Playground Talk

In elementary and middle schools today, the students hear and use negative comments such as “you're retarded” or “you’re so gay” in their schools' playground on a regular basis, giving principals, teachers, and other faculty problems who are increasingly trying to battle name-calling, harassing, bullying. Gail Connelly, executive director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals comments, "Elementary principals are painfully aware of the impact that name-calling, bullying and bias have not only on an individual student's development, but also in disrupting a positive school culture that nurtures the whole child,"

A report, from “Playground and Prejudice: Elementary School Climate in the United States,” outlines the control that bullying has over elementary schools. The report is based on a national survey of roughly 1,000 students between third to sixth grade, and about 1,000 teachers teaching students from kindergarten to sixth grade. The survey, conducted on behalf of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, travels to school districts across the country that grapple with how to deal with anti-gay bullying and harassment. Normally, we hear about the issues of bullying in the high-school grades, largely in part of the numerous teen suicides linked to anti-gay harassment and bullying.

The suicide deaths of two teen boys back in October 2010 followed at least three other suicides that year connected to “the trauma of being bullied and harassed for their actual or perceived sexual orientation was too much to bear,” Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education said at the time.

“This is a moment where every one of us -- parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all people of conscience -- needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms,” he said.

The study that was released show that the problems of bullying start early, with three out of four elementary students reporting name-calling and bullying with at least some regularity. Simultaneously, about half of the elementary school teachers believe that "bullying, name-calling, or harassment is a very serious or somewhat serious problem at their school.”

Among the teachers and students that were surveyed, two-thirds of the participants attributed bullying and harassment the students' appearance or body type. They also attributed bullying to students who are not good at sports, how well they do at school, and being a boy who "acts or looks too much like a girl" or a girl who "acts or looks too much like a boy".

"Our latest research on bias-based remarks and bullying in America' s elementary schools provides new understanding of the experiences facing our youngest students," said Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

Eliza Byard’s organization has linked together with the National Association of Elementary School Principals to "develop new lesson plans to increase awareness of bias, family diversity and gender roles," in order to help counter the use of negative speech and behaviors.

"The goal is to give teachers the tools to deal with those issues in the classroom," said Andy Marra, a spokeswoman for the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

“It’s about building understanding,” she said.

My guiding questions would be who's to blame for the bullying of these kids at such a young age? What could be done to prevent this?