Surprising as it may sound, the anti-gay sentiments continue to be on the rise in the US despite the combined efforts of the government, media and social activists to curb the hatred. Unfortunately, homosexual teens are the biggest victims of this prevalent attitude, getting bullied for being gay by their peers who seem to view their sexual orientation as some sort of disease. Hatred for gays is not something that kids are born with. It’s something they learn from their surroundings while growing up, with both parents and the school administration among the perpetuators of this prejudice.

The role of parents in shaping views of teens about gays

Learning indeed starts for kids at home, with parents serving as the first teachers for their young ones. While most parents recognize this and educate their kids on responsible behavior and attitude, they often neglect the topic of homosexuality, finding it unimportant, irrelevant or uncomfortable. Wasting their opportunity to talk on the topic with their children leaves a gap in the minds of the latter that may eventually get filled with prejudice picked up from peers at school. For some parents, the anti-gay sentiments prominent in teens fail to raise red flags, causing the hatred to continue and even grow with the passage of time. Parents may even inadvertently inject intolerance towards homosexuals in the minds of their young ones by defining what constitutes normal relationships, thus closing the minds of their kids to same-sex relationship in the process and making it seem like an abnormality.

The impact of schools on anti-gay bullying

While the conditioning of kids at home has a significant impact on how they treat gays in school, the role of school administration in shaping up their views cannot be ignored either. Most schools have done well to identify bullying as a threat that students should be protected from, but they often fail to mention or address anti-gay bullying explicitly in their school policy. Homosexual kids are forced to endure the torment on daily basis as the school staff either fails to take notice of the ongoing harassment, or simply dismisses it as “students engaging in horseplay”. This either allow the bullies to get away with their actions, or the reaction of the school administration is so soft that it hardly discourages them from attacking gays in the future. The problem of anti-gay bullying is generally higher in religiously-affiliated schools, where homophobic sentiments are perpetuated by the curriculum as well as the staff, either intentionally or inadvertently Homosexuality may not just be portrayed as something unusual in such environments, but also as something sinful.

What the parents and schools need to do

It’s time parents and the school administrations turn their attention to anti-gay bullying and play their part to make teens more tolerant towards homosexuals. Kids should be taught to accept people irrespective of their sexual orientation and should not just tolerate gays, but also include them in their groups. Parents need to make their teens understand that homosexuality is not a choice, but homophobia is. Hatred is an unacceptable emotion and should not be directed towards anyone. They should also try to model the behavior that they want to instill in their kids. One way to do that is by contacting parents of gay teens and offering them friendship and support. School administration should also play its role to discourage bullying and discrimination towards gays. An atmosphere of respect should be created, with absolutely no tolerance of harassment in any form. In-class lectures on respecting everyone irrespective of gender, creed, ethnicity, and sexual orientation should be given to kids, with the staff setting an example for them to follow.

Still going through the development stage, teens often lack the maturity to fully realize the impact their actions and words have on gays. They may bully such kids only for pleasure without actually fully aware of the hurt they may be inflicting on the latter. This can be stopped, though only if parents and the school administration play their role.