1. Sexual minority youth
Social exclusion, absenteeism
and sexual minority youth
IAN RIVERS
assaulted by their peers, with just under half reporting
having been harassed (44 per cent) and well over three
In this article, on a topic not previously explored in
quarters (79 per cent) having been called names because of
this journal, Ian Rivers compares two groups of
their actual or perceived sexual orientation.
lesbian, gay and bisexual adults (mean age, 28
years) who reported having been subjected to
anti-lesbian/gay abuse at school. The first group
The experiences of lesbian and gay youth at school
recalled a history of absenteeism at school while the
second group, although experiencing similar levels
Hunter and Schaecher (1995) described the American
of harassment, reported attending school on a
education system as ‘one of the pillars of socialisation in
regular basis. The findings suggest an association
our culture’ (p. 1058). Yet, they also pointed out that lesbian
between the experience of harassment and a history
and gay youth have, for many years, been participants in
of absenteeism and an ideation of self-harm and
an educational system which has done little to tackle the
suicide while at school. Rivers proposes that
violence, harassment and social exclusion they have
anti-harassment initiatives be set up to ensure a safe
experienced as a result of their sexual orientation.
environment in which sexual minority youth can
Furthermore, they have argued that such are the consequences
learn.
of lesbian and gay ‘enforced invisibility’ (p. 1058) that
there is a need for progressive educational programmes
to tackle the harassment, violent assault, isolation, suicidal
In 1996 the political lobbying group Stonewall published ideation and school failure many young people have
the findings from its national survey of crimes against experienced and continue to experience because of
lesbians and gay men in the UK (Mason and Palmer their actual or perceived sexual orientation (Friend 1993,
1996). From a sample of 4,200 volunteers recruited Hunter and Schaecher 1987, Rofes 1989, Rofes 1995). In
through advertisements in the gay press and various the UK, there has been very little research focusing upon
lesbian and gay mailing lists, it was found that 34 per cent the educational experiences of young lesbians and gay
of gay and bisexual men and 24 per cent of lesbian and men. Those studies that are available (see below) have
bisexual women had been the victim of at least one tended to reinforce Hunter and Schaecher’s view, that
assault in the last five years. When the results were broken lesbian and gay youth remain a hidden minority within the
down further, the report showed that under-18s were educational system, and as three school principals have
particularly at risk from violent assault, with 48 per cent of recently attested in a letter to the editor of The Belfast
respondents reporting at least one recent violent attack, Telegraph, there remains a strong sense of outrage at the
whereas the overall figure for those reporting such assault attempts of voluntary agencies and health and education
was 32 per cent. authorities to promote the discussion of homosexuality in
schools:
Mason and Palmer (1996) found that 40 per cent of all
violent attacks on under-18s took place at school, with 50 All who accept the authority of the Bible acknowledge
per cent of those being perpetrated by same- or similar-aged homosexuality to be not only a deviant form of behaviour
peers. Although this group was understandably small but utterly depraved … While we are opposed to all
(approximately 2 per cent of the total sample), due to the types of bullying, it must be considered ironic that it is
fact that few under-18s would have access to lesbian and the gays who are attempting to bully the respectable
gay literature, the survey results did show that approximately people of this country into subjecting their children to
one quarter (24 per cent) of those young lesbians and gay instruction on sodomy.
men who completed questionnaires had been physically (quoted in Rivers 1997, p. 45)
Support for Learning Vol. 15 No. 1 (2000) 13
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2. One of the first studies to specifically address the experiences directed against them. Where physical assaults had taken place,
of lesbian and gay youth in secondary school was conducted Pilkington and D’Augelli found that white students were far
in the United Kingdom by the London Gay Teenage Group. more likely to be physically assaulted (27 per cent) than
This study had four main objectives: those from other cultural groups (19 per cent), and such
experiences had resulted in a number of young lesbians, gay
1 to offer an insight into the pressures lesbian and gay men and bisexual men and women attempting to hide their
teenagers faced in schools around the capital; sexual orientation from their peer group. Overall, the authors
2 to identify the ways in which they were discriminated found that 43 per cent of the young men and 54 per cent of the
against in the classroom; young women surveyed has lost at least one friend as a result
3 to demonstrate the positive contribution they could make of their actual or perceived sexual orientation while a further
to the school environment; and 36 per cent and 27 per cent respectively feared they would lose
4 to offer recommendations on ways to challenge the their friends if they were ‘open’ about their sexual orientation.
