The provincial government is making good on an October throne speech promise to fight bullying in schools, but Burnaby advocates for a provincewide anti-homophobia policy say it's not enough.
On Thursday, the Education Ministry put out a call out for a contractor to provide anti-bullying training for schools across B.C. The provider will develop website materials and resources for parents, teachers and administrators to help them identify and talk about bullying. Teachers will also receive specialized training on threat and risk assessment.
"It's a generic bullying policy, it doesn't address anything specific around LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) issues," said Burnaby Teachers' Association president Richard Storch. "The LGBTQ issue is something that's a little more underground in terms of bullying. If something came up at the school that was racially motivated, that would get a lot of attention. But the LGBTQ issues, often people don't bring it forward, and it's a less recognized area."
That's why it's important to have an anti-homophobia policy, Storch added. Less than a quarter of B.C.'s 60 school districts have a policy that specifically addresses homophobia, Storch said.
"The B.C. Teachers' Federation put out a call to the government to do something about homophobia and bullying in that area, and this is what the response is. So that's not really responding," Storch said. "Most districts already have this. What they don't have is the homophobia anti-bullying (policy)."
The Burnaby school district already had general anti-bullying policies in place this summer, when trustees passed the sexual orientation and gender identity policy, designed to protect staff and students from homophobic harassment.
Burnaby resident Kaitlin Burnett is one of the Purple Letter Campaign organizers who delivered roughly 250 letters to Education Minister George Abbott, asking for a provincewide anti-homophobia policy in schools, similar to Burnaby's.
Burnett said the ministry has indicated that the campaign's recommendations will be incorporated into new programming and that sexual orientation and gender identity will be included in the anti-bullying training.
"I am very optimistic that the premier and Minister of Education are taking homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism seriously, but do not believe that antibullying training alone will address the systemic marginalization that GLBTQplus youth face," she said. "We are still advocating for a provincewide sexual orientation and gender identity policy. Homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism is much larger than schoolyard bullying. We are calling for education around diversity to help combat the systemic discrimination that exists in society at large."
Burnett also pointed to recent United Nations recommendations that there should be public information campaigns, especially in schools, counter systemic homophobia.
