Bullying attacks: Gay teacher in Berlin suffers from students!

Bullying attacks: Gay teacher in Berlin suffers from students!

A homosexual teacher at the Carl Bolle elementary school in Berlin-Moabit reports months of bullying by his students. According to the teacher, who particularly supports students with special needs, he was repeatedly confronted with offensive comments such as “gay is disgusting” and “family disgrace”. He describes these experiences as a “nightmare” and sees himself in a challenging position because the school management did not respond to inquiries from dpa. This raises questions about how cases of discrimination are handled at educational institutions in Germany, where, according to experts, there is a large number of unreported cases of such incidents. oe24 reports.

In Germany, queer people often experience bullying at schools. A survey by the EU fundamental rights agency FRA shows that almost half of the over 16,000 queer people surveyed said they were victims of bullying during their school years. An alarming result that underlines the urgency of improving everyday school life for queer young people. Only about 46% of respondents reported that they received support during their time at school. Furthermore, teachers often did not intervene when students used offensive terms such as “faggot” or “tranny.” Tagesschau highlights.

Reactions from experts

Experts point to an increase in anti-queer attitudes in schools. Detlef Mücke, a spokesman for the gay teachers group in the GEW, emphasizes that despite the negative experiences, many homosexual teachers also report positive experiences. Rebecca Knecht from the Federal Association of Queer Education cites religiously motivated devaluations of queer people who come from both Muslim and Christian circles. Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch confirmed that there were currently no statistics on bullying of homosexual teachers, but emphasized the importance of dealing with known cases sensitively. oe24 provides information about these developments.

The results of the survey also show that the topic of queer identity is often taboo in many schools. Especially in lower grades, students experience negative consequences for coming out. Only three of the 16 state student representatives reported a positive school experience related to queer issues. Tagesschau complements these critical further insights.

A look at the future

The GEW union is calling for more measures to create a fear-free school period for queer young people. To ensure that queer issues are comprehensively covered in sex education classes, comprehensive curricular reforms are necessary. Many schools appear to be already testing new approaches to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for all students. The Federal Association of Queer Education sees this as a significant opportunity to improve the situation in German schools.

The challenges that queer youth face cannot be underestimated. International studies show a higher risk of suicide for these groups. The serious results of the surveys and reports make it clear that there is an urgent need for action. DJI offers further perspectives and solutions.