traditionally held negative connotations of homosexuality
prevalent within society. As Pilkington and D’Augelli (1995) indicated in their study,
the fear of being socially isolated from a peer group is one of
Overall, 416 young lesbians and gay men completed the strongest reasons why young lesbians, gay men and bisexual
detailed questionnaires about their experiences of intolerance men and women choose to remain hidden. Those young men
at school which were published in three separate reports and women who do decide to disclose their sexual orientation
(Trenchard 1984, Trenchard and Warren 1984, Warren to others can face a great deal of hostility, and as Fricke (1981)
1984). The results from the survey showed that 39 per cent has pointed out, such hostility is not necessarily expressed
of participants (164) had been bullied at school or had in the form of physical assault, verbal abuse or social isolation:
faced pressure to conform because of their gender-atypical
behaviour. Of the 154 participants who had specified the One day while sitting in a science class, I happened to
nature of their experiences, 21 per cent reported having glance around the room and detect a fellow class-mate
been called names or otherwise verbally abused, 13 per glaring at me. I overlooked it at first, but ten minutes
cent said they had been teased, 12 per cent said they had later I noticed he was still staring. His name was Bill
been physically assaulted, a further 7 per cent recalled Quillar. He must have been a quiet student because I had
being isolated by their peers, and another 7 per cent said hardly ever taken notice of him before. I never saw him
that they had felt pressured to change their behaviour. fraternizing with anyone else. He was a small student,
not intimidating in size, but the look in his eyes was
In the United States, comparable studies of the experiences petrifying. He stared at me with an uninterrupted gaze
of young lesbians and gay men in the educational system that could melt steel. It was a look of complete disgust.
have shown that, for many, anti-lesbian/gay abuse has been I ignored him. but the next day he was staring again. and
a part of their school experience from a very young age the next … and the next … and the next.
indeed. For example, in their study of anti-lesbian/gay (pp. 28–9)
abuse in schools across the state of Pennsylvania, Gross,
Aurand and Adessa (1988) found that 50 per cent of the gay Although much of the research on the victimisation of
men who were surveyed and 12 per cent of the lesbians had lesbian, gay and bisexual youth has focused specifically
experienced some form of victimisation in junior high school upon that perpetrated by peers, there is also evidence of
(12–14 years), rising to 59 per cent for gay men and 21 per teachers both actively and passively supporting negative
cent for lesbians in high school (14–18 years). According attitudes towards homosexuality, and, in some cases,
to Berrill (1992), from the evidence collected by various participating in acts of physical, verbal and emotional
state and national task forces and coalitions at the time, aggression towards young people from sexual minority
estimates of the prevalence of school-based victimisation groups. Indeed, Pilkington and D’Augelli (1995) found that
for lesbian and gay youth resident in the US ranged from 7 per cent of those who participated in their study had been
33 per cent (Aurand, Adessa and Bush 1985) to 49 per cent hurt by a teacher, and more particularly that young women
(Gross, Aurand and Adessa 1988). had experienced more abuse than young men (11 per cent
and 7 per cent respectively). They also found that students
More recently, Pilkington and D’Augelli (1995) have who were from cultural minority groups were also more
reported that, of the 194 lesbian, gay and bisexual youth likely to report abusive behaviour by teachers than white
they surveyed (aged between 15 and 21 years), 30 per cent students (10 per cent and 6 per cent respectively). In the
of gay and bisexual young men and 35 per cent of lesbian UK, both Warren (1984) and Mac an Ghaill (1994) have
and bisexual young women said they had experienced some found that although teachers have not actively engaged in
form of harassment or verbal abuse in school because of any form of physical, verbal or emotional abuse, they have
their sexual orientation. In terms of physical assault, 22 per been less than supportive when approached for help:
cent of young men and 29 per cent of young women reported
having been hurt by a peer; however, a further 28 per cent The Head of Sixth Form, who warned that I might get
of young men and 19 per cent of young women indicated expelled, enquired if I had been dropped on my head as
that their degree of openness about their sexual orientation a baby.
