Des Moines Register
10-10-06
Protect students from taunts over sexual orientation
BY FRANK HERNANDEZ
Earlier this month, a beloved school principal, John Klang, was shot to death in
Cazenovia, Wis., a rural community north of Madison.
According to reports, Eric Hainstock, a 15-year-old student, walked into Weston
High School, wrestled with several students and adults, broke loose and shot
Klang with a handgun. Before Klang died, he wrestled Hainstock to the school
floor and managed to sweep the gun away, saving the lives of other Weston
students and staff.
News reports portrayed Hainstock as someone who "was looking for others to
attack" and said "there were potentially other people that he had a beef with at
the time." The media also reported that Hainstock was a discipline problem. He
received reprimands and disciplinary warnings and "talked about how he got in
trouble in school." Yet, what few have reported is that Hainstock had been teased
relentlessly by high school classmates who called him a fag.
The police have not discussed a motive. We may never know why Hainstock
committed such a horrific act. However, we do know from research that when
harassment is not addressed in schools, it often leads to more abuse and violent
behaviors among students.
Let's protect our Iowa school leaders and students and not let what happened in
Cazenovia happen in Iowa.
Iowa is lucky. Our rural, suburban and city schools have not had to deal with
such violence. However, students in Iowa continue to be regularly harassed and
teased for being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. For example, the GLBT
Iowa Task Force in 2003 found that 80 percent of GLBT high school students
reported being verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation. On
average, each student in Iowa hears about 25 anti-GLBT epithets a day, the task
force found, expressions such as faggot or "that's so gay."
One student who attends a suburban Iowa high school reported to the task force
that he heard a classmate say, "That faggot doesn't deserve to live, somebody
should beat ... him, drag him behind a truck and shoot him and leave him out in
the country to die." No child who attends an Iowa school should hear such
comments.
Administrators and teachers can do something about this. First, school officials
should encourage school boards to add sexual orientation to their nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policies. Only 23 out of 365 school districts in
Iowa have included sexual orientation in their policies. They can also support
legislation that addresses this issue. Chet Culver, the Democratic candidate for
governor, has said he will support legislation that protects GLBT students from
harassment because of their sexual orientation.
Second, when educators hear remarks related to sexual orientation from
students or school staff, they should put an immediate stop to all of it!
Finally, administrators and teachers must examine their own biases and should
focus on the safety of students, not their personal beliefs about GLBT issues.
Learn about those issues. When students bring their related concerns to you, do
not blame them for their own predicaments, but support them and get them
appropriate help.
Eric Hainstock, for his hideous crime, will most likely spend the rest of his life in
prison. John Klang, whose heroism saved the lives of so many, will be greatly
missed.
This tragedy emphasizes the need for administrators and teachers to both
acknowledge the impact that homophobia has on individual students and act on
behalf of their GLBT students.
After a spate of school shootings, Iowa's administrators and teachers are
frantically reviewing their emergency procedures when guns are brought to
school. But to protect our children, they must do more. They must take time to reeducate students and staff on the effects of homophobic remarks, verbal
harassment and bullying.
Iowa students deserve to attend schools free of teasing and harassment.
FRANK HERNANDEZ is an assistant professor of educational leadership
and policy studies at Iowa State University.