October 7, 2007
Yeah, But Are They Traumatized for the Right Reasons?
Buffy rightly observes: “Oh my. Now that they discover straight kids can be harmed by anti-gay slurs they’ve decided something really should be done about it. How special.” 
Anti-gay slurs traumatic for heterosexual students too
Being called anti-gay names is damaging not only to homosexual students, but also to heterosexual ones, a new study conducted on middle-school students has revealed.
The study conducted by researchers at Rockway Institute at Alliant International University found that such name-calling may cause anxiety, depression, personal distress, and a lower sense of school belonging.
. . .
The results indicate that “being the victim of homophobic name-calling is a serious concern and significantly predicts several negative psychosocial outcomes,” stated the researchers. Also, there were differences between the sexes. For males, being the recipient of name-calling was significantly linked with anxiety, depression, personal distress, and a lower sense of school belonging. For females, being the object of name-calling was connected with higher levels of social withdrawal. …
. . .
“Based on research findings like these, several states and many individual school districts in the U.S. have established ’safe school’ policies that prohibit antigay name-calling. Any child could find themselves the target of antigay humiliation and exclusion for not fitting in with the crowd on a particular day or week at school. Hopefully this study will encourage school personnel to take this form of bullying more seriously,” Dr Green added.
Filed under: Education/Schools, Hate Speech, Youth