was influenced by the fear of physical violence being (Warren 1984, p. 17)
14 Support for Learning Vol. 15 No. 1 (2000)
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3. I went to a teacher and told him that I thought I might be Results
gay. He said, no I mustn’t think like that, it was just a
phase all boys went through. Overall, 116 participants (89 men and 21 women) completed
(Mac and Ghaill 1994, p. 168) questions relating to truancy or feigning illness at school
(the remaining three were excluded due to missing data).
It is interesting to note, however, that very little research Seventy-two per cent indicated that they had either played
has been conducted relating to the exclusion of young truant or feigned illness to avoid anti-lesbian/gay abuse
lesbian and gay men from statutory education. In particular, when they were at school. However, they were not found to
there has been little consideration given to issues of truancy have experienced any more anti-lesbian/gay abuse than
among this group of vulnerable young people, although those who had not feigned illness or played truant, nor did
anecdotal evidence suggests that truancy may be a major their recollections of such behaviour suggest that they had
issue among lesbian and gay youth. endured such behaviour for a greater duration (mean, 5
years).
Method The initial analysis of the data gathered from each of the
two groups focused upon the nature and correlates of the
The present study represents one aspect of a three-year anti-lesbian/gay discrimination they face. Three particular
study consisting of three related empirical investigations: an questions were addressed:
exploration of the nature of 190 lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgendered adults’ experiences of anti-lesbian/gay abuse 1 Were those who reported school absenteeism exposed to
at school; a study of psychosocial correlates and long-term more violent forms of harassment than their peers?
implications of such behaviour for a subsample of 119 2 Were those who reported school absenteeism less well
participants; and, finally, a small number of interviews. supported by friends, teachers or someone at home than
As data from the exploratory study of anti-lesbian/gay those who also experienced victimisation but did not
abuse at school were primarily retrospective, the reliability play truant?
of participants’ memories was also assessed with a 3 Were there any gender differences in the rate of absenteeism
subsample of 60 participants who completed the initial reported by participants?
questionnaire at a 12- to 14-month interval (see Rivers
1999a, Rivers 1999b).
The nature of anti-lesbian/gay abuse and its relationship to
To gain as wide a distribution of participants within the absenteeism
population as possible, a multi-method sampling strategy was
used which incorporated a number of media advertisements, The data in table 1 depict participants’ reports relating to
and liaison with various community organisations and help the nature of anti-lesbian/gay abuse they experienced at
lines in the United Kingdom. Inclusion in the study school. Significant associations were found between
required participants to provide written accounts of their absenteeism at school and types of anti-lesbian/gay abuse.
experiences of anti-lesbian/gay abuse at school as well as Significantly more absentees reported being frightened by
completing the survey instrument (an adapted version of the look or stare of another, being ridiculed in front of others,
that used by Olweus in his national survey of harassment at and having belongings stolen. All other comparisons were
school in Norway; see Olweus 1991). Those who reported not found to be significant.
