Bullying homofóbico no espaço escolar: do diagnóstico às estratégias de enfrentamento

Abstract

Homophobic bullying is violence in which school-age children/adolescents suffer unjustifiable aggression because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. This work aims to investigate homophobic bullying in schools, with a view to developing coping strategies, as well as identifying how it manifests itself in schools, analyzing strategies that schools use to deal with cases of homophobic bullying, analyzing students' perceptions of these cases, and discussing strategies that can be used to deal with homophobic bullying in schools. To this end, the work uses a qualitative approach, in a descriptive-interpretative field study, in which the manifestation of homophobic bullying was observed on site in a school in the municipality of São Fernando-RN. The analysis shows that the school does not have effective strategies to combat homophobic bullying and, more worryingly, that the teaching staff and other employees are unprepared to deal with homophobia in the classroom and in the various school spaces, further contributing to the strengthening and perpetuation of this violence among its students. In view of these results, this research advocates that the school environment should represent a safe and welcoming place for children and adolescents that welcomes them with dignity and knows how to respect their differences, especially in cases where these individuals have sexual orientations, identities and gender expressions that differ from heterosexuality, promoting situations that value their characteristics and contribute to their full - and safe - development.