Schools’ ‘oppressive culture’ encourages homophobia

Schools have a “heavy, almost oppressive culture” that encourages homophobia, a leading anti-bullying academic has said.

Dr James O’Higgins Norman, joint of director of the Anti-Bullying Centre at DCU, told a conference on cyberbullying that research shows homophobia is endemic in Irish schools and is the result of a culture that values conformity.

“There is a heavy, almost oppressive culture in our schools that requires people to conform. Our schools don’t always do a good job of celebrating diversity. We would make a link between that and homophobic bullying because it seems to be related to something to do with maintaining the boundaries of normality in our schools.