Call for Teachers to Do More to Stop Homophobic Bullying in Schools

Schools should do more to tackle homophobic bullying and discrimination against gay pupils, Nick Clegg says.

He says schools' performance in recognising and tackling homophobia should be one of the factors assessed by Ofsted in official inspections.

He told gay rights group Stonewall there were many teachers who tried to root out discrimination in schools.

However, two thirds of young gay people reported homophobic bullying at school, the Liberal Democrat leader said.

And almost one-third said that an adult in the school community was to blame, he said.

While Mr Clegg heaped praise on teachers who tackled discrimination against gay pupils, he said others were wary of doing so because of the "shameful legacy" of the Tories' section 28 ban on promotion of homosexuality.

"Parents rightly expect that teachers will not just educate their children in reading, writing and science, but that they will care for pupils and protect their interests, so that they have the security and the confidence to make the best of their educational opportunities." he said.

"I want better monitoring of homophobic incidents in schools. The government should be made to face up to the true extent of homophobia in schools.

"Schools' performance in recognising and tackling homophobia should be an assessed criterion in Ofsted school inspections.

"We need to turn the spotlight on every school and expose prejudice where it exists."

He said having "supportive, trained teachers to turn to should not be a matter of the luck of the draw for gay pupils - it should be available to every one of them".

"If we can ensure that the teaching environment meets homophobic bullying with teachers are confident to give proper recognition and support to gay people, we can reshape our schools into more accepting, open and supportive environments."

Mr Clegg said half of young lesbian and gay people feel unable to be themselves at school, while seven out of ten who have experienced homophobic bullying say it impacts directly on their school work.

"Gay pupils have higher levels of truancy, drop-out, mental health problems, panic attacks and eating disorders," he said.

"Worst of all, one survey has shown that half of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults who were bullied at school contemplated self-harm or suicide.

"And four in ten had attempted it at least once. These facts are as tragic as they are outrageous."