Tasmanian gay activists say the current national school bullying debate ignores the widespread problem of homophobic bullying. Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesperson, Rodney Croome, has claimed homophobic prejudice is one of the most common causes of school-yard bullying and has disastrous impacts on both individual students and the morale of school communities.

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‘Research shows homophobia to be a primary main motive for school bullying, it links this bullying directly academic under-achievement, early school leaving, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide, and it shows that effectively tackling homophobia means addressing the issue head-on’, Mr Croome said.

‘The major party responses to bullying are doomed to fail if they do not include strong anti-homophobia policies and funding for targeted anti-homophobia programs’.

Mr Croome said Tasmania is the only state where government has funded a systematic implementation of class-room anti-homophobia programs and is committed to rolling these programs out to all state secondary schools.

‘The mainland states have failed to tackle homophobic bullying but neither are the major federal parties offering any real solutions’.

‘Posturing, empty rhetoric and buck-passing will not save the young lives bullying puts at risk’.

• For more on the negative effects of bullying, click here.
• For more on the effectiveness of anti-homophobia programs, click here.
• For more on the Tasmanian Government’s policy and program response, click here.