Schools are an environment where each individual should be
treated fairly despite their race, religion or sexual orientation. In NSW,
under the Anti-Discrimination Act, it is illegal to expel, refuse to enrol, or
limit access to benefits provided by a school or subject a student to any other
detriment based on certain grounds of discrimination including race, sex,
transgender, disability, homosexuality or domestic status. However, there are
exemptions for private schools, allowing them to discriminate against students
in ways that are illegal for public schools. The Anti-Discrimination Amendment
Bill will implement rules that will make private schools subject to the same
laws that make discrimination unlawful in public schools and TAFEs.
Opponents of this bill emphasise that this change is not needed in private schools as they do not permit discrimination however; there has been several incidents of private school students facing discrimination. In the Sydney Morning Herald article ‘Discrimination has no place in schools’ Greenwich mentions examples of discrimination in private schools. An English teacher at Catholic Marist College told her lesbian teenager student that she was disgusting and a disgrace to the school and the Catholic religion. However, the student was not defended and instead, she was taken to the coordinator’s office and was told that “You’re skating on thin ice, and I don’t know if we should let you into senior school.” While another homosexual student was told that he was not allowed to talk about his sexuality and was excluded from school events.
I think that this is very shocking and upsetting because if even teachers can discriminate against a student due to their sexuality then what would the students of the school think they can do? This type of discrimination is very serious because it can deeply affect the student’s self-esteem and can cause huge disruption to their education. In Michael Bocheneck and A. Widney Brown’s ‘Hatred in the Hallways’ they mention that an individual’s sexual orientation and gender expression are two major components of their identity and for young people to deny or conceal their identity in order to protect themselves, it can ultimately lead to self-hatred and a fractured sense of self. It is sad to know that students can’t even approach a teacher when they’re being bullied by their peers due to their sexuality because they know they could be expelled. Sexuality is very personal and although they may have been enrolled into a Catholic or religious school by their parents, they might not realise their sexual orientation until the later years of their high school period and therefore, it is unjust that teachers can treat their students in this kind of manner. Schools are places for personal development and growth and it should be the state’s responsibility to protect and prevent students from discrimination. Therefore, laws that allow private schools to have the ability to expel students due to their sexuality should be abolished because schools should be promoting acceptance, tolerance and equal opportunity and not discrimination.
Opponents of this bill emphasise that this change is not needed in private schools as they do not permit discrimination however; there has been several incidents of private school students facing discrimination. In the Sydney Morning Herald article ‘Discrimination has no place in schools’ Greenwich mentions examples of discrimination in private schools. An English teacher at Catholic Marist College told her lesbian teenager student that she was disgusting and a disgrace to the school and the Catholic religion. However, the student was not defended and instead, she was taken to the coordinator’s office and was told that “You’re skating on thin ice, and I don’t know if we should let you into senior school.” While another homosexual student was told that he was not allowed to talk about his sexuality and was excluded from school events.
I think that this is very shocking and upsetting because if even teachers can discriminate against a student due to their sexuality then what would the students of the school think they can do? This type of discrimination is very serious because it can deeply affect the student’s self-esteem and can cause huge disruption to their education. In Michael Bocheneck and A. Widney Brown’s ‘Hatred in the Hallways’ they mention that an individual’s sexual orientation and gender expression are two major components of their identity and for young people to deny or conceal their identity in order to protect themselves, it can ultimately lead to self-hatred and a fractured sense of self. It is sad to know that students can’t even approach a teacher when they’re being bullied by their peers due to their sexuality because they know they could be expelled. Sexuality is very personal and although they may have been enrolled into a Catholic or religious school by their parents, they might not realise their sexual orientation until the later years of their high school period and therefore, it is unjust that teachers can treat their students in this kind of manner. Schools are places for personal development and growth and it should be the state’s responsibility to protect and prevent students from discrimination. Therefore, laws that allow private schools to have the ability to expel students due to their sexuality should be abolished because schools should be promoting acceptance, tolerance and equal opportunity and not discrimination.
References:
Bocheneck, M & Brown, A. Widney (2001) Hatred in the
Hallways: Violence and Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender students in U.S Schools, Human Rights Watch, p.3.
Greenwich, A (2013) ‘Discrimination
has no place in schools’ The Sydney Morning Herald, Last updated September
19 2013, Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/comment/discrimination-has-no-place-in-schools-20130919-2u13f.html#ixzz2i2A0tzED
I think that this is a very interesting topic to touch on and that you have done so very well. As someone who had attended a private girls school herself, I find it very interesting (and disturbing) to see how other private schools have been seen to handle issues surrounding gender identity and sexuality.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the hopeless situation you are describing, wherein students cannot turn to teachers for help with bullying, is very similar to the "don't ask don't tell" policy adopted by some highschools in America in regards to the bullying of LGBTQIA students. I am especially reminded of a news article I read last year, of the horrific suicide rates of LGBTQIA students in a particular Minnesota town, that was circling around the internet with outrage. If anyone is interested in the way in which these kinds of "don't ask don't tell" policies effect highschool students I highly recommend taking the time to read the article here (trigger warnings for suicide and slurs apply):
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/one-towns-war-on-gay-teens-20120202
It is a truly harrowing issue and I hope that such policies do not become as much of an issue within Australian education, especially as LGBTQIA teenagers have one of the highest suicide rates around the world.
Fortunately there is a lot that the educational system can do to create a respectful and non discriminatory environment for such teenagers (Dean Spade talks about this in his article "Some Very Basic Tips for Making Higher Education More Accessible to Trans Students and Rethinking How We Talk about Gendered Bodies"), and I hope that the anti discriminatory laws you have talked about help in the creation of such an environment.