Sexuality and gender most common reasons for bullying

Sexuality and gender are the most common reasons given by secondary students for bullying, according to a report from Diversity Role Models and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

The government-commissioned research found that over 30 per cent of secondary students said the most prevalent form of bullying was based on sexuality or gender expression.

The report found that students with “marginalised identities and/or those with multiple and intersecting identities” consistently reported higher levels of bullying.

Almost half of trans and non-binary students, 41 per cent of disabled students, 40 per cent of students from a minority sexuality and more than a third of girls said that they were bullied due to these protected characteristics.

In terms of telling staff about these instances, nearly a quarter of secondary students said they did not know how to report bullying at school or were not sure they knew.

As well as this, 27 per cent of secondary students did not feel that teachers “consistently helped when someone was being bullied."

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said: “Schools do need more support and capacity about how to prevent and respond to bullying well."

He added: “To help teachers challenge stereotypes and patterns of inequality, we need better representation across the subjects in our curriculum rather than separate one-off lessons on race or LGBT+ or occasional assemblies.”

The report encouraged efforts to bridge the gap between students, parents, carers and school staff with a focus on student-led equality groups.