Adeelle S.

Judilla AEF 600 SAT 8-11AM December 14, 2019

Final Term Requirement

STOP THE STIGMA:

TEACHERS AND STAKEHOLDERS NEED TO REACH OUT TO LGBTQ+
STUDENTS AND VICE VERSA

It has been a recurring scenario in and out of school that most gays and lesbians
are bullied or discriminated, regardless if they are students or teachers. School and
teacher intervention has been called out in many of the schools in the country and even
on an international scale, however this has not made drastic change and improvement
due to many factors. For many schools, this has been a topic on the table since the boom
of queer students and teachers.

According to the consolidated report of Department of Education (Dep

Ed), bullying cases on elementary and high school of both private and public schools on
2014 rose by 21% or a total of 6,363 cases, compared with the 5,236 cases in 2013. This
translates to 31 daily bullying cases from a divisor of 201 school days. The statistics was
disclosed by Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr., a member of the House committee on basic
education. This rise in reported bullying cases is a consequence of parents and even
school administration not wanting his/her family or institution to be on the billboards
because of bullying. The mitigation of this is now addressed as the schools face fear of
being publicized due to neglect and lack of attention to the bullying that happens in its
walls.

One of the factors causing the stagnation of diminishing these incidents is traced
to the limited knowledge of teachers on how to help those who are bullied because they
are gay. We do not need to go far and seek examples from other countries; right in our
Philippine education system we see the efforts to address the concerns and issues of
physical and cyber bullying of both gay/lesbian teachers and students. On a daily basis,
teachers ask how their students are doing. The auto-piloted response would be that they
are doing fine – a lie so overused and clichéd that it has become a truth among the
majority. In some cases, teachers would press on; but due to heavy workload and tight
schedules, it would be taken as that and each goes on their way. However, there are
circumstances that are grave and direly need intervention by the teacher of which is given
but not solidly grounded and will result in misbelieved intentions.

Teachers would reprimand students when caught red-handedly bullying another

either physically, verbally, or in cyberspace. This reprimand if not reinforced will just fade
and the fact that it was already subdued will be futile. Bullies will then find ways so that
they will not be caught and continue to torture their victims. Loretta Farell Khayam, a
high school Maths teacher in Northern Virginia says that the hesitation underlying the
unreinforced support and follow-up to victims of bullying is a reflection of simple lack of
training.

Silence among the victims is another formidable factor. Intervention and help
cannot be delivered if the victim does not open up or ask for help. If these cases are
hidden in the lockers and closets, not even the parents cannot do something. Despite the
enforcement of RA 10627 or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 there are still uncountable
cases of bullying in any form that are not addressed because the victims prefer to stay
silent due to fear.

In November 2019, the Manila Bulletin published an article from the words of
Education secretary Leonor Briones urging the public and private school heads to address
bullying cases immediately to avoid further harm to the learners. She noted that Dep.Ed.
has continued to receive reports of bullying despite the RA and therefore requires the
schools to adopt the policies to eradicate these incidents.
 “We need to act on these cases immediately because it could result to
further harm,” Briones said. “We have to make sure that we act
immediately on cases of bullying as soon as possible because this can
be very dangerous.” - Ed. Sec. Briones

Taken that this statement was released very recently, it implies how the people have
realized that silence will not solve the problem. In the past, this was not successful to
end bullying because there was no support. Now that the Secretary herself has called to
the institution heads, we can hope that the nightmare will finally end.

Sources:

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/11/19/deped-to-schools-address-bullying-cases-
immediately/

https://asksonnie.info/statistics-bullying-cases-up-by-21-in-philippine-schools/

https://www.edutopia.org/article/schools-struggle-support-lgbtq-students

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/six-ways-to-stand-behind-your-lgbt-students