Thursday, July 29, 2010

Anti-gay bullying left out of school harassment law

The Anniston Star (Anniston, AL) July 29:

"Under an anti-harassment policy passed by the Anniston Board of Education Wednesday, students are explicitly protected from bullying based on their race, gender, religion or disability.  Sexual orientation? Not so much... 'When you leave the most common form of bullying out of your policy, that’s problematic,' said Carly Friedman, an assistant professor of psychology at Mississippi State University.  Friedman studies school bullying, and worked as a research consultant to the Alabama Safe Schools Coalition, an anti-bullying group that campaigned for a sexual orientation clause in the state policy.  Formerly a professor at Samford University, Friedman said her studies found that 49 percent of Alabama students hear anti-gay slurs multiple times per day, and 60 to 70 percent hear at least one anti-gay slur per day."
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