engleski

Same-sex attracted high-school students' victimization experiences in school and perceived teachers' support

LGBT students are more likely to experience bullying at school than heterosexual students, including physical and verbal harassment, peer rejection and lack of school support (D’Augelli, 2006 ; Nichols, 1999). Having supportive teachers and attending schools that have LGBT students’ support clubs increased LGBT students’ sense of school belonging and feelings of safety, and reduced the homophobic harassment (Kosciw et al., 2012). Moreover, the Council of Europe (2011) stated that schools should be a safe environment for LGBT students, and that teachers should be provided with tools to respond effectively to bullying of LGBT students. This paper presents research which explores if high-school students, who have felt same-sex attraction and those who have not, differ in their experiences of relational and physical violence in schools and also in perceived support from their teachers. Research about same-sex sexual attraction, perceived teachers’ support and experiences of relational and physical violence was conducted using a questionnaire. The sample comprised 1819 high-school students (49.5% female) from western Croatia. The results showed that same-sex attracted students were more likely to experience relational violence than students who never experienced same-sex attraction. Boys who felt same-sex attraction very often were the most vulnerable to physical violence, compared to boys who had never had same-sex feelings, and girls from both groups. Both boys and girls who experienced same-sex attractions very often reported to receive less teachers’ support than the students who never, rarely or often felt same-sex attractions. These findings point out that same-sex attracted students, who are in need of teachers’ support due to violence experienced in schools, are the ones who receive it less. Implementation of comprehensive school bullying prevention policies addressing LGBT issues are recommended in order to ensure that schools in Croatia and throughout Europe provide a safe and supportive environment for all their students.

LGBT youth; same-sex attraction; teachers’ support; physical violence; relational violence

nije evidentirano