Primary school principals dismiss homophobic abuse

Some principals may be too dismissive in how they deal with homophobic bullying in primary schools, researchers have found.

There were very few cases of physical abuse of pupils by classmates who thought they were gay or lesbian, but more than half the 238 surveyed primary principals said they had dealt with homophobic bullying.

The study was conducted by Dublin City University’s National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre (ABC) in 2014, before last year’s marriage equality referendum.