Today more and more LGBT people are ‘coming out’ at a younger age and are living openly with the support of their family, friends, school, community, workplace, and neighborhoods. Despite these progressive leaps life can still be quite difficult for many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, including young LGBT people who are not ‘out’ or who are not supported by family, friends, and their communities. Being affirmed and respected for who one is, is critically important to the formation of a positive self-identity.
Physical and psychological bullying is prevalent in many schools. The global extent of bullying has been explicitly acknowledged in the international declarations and treaties directed at protecting children (and also adults) from all forms of violence. These include the United Nations (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child; World Health Organization (1999) Violence Prevention: An Important Element of a Health Promoting School; United Nations (1994) Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women; UNICEF (n.d.) Child-Friendly Schools.
A number of social psychological studies have shown that the construct of heterosexist attitudes is highly complex and not unidimensional. In a meta-analysis of sex differences in heterosexist attitudes, Kite and Whitley (1996) identified three factors: (1) attitudes toward lesbian or gay individuals, (2) attitudes toward same-sex sexual behavior, and (3) attitudes toward lesbian or gay people’s civil rights.
A number of sources suggest that Filipinos have rather negative attitudes toward lesbians, gay men, and their sexualities. Observations made by activists and members of the NGO sector, for example, point to prejudice and discrimination against lesbians in many domains including healthcare, education, work, and religion (Women’s Feature Service Philippines, 2001). Likewise, Holmes (1993) asserted that no psychologist in the right mind could ignore the topic of being gay because there is unnecessary anguish connected with being different here in the Philippines. So much cruelty and hypocrisy take place in a country that purports to be a Christian. Too many families cause unspeakable pain to their gay members in a nation that claims that the family is the very bedrock and foundation of its society (p. xv).
A growing strand of research has connected sexuality to violence. This is often referred to as ‘gender-based violence’ to connote violence or abuse based on gender and sexual stereotypes and to connect it to sexism and patriarchy (Hyder and MacVeigh, 2007; Terry and Hoare, 2007). The term gender-based violence has been widely adopted although some argue that all violence is gendered (Dunne et al., 2006; Leach and Mitchell, 2006). In schools, sexual harassment, often carried out by male teachers and male students on female students includes unsolicited acts of physical intimacy or demands for sexual favors with intent to offend, humiliate or intimidate (Wolpe et al., 1997).
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Bullying in schools and elsewhere can have potentially serious consequences for many young people.
This important issue was highlighted in the Action Plan on Bullying, which was published, by the Department of Education and Skills in January 2013. The Action Plan acknowledges that, while there is variation in the prevalence rates of bullying reported in studies, “It is clear from the available data that many children and young people will encounter bullying and unfortunately for a minority, it will have a very negative impact on their lives.”
In 2010 just under a quarter of young people aged between 10-17 years reported that they were bullied at school at least once in a previous couple of months (Kelly et al, 2012). A 2016 study funded by the National Office for Suicide Prevention found that 50% of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) people who participated had been bullied as a consequence of their LGBT identity, or their perceived LGBT identity, while at school (Higgins et al, 2016).
Students who are or who are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) often experience harassment, bullying, and discrimination in school. Despite the mission of the educational system to provide each child with a safe and encouraging learning environment, the issues facing LGBT students often remain unnoticed or are actively ignored. Sexual minority youth often come out in high school, and researchers have found that the average age that adolescents self-identify as gay or lesbian is 16 years (Herdt & Boxer, 1996). Additionally, studies have found that 5 to 12% of students are not exclusively heterosexual (Hillier, Warr, & Haste, 1996; Lindsay & Rosenthal, 1997; Remafedi, Resnick, Blum & Harris, 1992; Russell, Seif, & Truong, 2001). Thus, LGBT youth, those presumed to be LGBT, and youth who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity represent a significant proportion of the student population and must be protected.
The study is in the significance of exploring the perceptions of non-LGBT+ Students of LGBT+ Students. This research aims to provide both non-LGBT+ members' perceptions’ when it comes to several factors namely safety in school, experience in bullying LGBT+ students, acceptance of LGBT+ students in social groups, the interaction between Non-LGBT+ and LGBT+ students, and gender identity, the experience of being bullied, the composition of the friendship group, and factors contributing to their sexuality today for the LGBT+ community. This issue is still timely and can somehow notice the bullying and discrimination of other people towards the community thus making this research a way to spread awareness since the LGBT+ community is an important part of society, the LGBT+ youth have special needs and face numerous challenges, that it’s generally deemed acceptable to discriminate people based solely on their sexual orientation and that we need more highly visible positive role models for LGBT+ youth when it comes to acceptance and openness. These goals can be achieved through the respondents who can provide the needed information needed and be put under study. The output of this study is a source material that can be a reference for future developments, and analysis and be used to improve the research study as a whole.
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