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High school years can be pretty tough for kids who don’t feel they fit in. This can be even harder for rainbow youth, who will likely have figured out by14 their attractions are different to what they or their family might have expected, or that they don’t fit with the gender they were born with.
Wanting acceptance at school as they are can open them up to bullying and physical abuse.
A youth survey done in NZ in 2012 (the most recent survey available) showed that rainbow students were more than four times more likely to be hurt or subject to ongoing bullying at school, compared to others kids.
Transgender or gender uncertain kids, who make up about four per cent of students at high school, are especially likely to endure these higher levels of bullying, with nearly half being subject to some form of physical abuse at school.
Toilets and changing rooms are where the kids feel most uncomfortable and also where much of this bullying takes place, and this can lead to kids not going to the toilet at school, “holding on” until they get home.
This is unhealthy, managing director of InsideOUT, Tabby Besley says, especially if they are also not drinking water in an effort to reduce the need for a toilet break.
InsideOUT is a non-profit charity that works to make young rainbow people feel safer and have a sense of inclusion in schools and communities in New Zealand. They supply resources information and workshops concerning rainbow or LGBTQIA+ people to schools, workplaces and community organisations.
They have advised hundreds of schools across the country including Mahurangi College and Otamatea College, with their advice being sought more often these days from both primary and intermediate schools.
Urban schools are in contact more often than rural ones, Besley says. This may come down to rural communities being more conservative in nature, with kids less likely to want to come “out” to family or school.
Encouraging schools to provide toilets and changing rooms that align with different gender orientations is a part of what they advise, similarly with changing facilities. This should be a private space such as a single stall or cubicle within a larger changing room, or in a separate space or bathroom nearby.
InsideOUT also advises that students have a right to privacy around their gender identity, as well as teachers and others respecting wishes on using different names and pronouns at school. Inclusive dress codes and uniforms are also encouraged.
Homebuilders Family Support coordinator Quentin Jukes sees first-hand the struggles rainbow kids can have.
“How these kids are treated often comes from an out-of-date belief that people choose to be different rather than that’s how they are,” Jukes says, “This can see negative comments like they are ‘attention seeking’, which can really impact badly on young people who are already very vulnerable.”
Rainbow youth are five times more likely to take their own lives than others.
“The whole of society needs to get their act together and get over these bad attitudes.”
Mahurangi, Rodney and Otamatea Colleges did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
InsideOUT has just released a series of print and online booklets aimed at helping schools to create rainbow-inclusive school policies and procedures, and make schools safer for trans, gender diverse, and intersex youth. Go to www.insideout.org.nz/resources/
