Sep 30, 2005  |  By: EARTHA JANE MELZE  | COMMENTS     

This school year is the first in which Virginia schools are required to provide information on bullying and how to stop it, but the law makes no mention of the prevalence of anti-gay bullying, which concerns some advocates.

Last year the General Assembly passed legislation that directed the State Board of Education to come up with model programs for schools to use to address bullying with students. Critics say the law is too vague, leaving the details of how to address bullying up to individual schools.

According to the Virginia Department of Health, 23 percent of the state’s students report being bullied at least “several times” during the school year.

Bullying can range from physical intimidation, to insults or excluding people from groups, Peter Sheras, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and associate director of University of Virginia’s Virginia Youth Violence Project said.

Anti-gay bullying is a major issue in some Virginia school districts, Sheras said, but because the law does not specifically require schools to discuss bullying motivated by sexual orientation, it is up to the individual school or teacher as to whether it is mentioned.

Sheras said that the aim of the legislation is to create a climate in schools where bullying is not tolerated, and one key element in this equation is to teach students the difference between tattling and getting help for someone who is in trouble.

The most recent National School Climate Survey by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, conducted in 2003, found that gay and lesbian youth who report significant verbal harassment are twice as likely to report they do not intend to go to college.

Incident spurs law

Del. Bob Marshall (R-Loudoun) said he co-sponsored the anti-bullying bill after learning about the extent of bullying problems in his district.

Last June, a Bull Run Middle School administrator overheard the sound of a rifle being loaded in the school bathroom. A 12-year-old boy — overcome by rage about teasing related to his obesity and his clothing — had brought a rifle and ammunition to school as part of a plan to kill people, according to media reports. After a brief stand off the incident was resolved without physical injury.

But in the aftermath of that incident, Marshall said, it became apparent that there was not a lot of communication between schools and parents when it came to bullying.

Marshall said that he sent a survey to around 2,500 parents in his district, asking whether their children had experienced ridicule, teasing or sexual harassment at school.

“It was going on and there was not a lot of interaction between parents and schools,” Marshall said.

Last year, Marshall authored the state’s controversial Marriage Affirmation Act, which outlaws legal agreements between residents of the same gender that resemble marriage rights.

Del. Robert Bell (R-Albemarle), a prosecutor by trade, drafted the anti-bullying legislation. Bell became involved with the issue after being contacted by the parents of Collan Brancato, a boy who tried to slit his wrists after being repeatedly choked, beaten and thrown in front of a moving school bus by older kids while in the 6th grade.

A 2002 survey sponsored by the National Mental Health Association found that 78 percent of teens report that kids who are gay, or are thought to be gay, are teased or bullied in their schools and communities.

To create anti-bully legislation without specifically mentioning categories of bullying, such as that directed against gay and lesbian students, is unfortunate, according to Ron Schlittler, deputy executive director of Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays.

“It papers over the details of the problem and provides no specific guidance to professional staff for how to address anti-gay hostility and violence.”