Exploring homophobic bullying and its potential effect on education

Abstract

This exploratory study focuses on the correlation between homophobic bullying and education. The purpose of this research was to identify the key factors that might be a trigger for bullying behaviour and how such crimes can leave a long-lasting impact on the victim’s wellbeing and his or her educational achievement. For this study 75 participants over the age of 18 years chose to take part and answer questions related to their education level and how past bullying experiences might have affected their educational process. These questions were distributed on an online survey and the identity of the participants was kept anonymous. The online survey was shared through university websites and NGO’s that represent the LGBTQI+ community. According to this study, there is a correlation between homophobic bullying and education. Since most bullying occurs at school, students end up feeling vulnerable le and unsafe. This results in students skipping school to avoid being attacked or if they go to school., end up always looking over their shoulders. By doing so, their performance at school will start to deteriorate. When those students who struggled at school were asked whether bullying affected their studies, 43.3% stated that they were affected.

The other variable that was also highlighted in this study which correlates with bullying was the age of the student, as it resulted that the most age in which students are most vulnerable is during their adolescence stage, being between the age of 12 to 15 years old. Gender was also an important variable as men were more likely to suffer from physical abuse and they are less likely to report it. This study also mentions the support systems that LGBTQI+ students need from both their teachers at school and even at home. Having a good support system helps the students to feel more open about their sexuality and feel less vulnerable to those who might not accept them.