victimisation for reasons other than their actual or perceived
sexual orientation were not included in the data set. Table 1 Absenteeism and anti-lesbian/gay abuse
Frequency (%)
Participants in the present study were those who agreed to
participate further following the initial survey of anti-lesbian/gay Not absent Significance
Absent
abuse at school, and who were sent a second survey instrument (n = 33)
(n = 83)
which included a number of standardised measures covering
I was called names 72 (87) 25 (76) ns
adolescence, experiences of abuse at work, relationship
status and quality, susceptibility to depression and anxiety, I was hit or kicked 54 (65) 17 (52) ns
self-perception and image and post-traumatic stress disorder
I was frightened when a particular
(see Rivers 1999b). This instrument also included a brief 59 (71) 15 (46) .01
person looked in my direction
questionnaire relating to recollections of avoiding school
No one would speak to me 30 (36) 6 (18) ns
(either through truancy or feigning illness) and teenage
friendships. Data were collected from 92 gay and bisexual Rumours were spread about me 60 (73) 19 (58) ns
men and 27 lesbian and bisexual women with a mean age
I was ridiculed in front of others 73 (88) 23 (70) .03
of 28 years. In terms of ethnicity, 116 were white
I was sexually assaulted 6 (7) 4 (12) ns
European, two were Asian or South East Asian and one
was African-Caribbean. Eighty-four per cent had attended They took my belongings 40 (48) 9 (27) .05
state schools and 16 per cent had attended private or public
Other 15 (18) 9 (27) ns
school.
Support for Learning Vol. 15 No. 1 (2000) 15
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4. Friendships and social support As table 3 demonstrates, while no significant differences
were found between the two groups in terms of the mean
In terms of friendships and social support, absentees were number of CSE/GCE O-level/GCSE passes that participants
not found to report significantly fewer friendships at school achieved at school at the age of 16 years, GCE A-level
that non-absentees, with members of both groups reporting passes were significantly higher among those who did not
having two or three close friends at school (47 per cent and report a history of absenteeism at school, suggesting that
55 per cent respectively). However, substantially more fewer absentees remain at school after the age of 16 years.
absentees reported regularly spending lunch- and break-times
alone in the school yard than non-absentees (75 per cent Table 3 School qualifications: Mean number of ‘Pass’
and 57 per cent respectively). In terms of seeking support grades reported by groups
from teachers or someone at home, participants from both
Absent Not absent Significance
groups indicated that they were uncomfortable about (n = 83) (n = 33)
disclosing the reasons underlying their harassment at
school. Fifty-two per cent of absentees and non-absentees CSE/GCE O level/GCSE Combined 6 6 ns
indicated that they never sought the support of a teacher
when they experienced anti-lesbian/gay abuse at school. GCE A level 0 2 .01
Slightly more non-absentees than absentees (61 per cent
and 55 per cent respectively) said that they had also been
reticent about approaching someone at home for help. Table 4 illustrates the rates of contemplated, single and multiple
attempts at self-harming behaviour and suicidal ideation
for participants in each group when they were at school. It
Gender-wise comparison of absenteeism shows that significantly more absentees contemplated
self-harm or suicide as a result of anti-lesbian/gay abuse in
Table 2 depicts the number playing truant or feigning illness, schools than non-absentees. While very few participants in
together with the relative frequencies of their truanting in either group said that they had attempted self-harm or to
secondary school. As the data in table 2 indicate, feigning take their own lives on a single occasion, substantially
illness and truancy were relatively frequent among participants. more absentees (36 per cent) indicated that they had
No significant associations were found according to gender engaged in multiple attempts or episodes of self-harm than
and the frequency of school absence for either feigning non-absentees (15 per cent).
illness or general truancy (missing classes), although the
numbers suggest that, proportionally, slightly more men Table 4 Suicidal ideation and self-harming behaviour
feigned illness to avoid school (once a week or several times according to absenteeism
a week) than women, who were more likely to miss classes.
