The majority of primary school teachers are too uncomfortable or too afraid to confront widespread homophobic bullying by young students, a Department of Education course heard today in Dublin.
The week-long course, which is the first of its kind for primary school teachers in Ireland has been approved by the department as one of its teacher education summer courses and is supported by the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO).
It is being organised by Belong To Youth Services, a group for young gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, in co-ordination with Educate Together, which runs 58 non-denominational schools across Ireland.
Teachers and principals from both Educate Together and traditional church-run schools today heard how young children were learning to associate homosexuality with negativity and the difficulty authority figures had in confronting the problem.
"Teachers are simply not as comfortable dealing with it like they would be if it was racist bullying or any other kind of bullying," said Molly O'Duffy, a teacher who attended today's course and who is ethos development officer with Educate Together.
While emphasising that children in older classes knew exactly what terms such as 'gay' meant, Ms O'Duffy explained that for children of all ages it is most often associated with negativity well before the true meaning is understood.
"Children, typically boys, can use the word to describe another who is not conforming to a typical stereotype of what a boy is - they understand that it is bad and that it is never good to be called gay."
At today's session, teachers reported several problems when they tried to counteract this type of behaviour, which they saw almost every day in the classroom and schoolyard.
"One teacher talked about how he had taken up the issue and because he did, he was asked, was he gay? When he said he wasn't they asked him, so why do you care?" said Ms O'Duffy.
"We need to be able to give the teachers and the principals the skills to face up to homophobic bullying and deal with it in an age-appropriate way."
Course instructor and advocacy co-ordinator with Belong To, Carol-Anne O'Brien explained that this is something sorely lacking in the current primary education system.
"It is the type of bullying that they [teachers] feel least prepared for. There is a lack of training and support and teachers don't want to take on something that they do not feel comfortable about," she said.
One of the most alarming topics discussed today, according to Ms O'Brien, was the concern that teachers and principals had about how early homophobic bullying behaviour began.
"They are witnessing it in really young students. From the ages of seven and eight, children are name-calling using 'gay' and 'queer' and using those words to describe things they don't like," she said.
Apart from the obvious distress this is likely to cause children who begin to discover their sexuality as they grow older, behaviour like this, said Ms O'Duffy, made life for children from same-sex marriages particularly difficult as they tried to integrate into normal school life.
"I've heard of parents having to give their children a line to explain their home situation. It's outrageous that a four-year-old would need a line."
The course runs until Friday in the INTO Learning Centre on Parnell Square, Dublin 1 and organisers said late arrivals are welcome to attend.