS BULLYING

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  • ISBN: 978-1-84775-600-8
    D16(8544)/1209
    © Crown copyright 2009
    The text in this document (excluding the Royal Arms and other departmental or agency logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context.

    A commitment from The Children’s Plan

    Overview Summary

    This document forms part of the ‘Safe to Learn’ suite of anti-bullying guidance for schools. It outlines what school leaders and school staff can do to prevent and respond to sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying. The guidance aims to do two things: firstly, build understanding around what sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying is and how it is relevant to schools, and secondly provide schools with the information they need to prevent and tackle this form of bullying. This includes the development of whole school policy and effective practice.

    Preventing bullying in all its forms and taking swift, effective action to respond to bullying is a responsibility shared by all schools. All bullying is unacceptable, and schools should use the full range of sanctions at their disposal to deal firmly with bullying when it does occur.
    Section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 requires all head teachers to determine a school behaviour policy, which must include measures to be taken with a view to ‘encouraging good behaviour and respect for others on the part of pupils and, in particular, preventing all forms of bullying among pupils.’
    Many schools now have robust procedures in place to deal with bullying. However, the prevalence of sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying may be underestimated. This guidance has been developed to help school staff recognise, report and respond to these forms of bullying.
    The need to address sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying should also be viewed in the wider context of every school’s duty to implement the Gender Equality Duty (2007); to promote pupil well-being; and to promote community cohesion.
    Schools are places where children and young people learn, develop and grow, but they are not isolated from the stereotypes and prejudices that exist in the wider world. A key element of the development children and young people undergo at school will relate to their gender and gender identity. Schools have an important part to play in addressing attitudes relating to gender, supporting pupils to develop positive relationships with others and enabling children and young people to understand and explore their identity without fear of harm, humiliation or intimidation.
    Sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying is fundamentally an issue of equality. Although girls are most frequently harmed by sexist and sexual bullying, both sexual and transphobic bullying may affect boys and girls. Schools should consider all pupils as potentially at risk of bullying, particularly where they are perceived by others not to conform to dominant or stereotypical gender roles.

    Harmful bullying behaviours displayed by pupils in schools, such as teasing and name-calling, or groping, can be motivated by sexist or transphobic attitudes. In extreme cases, these attitudes can also motivate criminal acts that can be categorised as sexual harassment or hate crime. Incidents of very different levels of seriousness will of course require very different responses from schools, with cases of the most serious nature requiring police involvement.
    This guidance is not designed to cover all sexist, sexual or transgender issues – it is focused on preventing and responding to bullying. However, it does touch on the wider issues that will be relevant to staff in schools responsible for preventing and responding to these forms of bullying. Links and further references are provided throughout for those seeking further information.
    There are a range of strongly-held views about the issues covered in this guidance. However, sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying and views in all their manifestation are not acceptable and should not be tolerated.
    Bullying is a safeguarding issue – protecting all children and young people from harm is a responsibility we all share.

    Sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying is commonly underpinned by sexist, homophobic, or transphobic attitudes
    In order for these forms of bullying not to go unrecognised, schools must develop specific approaches for dealing with sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying that are aligned with their approaches to dealing with other forms of bullying.
    Behaviours displayed as part of sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying are in many cases similar to those behaviours displayed in other forms of bullying, but may also be specifically characterised by inappropriate sexual behaviour. This can in extreme cases constitute sexual abuse.
    schools must always consider in cases of sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying where links need to be made with their safeguarding procedures or processes.
    Girls are more commonly at risk from sexist and sexual bullying. However, boys also report being victims of sexist and sexual bullying. Boys or girls may be victims of transphobic bullying, particularly where they are not seen to conform to the gender roles that are dominant in the school environment or society more widely.

