"It is not just gay students who suffer. I have a son who isn't gay, but who was harassed for being gay because he liked certain
subjects. It really had a long-term effect on
him as an adult."

...Parent

Our secondary school is in a semi rural zone, on the border between two cities. The school has 750 students, mainly from lower socioeconomic families. We have been using drama and discussion to challenge homophobia.

Where It Began... Although we had a broad anti-harassment program dealing with acceptance of difference, our school had not publicly identified homophobia as an issue within our school community - until school community members reported that homophobic attitudes were rampant, and name-calling and harassment were regularly experienced by both homosexual and heterosexual students.

Getting Started... A two-day conference on creating a safe and supportive school environment free from homophobic abuse, violence and silence helped us decide what to do.

How We Went About It... We designed drama activities to raise awareness and educate about homophobia and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (glbt) issues within schools. These activities then acted as a catalyst in developing whole school responses to homophobic beliefs.

The drama allowed the target audience to participate instead of passively reacting to information. Drama students explored the issues by:

• devising short scenes and monologues based on stories collected from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender young people about their experiences of homophobia in schools
• participating in a 'theatre of the oppressed' workshop that explored homophobia in schools. This strategy was taken from the Victorian 'Breaking Through' program that works in schools to increase tolerance of sexual diversity in rural communities.
  

Through role-play and forum theatre, the drama-based program addresses some of these barriers by developing strategies for challenging harassment and coping with difference.

The school also developed support structures and community support through:

• providing safe environments for parents, students and staff to discuss the issues and identify relevant safety and educational needs
• establishing links with the wider community, including 'out' gay and lesbian people who worked with staff and provided positive role models for students involved in the drama project
• establishing a staff position as contact for students.
  

We now have a balanced depiction of the issues facing glbt students, and an understanding of the importance for educational programs to cover positive aspects such as love and relationships, as well as the abuse, violence and silence resulting from homophobia.

What We Are Learning... As strategies are implemented across the school, there is increased support for glbt students, a decrease in bullying and the potential for further widespread attitudinal change.

The links formed with the community have proved very useful. The gay and lesbian people who worked with the students on the initial drama activities have since returned to school to trial curriculum resources with Studies of Society and Environment and drama classes, and to conduct consciousness-raising workshops with other classes.

What's Next... We are hoping to continue using the drama project with different year level groups at the school as part of our whole school approach to dealing with bullying and harassment. The structure of these activities is such that other material can also be used, as well as that which specifically looks at homophobia.

It's not enough to have a policy. It's about the school structure that supports and empowers teachers, students and parents to do something about it - in all curriculum areas and in our relationships.

Teacher

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