Frequency (%)
Table 2 Frequency and nature of school absence for lesbian
and gay participants Absent Not absent Significance
(n = 83) (n = 33)
Type Frequency
Contemplated 55 (66) 14 (42) .05
Once a More than
Once/twice Sometimes Single attempt 6 (7) 2 (6) ns
week twice a week
Feigned illness Multiple attempts 30 (36) 5 (15) ns
• Men 10 21 10 6
• Women 2 4 5 1
Playing truant
• Men 3 11 10 9
Discussion
• Women 2 4 5 4
In this study, 72 per cent of participants indicated that
NB: Figures exceed 83 as participants could indicate more than one response
they had either feigned illness or played truant to escape
anti-lesbian/gay abuse at school. These results indicate that
Long-term ramifications of absenteeism school was a solitary experience for many participants,
with little social interaction or involvement in recreational
To assess the potential long-term ramifications of school group activities during lunch- and break-times. Absenteeism
absenteeism as a result of anti-lesbian/gay abuse, absentees’ was found to be associated significantly with three particular
school achievement, in terms of the number of academic forms of harassment, psychological intimidation (being
qualifications achieved at ages 16 and 18 years, was frightened by a person’s look or stare), being ridiculed
compared with that of non-absentees, and also their publicly by peers, and having personal belongings stolen,
reported levels of self-harming behaviour, suicidal ideation and suggests that the victimisation absentees faced was,
(contemplated and attempted) and parasuicidal behaviour more likely than not, unremitting, taking place both within
at school. the school building as well as outside. Furthermore, the link
16 Support for Learning Vol. 15 No. 1 (2000)
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5. between absenteeism and theft of personal belongings is population. (This argument is further reinforced by the
highly significant in that participants may have been forced number of absentees who reported engaging in multiple
to miss classes or feign illness in order to avoid admitting self-harming behaviours when compared to non-absentees:
to the loss of books, sports equipment or even homework. a ratio of 2 to 1.)
Undoubtedly, such experiences were exacerbated by the While there was little evidence to suggest that anti-gay/lesbian
fact that very few participants reported seeking support abuse had a differential impact upon the academic performance
from a teacher when they experienced anti-lesbian/gay of absentees and non-absentees at age 16, it was found that
abuse at school. It is suggested that where the bullying was substantially more non-absentees successfully completed a
related to an individual’s sexual orientation, significantly course of study at A level than absentees. Although a causal
fewer young lesbians and gay men will be willing to tell a connection is difficult to make at the juncture, this may be
teacher. Indeed, given that just over one quarter of all 190 one area for further research; however, it does suggest that, in
participants in the survey of anti-lesbian/gay abuse at the long term, those pupils who have a record of absenteeism
school (Rivers 1999c) also recalled being bullied by a are likely to leave school earlier and with fewer qualifications
teacher because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, than their peers.
approaching a member of staff for help may have been seen
as an unquantifiable risk, especially in schools where sex or Although this study was retrospective, it has a number of
religious education presented homosexuality as being implications for teachers, educational psychologists and
deviant (Warren 1984), or, as previously mentioned, where social workers today. It suggests that absenteeism is a
teachers did not actively sanction homonegative language common phenomenon among sexual minority youth, and it
or abuse. is one which has yet to be tackled effectively. Within
schools, a reduction in absenteeism can only be brought
In addition to the above, while absentees and non-absentees about by providing young people with a safe environment
indicated that they did have two or three good friends when in which to learn. This requires teachers and those
they were at school, it would be fair to say that peers would responsible for the pastoral care of young people to foster
have faced a great deal of pressure not to intervene when an ethos of care and co-operation, ensuring that all pupils,
participants were being harassed and this may explain why regardless of their differences, have equality of opportunity
the victimisation continued over a period averaging five in education. For educational psychologists and social
years. Although the data suggest that participants were not workers, issues of poor academic performance and suicidal
as estranged from their peers as those young lesbians, gay ideation highlight the need for the proactive involvement of
men and bisexual men and women portrayed in other those professionals who work in conjunction with schools
studies (Hunter 1990, Pilkington and D’Augelli 1995, in setting up anti-harassment initiatives. It is only through
Warren 1984), it seems very likely that this was the result such partnerships that sexual minority pupils can be afforded
of the fact that the majority were unlikely to have disclosed effective support and guidance, ensuring their personal
their sexual orientation to others at school. Indeed, it is safety, academic development and mental health.
plausible to assume that the number of peers who were
willing to befriend participants would have been negatively
affected had participants’ sexual orientation become a References
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