We welcome more training for support staff,
teachers and heads, as tackling bullying is
everyone’s business. However, we don’t want
this as a replacement for those frontline staff
with years of expertise in mental health and
social work, as cuts increasing bite in every
area. We need both, for education staff to
receive high quality training and to work
with partners such as Schools OUT UK, for
example and for Children’s and Adolescent
Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to have
robust financial support. Prevention is always
better than cure.
ATL is concerned about the effects of many
issues on young people’s mental health and
our survey last year revealed that 50% of
education professionals believe the number
of children with mental health issues has
risen over the last two years. Alarmingly,
more than one in six (16%) believe these
issues affect at least 25% of students in
their school or college. And we know that
LGBT pupils will have higher rates of
mental ill health, so we need to be there
with a sympathetic ear. The classroom
is where we can make a big difference,
whether it’s in a primary, secondary, further
or higher education environment. Just one
sympathetic member of staff can change a
young adult’s life for the better, giving them
the confidence to come out or question
their sexuality. It may just be a case of
listening to someone express their fears or
concerns and reassuring them that they
don’t have to conform to society’s perceived
gender norms. We know from a variety
of research that homophobic, biphobic
and transphobic bullying continue to be
a problem in educational institutions and
ATL is committed to tackling this. We run
workshops and produce information, as well
as surveying our members to learn from their
experience and find out what training they
feel they need.
The latest Hate Crime figures make for a
shocking read and should put all of us on
alert. As education staff, it is our role to
challenge prejudice and show young people
that everyone deserves to be treated with
dignity, everyone has the right to be treated
with respect and that we all benefit from a
fair and equal society.
That’s one of the many reasons why ATL
think it’s important to sponsor events such
as the National Trans Youth Conference,
LGBT History Month, a variety of Prides.
We can take the message out there to
teachers, parents and the general public and,
as Schools OUT UK always say ‘educate out
prejudice’. We are really looking forward
to LGBT History Month in February, with
its theme of religion, belief and philosophy.
With a fantastic pre-launch at the Queens’
College, Cambridge, in November this year,
LGBT History Month is getting bigger and
better all the time. As educators we just love
the National Festival of LGBT History – it
was such a great success last year that we
are really looking forward to the next one.
With regional history hubs in London,
Bristol, Manchester, Shrewsbury, York and
Newcastle, there’s no excuse to miss out!
Unfortunately homophobic, biphobic and
transphobic bullying is not just a problem for
students. Education staff are also subjected to
bullying behaviour and we are working with
school leaders, Schools OUT, Stonewall and
other organisations to eradicate this. ATL
believes that a ‘whole organisation’ approach
is essential, encompassing staff, leaders,
students and other stakeholders. You don’t
have to be the ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’, ‘bisexual’ or
‘trans’ teacher, you don’t even have to be
out at school. ATL will support you in your
workplace, whatever your concerns are.
In a landscape where there are
ever increasing attacks on all
the equalities rights we
have fought so hard for
over the past decades,
ATL is making a
stand. Within the trade
union movement our
voice is speaking out for
equalities and standing
up for our members, as we
work together to campaign
on equal rights issues. Everyone has the
right to be who they are and not to be
subjected to discrimination, harassment or
bullying. We fight for dignity at work and
we campaign for an education sector free
from fear and prejudice, where staff and
students can fulfil their potential, regardless
of their sexual orientation, gender, gender
reassignment, race or ethnicity, disability,
age, or religion or faith.
We continue to campaign collectively for
same sex pension equality, for equal pay, for
recognition of equality reps and for equality
for all in the workplace.
And when we say all, we mean all.
Unfortunately our trans brothers and sisters
have not enjoyed the same uplift in rights,
recognition and respect as some of our
communities. ATL is working on behalf
of our trans members and young people
to raise awareness of gender and the often
destructive effects of propagating a binary
gender position. We are doing work in
schools with education staff and supporting
trans members to lead the way, with some
great results.
As education staff, we want school days to be the happiest days of a young
person’s life and many of us do our best to ensure that they are. But we
know from various reports, research and most importantly the opinions and
experiences of young people, that this is sadly, not always the case. A lot of
work is being done to combat homo-, bi- and transphobic (HBT) bullying and
government announcements of more money capture the headlines, but are we
really making progress?
Education, education, education
WINTER 2015
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