What is the DfES doing to help?
The Education Action Challenging Homophobia [EACH] together with the gay and lesbian equality group Stonewall is working with the DfES to produce guidance on ‘Understanding and Responding to Homophobic Bullying’. This will be available as a web-based resource in spring 2007. EACH has presented evidence to the DfES on the effect of homophobic bullying and the organisation makes it quite clear that it is ‘our’ problem – all of us need to be involved. It recognised this form of bullying as a whole-school issue, affecting the classroom behaviour and attitudes of all children, as well as their educational achievement. In other words, EACH sees it as part of the raising standards agenda. Perhaps the most distressing piece of evidence presented by EACH is the isolation suffered by children who are targeted by homophobic bullying. It suggests that, unlike other victims of bullying, victims may well feel that they can’t even turn to their parents for support. Tackle it vigorously and demonstrat
