decorahnews.com special report: Bullying Expert talks about context of school bullying today

Bullying expert Brian Juchems

Brian Juchems is an expert in the field of bullying behavior.  Juchems is Director of Programs for Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (GSAFE), a Wisconsin-based organization that works with schools to create safe and supportive learning environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth.  For over ten years he has worked with students and educators to address anti-gay bullying in schools, including a program to help bystanders become allies when they see bullying happening.  He is originally from rural Iowa and is a 1995 graduate of Luther College.
 
Juchems says for students bullying is most often based on appearance and expression – such as being overweight, the color or your skin, having a disability, not acting "manly enough" for boys or girls for acting "too manly," being perceived as gay, etc.

Bullying starts in elementary school, peaks in middle school, and tapers off in high school.  That having been said, there are adults who engage in bullying behavior in the work place and other areas throughout the course of their lives.

Juchems tells decorahnews.com that bullying based on real or perceived sexual orientation is one of the top reasons students get bullied.  More often than not, students get teased because they are perceived as gay by their classmates, which has more to do with how a child expresses their gender than their actual sexual orientation.  For instance, it is very common for effeminate boys to be bullied and called "gay" (among other slurs).

Juchems says he once worked with a straight-identified student who was bullied so badly by classmates who assumed that he was gay that he had to move to another district to finish his high school career.  The message there is that any student can be the target of anti-gay bullying, and teaching students to be respectful of classmates regardless of their sexual orientation or gender expression improves school climate for all students.

Additionally, national research consistently reveals that LGBT youth are much more likely than their peers to be targets of bullying.  In order to cope with those disparities in safety, LGBT youth are more likely to engage in high risk behaviors such as drug and alcohol use, self-harm, and suicide attempts.

Juchems says sometimes an innocent comment can be perceived as bullying, though.  "People – including students – make thoughtless comments and remarks all the time.  That's human.  Often times, when we realize that we've said or done something that hurts another person, we'll at least feel bad about it, if not directly apologize.  What's different about bullying is that the student doing the bullying is doing it intentionally with the goal of hurting the other person.  And they'll often do it repeatedly, especially if they know that the target is going to respond in a way that pleases them."
 
Next in our special series on bullying--What are some "best practices" in dealing with bullying?