    Sexist, sexual or transphobic bullying is when a pupil (or group), usually repeatedly, harms another pupil or intentionally makes them unhappy because of their sex or because they may not be perceived to conform to typical gender norms. The root cause of these forms of bullying is gender inequality
    Sexist, sexual or transphobic bullying are the not the same as homophobic bullying. However, very often, sexist attitudes manifest themselves in homophobic bullying and any young person who is perceived as not expressing stereotypically masculine or feminine expected of their sex, might experience homophobic bullying. Sexist, sexual or transphobic bullying may also occur in conjunction with other forms of bullying, such as racist bullying or bullying related to special educational needs or disabilities or cyberbullying. In most instances schools will respond to these forms of bullying through applying the range of measures they have in place (including sanctions) to deal with all bullying behaviour.

    Transphobic bullying stems from a hatred or fear of people who are transgender. ‘Transgender’ is an umbrella term that describes people whose sense of their gender or gender identity is seen as being different to typical gender norms.
    Transgender people commonly feel that their biological body is not aligned with their inner sense of gender identity. This leads some people to live in the gender role in which they feel more comfortable and which relates to their own sense of their gender identity rather than to their biological body.
    Where children and young people are perceived not to be conforming to the dominant gender roles that may be widely expected of them, schools should be alert for signs of bullying.
    Transphobic bullying is commonly underpinned by sexist attitudes. Boys and girls may be equally affected. An individual may also experience transphobic bullying as a result of perceptions that a parent, relative or other significant figure displays gender ‘variance’ or is transgender.

    All staff in schools need to be made aware of the broad spectrum of behaviours that may characterise sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying. Schools should consider how best to make staff aware of these behaviours. Recent surveys, such as those detailed in the ‘Prevalence’ section below, indicate coercive sexual behaviours may be a feature of a significant number of girls’ experiences of sexual bullying. Furthermore, some forms of demeaning or sexist language
    may go unchallenged in schools because it is perceived as being acceptable in wider society or because staff lack the confidence or skills to challenge it.
    Sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying behaviour may be generally characterised by:
    an imbalance of power or desire to dominate or subordinate – typically, but not exclusively, exercised by boys over girls
    direct or indirect threats of violence which may lead to actual violence
    forcing a pupil to behave in a way he or she would not freely choose, including coercive sexual behaviour
    seeking to limit personal choices and opportunities – interests, friendships, courses of study
    Examples of sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying behaviours may include:

    Physical
    using or threatening physical or sexual violence or strength to coerce
    taking or destroying the property of a pupil
    forcing the removal of clothing
    forcing someone to do something sexual that they don’t want to do
    inappropriate touching which makes a pupil uncomfortable
    gestures towards others that have a sexual meaning
    Verbal
    ridiculing another pupil perhaps for their behaviour, clothing or appearance
    putting someone down or seeking to intimidate them using humiliating, or offensive sexist, sexual or transphobic language – the reversal of pronouns, for example, is common in transphobic bullying: ‘he/she’
    spreading rumours of a sexual nature, using sexually abusive terms or sexualised name calling
    commenting on body shape or ‘attractiveness’
    questioning sexual orientation or gender identity
    forcing a pupil into isolation
    unwanted comments that reinforce common stereotypes
    restricting access to opportunities

    to be cont........................
    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      January 13, 2011 12:27 PM GMT
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  • Moderator
    2573
    It is time to take uncertainty, as well as personal interpretation, out of the hands of school administrators and teachers. Bigotry has no place in education.
    "A live lived in fear is a life half-lived." - Native American proverb. "Inside every man is a woman who was drowned in testosterone before birth". - Wendy Jeanette Larsen "It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not." - Andre Gide (French writer)
      March 27, 2012 6:00 PM BST
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  • It was about time that these schools systems started teaching kids about transgender people. Its a great big step for us as community and this will help today's kids understand many things about us.

    Myspace account: http://www.myspace.com/513093521 I am still working on making it look great.
    This post was edited by Kristina Ruggirello at May 6, 2012 6:03 AM BST
      May 6, 2012 6:02 AM BST
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