Council cracks down on playground homophobia

School children across the city may have noticed the efforts of their head teachers to crack down on the recent rise homophobic bullying in the playground.

Now Bristol City Council has signed up to a national programme to tackle homophobia and promote lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) equality in its schools.

LGB equality charity, Stonewall, has developed an Education Champions programme and is working with the council to help them implement it.

Bristol City Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Clare Campion-Smith, said:  “Bullying of any kind is wrong and homophobic bullying can be particularly cruel.  By joining Stonewall’s Education Champions campaign, we are taking a clear stance that homophobic bullying will not be tolerated in Bristol’s schools. We will be working with Stonewall to use national best practice to inform our work to address homophobic bullying and to promote a safe and inclusive learning environment for all young people.”

According to national research, nearly two thirds of LGB pupils in secondary school experience homophobic bullying.

Schools taking a strong stance on the torment have found a 60 per cent drop in the likelihood of this kind of bullying.

Stonewall Chief Executive, Ben Summerskill, said: “Local authorities have a critical role to play in ensuring that all schools in their area are well equipped with the latest resources to help them tackle homophobic bullying.”