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Daily Record
Schools develop
lessons on curbing anti-gay ways
Educators say
sensitive issue is challenging
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF AND
LAURA BRUNO, DailyRecord.com from the Web. July 8, 2007
Many Morris County teachers and
students say anti-gay language is rampant in schools, creating the potential for
a hostile environment for gay students, as a court ruling prompts educators to
take a closer look at the problem.
A Daily Record survey and follow-up interviews found schools are beginning to
plan additional steps to address sexual orientation issues -- motivated by
complaints from gay students and their parents, and the potential for lawsuits
following the February state Supreme Court ruling that said schools are just as
liable as employers for hostile environments.
"It's a new area that a lot of people have not given much thought to," said
Rosalie Lamonte, Mount Olive schools superintendent.
"Our next frontier. ... My guess is an industry will be generated to help us
with that," Kinnelon schools Superinten-dent James Opiekun said.
The court ruling has prompted Morris County superintendents to attend
conferences and plan training for staff on the issue of gay harassment. A
March summit sponsored by a Morris County gay rights advocacy group drew more
than 60 students, educators and parents, who heard local gay high school
students describe what it's like to be the subject of taunts, such as "I hate
fags." One parent said she removed her son from Mount Olive High School
this past December, during his senior year, because of ongoing verbal abuse.
Students had thrown rocks at him during his junior year, she said.
The problem of anti-gay harassment can't be quantified in Morris County because
schools don't track bullying incidents by type. A Daily Record survey of
20 high school districts indicates that serious cases of anti-gay bullying are
rare, or at least rarely reported.
"That has not come to us as a concern," said Thomas Ficarra, the Morris School
district's superintendent.
Two districts -- Lenape Valley and Madison -- reported anti-gay harassment
incidents during the past school year. Mount Olive officials said they
heard about claims of harassment presented at the March summit long after they
allegedly happened.
But anecdotes suggest anti-gay language is widespread.
• A West Morris Mendham High School freshman started writing in a notebook this
past fall every time she heard students make anti-gay remarks in the hallways.
She stopped because it took up all of her time.
• A Morristown High School student wants to start a gay-straight alliance, known
as a GSA, to raise awareness of sexual orientation issues among teachers and
students.
• Saying anti-gay slurs were used casually by students and treated as
commonplace by teachers, a Morris Knolls High School student started a GSA two
years ago.
"Students were using terms offensive to homosexual students, and teachers
wouldn't react to it," said Eugene Millerman, 19, of Denville. "It was so
casual everyone did it, and I don't think anyone thought anything of it. ... If
you go into the work environment, it would be considered sexual harassment."
Language unchallenged
Dozens of interviews with students and teachers indicate that while serious
anti-gay harassment is rare in Morris County schools, the use of anti-gay
language is common, even when it's not directed at gay students. The use
of the phrase "That's so gay" -- used by youths to describe anything they don't
like -- is prevalent and often goes unchallenged.
"It happens so much I can't stop it all the time," said Debbie Gottsleben, a
Morristown High School librarian. "I hear it at least 10 to 25 times a
day."
Morris County superintendents say teachers talk to students about using anti-gay
language, including the phrase "That's so gay" -- although none reported
specific punishments.
"There hasn't been a formal initiative in that area," Opiekun, the Kinnelon
superintendent, said. "It's not that it's acceptable. It's difficult
for us to communicate to kids the impact it can have."
Rene Rovtar, Butler's superintendent, also said it's difficult to get students
to stop using "That's so gay."
"That phrase does get a lot of use," Rovtar said. "It's a substitute for
lame. We're still eradicating 'I'm going to kill you.' We do try to
sensitize the kids. We ask them to reflect on the impact of that phrase."
Erica DeLaney, 16, of Morristown, says she wants to start a GSA at Morristown
High School because students routinely use the term "gay" to refer to something
in a negative way, although she said most don't mean it as a putdown of gay
students.
"I think it's more of an ignorance thing -- they're not thinking about it," she
said.
Bryce Livingston, 15, a gay student from Mendham Township, said she kept a
journal of anti-gay slurs at West Morris Mendham High School, and counted 20 per
day at the beginning of the year. She said the term "That's so gay," even
when not directed at gay students, is insulting.
"It's worse than calling someone a faggot because it's saying me and my friends
and our history and what we stand for is stupid," she said.
Action required
Legal experts say the state Supreme Court ruling requires schools to go beyond
simply having anti-bullying policies. They say it requires schools not
only to respond to harassment, but also to prevent it, and to train teachers and
educate students to recognize unacceptable behavior.
"Once the policies are in place, schools have to give life to them, and make
sure they are not just pieces of paper," said Jim Michael, a state Deputy
Attorney General who handled the case, which was brought against the Toms River
school district, for the state's Civil Rights Division.
He said the ruling requires school administrators to take action when they are
aware, or should be aware, that their schools have a hostile environment.
That could extend to language that students use in schools even when it's not
directed at gay students, he said.
National surveys show gay students -- who make up 5 percent of the student
population according to at least one national survey -- don't feel as safe at
school as other students and are more likely to be targets of harassment.
A 2005 national survey conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network, known as GLSEN, shows 75 percent of gay students report hearing
homophobic remarks frequently in school.
Local school officials all said they have anti-bullying policies -- required
ever since a 2002 anti-bullying law went into effect. The Daily Record
survey found most districts said they had training for teachers on sexual
orientation issues, often as part of a broader anti-bullying program.
