Playing it safe: addressing the emotional and physical health of lesbian and gay pupils in the UK

Compared to young people in general, young lesbians and gay men can face sp ecific challenges to their physical and emotional well-being. These include discrimination, victimization, homophobic bullying and an elevated suicide risk. Relative to initiatives which attempt to address bullying in general , little has been done in schools in the U.K. to address physical and verba l homophobic bullying. This paper reports on an exploratory study to examin e teachers' perceptions of homophobic bullying, the responses made to this form of bullying, and the factors which impact on the provision of educatio n and support to lesbian and gay pupils. Findings suggested that teachers w ere aware of homophobic bullying hut were confused, unable or unwilling to address the needs of lesbian and gay pupils. Implications for policy, pract ice and research are discussed. While current U.K. Government policy promot ing Healthy Schools and Citizenship education offers hope for the future, m uch remains to be done to ensure that such initiatives are inclusive of all pupils. (C) 2001 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolesc ents.