Seven districts said they had training for teachers focusing on gay and lesbian
issues. Others indicated in follow-up interviews that they are considering
such training.
One local school attorney said the ruling could mean that districts should
provide staff training and student education programs referring to specific
types of bullying, such as anti-gay harassment. In the Toms River case,
school officials said they explained the district's nondiscrimination policy to
students during an assembly but acknowledged that no specific reference was made
to sexual orientation.
"That was found to be deficient," said Nathanya Simon, an attorney who
represents the Mount Olive and Montville school districts. "I would advise that
they be specific."
Butler already has programs to educate teachers and students about sexual
orientation issues, Rovtar said. Cindy Meneghin and Maureen Kilian, a
lesbian couple prominent in the legal battle over civil unions, have children in
the district and have given presentations to teachers regarding sensitivity
toward sexual orientation issues. They also have spoken to high school
sociology classes studying relationships and marriage.
Teachers in the Morris Hills Regional school district attended a spring training
session titled "Sexual Orientation in Adolescence."
Leisa-Ann Smith, who runs an anti-bullying training program for teachers and
administrators, said that in her experience most school administrators don't
like to address sexual orientation issues. She said she has trained 3,000
teachers and 500 administrators from all over the state, including Morris
County, over the past six years.
"They don't address that these are the students most often targeted," said
Smith, director of teasing, bullying and conflict resolution programs for the
New Jersey State Bar Foundation. "They avoid it like the plague. I
bring it up and they say, 'Yeah, OK.'"
In June, Newark school officials ordered staffers to use markers to black out a
picture of a male student kissing his boyfriend from all copies of a high school
yearbook, saying they were concerned that the photo could upset parents. Days
later, the officials issued an apology to the student. They said they would
reissue an "un-redacted version" of the yearbook to any student who wants one.
Earlier this year, the Parsippany High School GSA was invited to an event geared
toward teenagers and designed to promote tolerance. Organizers of the
event said they changed their minds after a couple of parents expressed concern
that younger children in attendance might not be ready to hear about sexual
orientation. Organizers also said they were concerned someone might make
an anti-gay comment directed at GSA members.
"We didn't want anybody to get hurt," said David Mortensen, a member of the
American Joint Multi-Faith Association/People of Peace and Justice, which
sponsored the event. "I think most people would accept it. But you
never know if somebody's going to raise a concern."
Possible backlash
Dianne Feula, Parsippany GSA advisor, said Mortensen's group has been supportive
of the GSA. She told her students about being uninvited at a May meeting,
months after the event had been held.
"It doesn't surprise me at all," said Jess O'Rear, 17, the only member of the
GSA who says she's gay.
"Some people think that you sit next to a gay person, you're going to become
gay," said Tino Bratbo, 16, another GSA member.
Mortensen said he hopes to have another program that will include the GSA
students.
Morris County superintendents acknowledged a concern about possible backlash
from parents and conservative groups uncomfortable with public schools
discussing homosexuality. Opiekun said the issue of a backlash came up
during a training program he recently attended for administrators regarding the
Toms River case.
"You need to define behavior that some people feel they want to handle in their
own families," Opiekun said.
Randolph Superintendent Max Riley said the issue of anti-gay harassment "has the
potential to be controversial" but added that it's too important to ignore.
"I don't think anybody is going to be able to avoid it," Riley said.
"Students can be at great risk."
David Schwartz, the Randolph district's supervisor of social studies and
business education, has been placed in charge of a districtwide examination of
the issue. District officials are planning to survey students and teachers
to determine the extent of anti-gay harassment in their schools. Randolph
also is among five Morris County high schools considering the formation of a
GSA. Seven county high schools already have them.
"We need to be more proactive," Schwartz said.
Schwartz said the Randolph district is expected to look into teacher training
programs. He also said that while some social studies classes might touch
on sexual orientation issues, he believes they should be studied as part of the
broader curriculum.
"We teach James Baldwin in literature," he said. "Do we say he was a gay
male? We should provide information rather than keeping things secret."
'Conservative' district
Montville officials said they plan to hold a workshop for teachers on sexual
orientation issues next school year. They also are considering adding a
GSA as a student club, but say they want to make sure it's not only for gay
students.
"You have to go slowly," said Montville High School Principal Marianne Laux.
"This is not the type of community like Manhattan where you'll have a GSA
started and have 40 kids sign up in September. ... You have a conservative
school district. Unless it's approached correctly, you're not going to get
nongays and nonlesbians in this club."
Madison school officials also are considering more discussion of sexual
orientation issues. They said they had at least one anti-gay harassment
incident during the past school year but would not provide more specific
information. Local GLSEN members said Madison High School officials
invited them there last fall to discuss ways to cope with anti-gay bias.
"They called us to talk about what they could do to address homophobia," said
Bonnie Magnuson, GLSEN's northern New Jersey co-chairwoman.
One of her suggestions was for the school to start a GSA. School officials
said students have expressed interest in forming such a group at Madison.
Richard Noonan, Madison's superintendent, said the atmosphere in his schools is
no different from any others when it comes to bullying and added that he was
unaware GLSEN had been invited to the high school. He said he was aware
that students have been talking about starting a GSA at the high school but
didn't know what prompted it.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070708/COMMUNITIES/707080375
Abbott Koloff can be
reached at (973) 989-0652 or
akoloff@gannett.com
and Laura Bruno can be
reached at (973) 428-6626 or
lbruno2@gannett.com.
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