TeenTimes Hugh GoldenAsk any teenager what is the most common slag they hear around their school today and most likely they will answer with one three-letter word: gay. The word itself, with no strings attached, is considered an effective, quick-to-the-point insult that does the job of making others feel uncomfortable and out of step.
Another popular word in classrooms is faggot. It is hard not to go through a single day at school without hearing the words, "Ya faggot!" or "Wha' are ya, gay or somethin'?".
The sad fact is that teachers hear this and in my experience they aren't bothered. Why should they be? It seems as though it's not a big deal. If a pupil called another pupil a nigger there would be uproar, resulting in phone-calls home to parents, suggestions of counselling and unsympathetic reaction from his or her classmates.
And rightly so. Nigger is a terrible term. A term synonymous with hate and prejudice against a distinct group of people. Hey, wait a minute, is faggot not a term associated with hate and prejudice against a distinct group of people? Of course it is. Attitudes toward black people have progressed significantly in recent times but attitudes toward homosexuals don't seem to have evolved at the same rate.
These days a black person can walk down school corridors without drawing funny looks and insults. But homosexual people cannot. Something in our attitude needs to change but this change cannot happen as long as teachers tolerate the use of these hateful terms. Teachers can look at a class and clearly see the black students but homosexual students are harder to spot. This seems to be why teachers have less of a problem with homophobic insults than they do with racist ones.
A more open-minded, accepting John Paul II would have made a difference. Millions of people worldwide took his word as God's word. Therefore when he called homosexuality an "ideology of evil" and a "disease", it inspired homophobia and intolerance on a massive scale, drastically slowing down the progress of acceptance.
Maybe if Pope John Paul II had preached tolerance of homosexuals, the word faggot would be as reviled as nigger is today. Sadly, pope-watchers don't expect his successor to do much better.
Those, including myself, who don't speak up when they hear these terms being used are part of the problem. In my view a teacher should always discipline a student when these terms are used, as should a parent.
But most importantly, students themselves should speak up when they hear something they don't like being said, whether it be nigger, faggot or Paki. Many Irish students are petrified at the thought of being racist and go to silly lengths so as not to offend, some not even daring to use the word black.
It's frustrating that when it comes to homosexuality, students have no such qualms.
Hugh Golden (15) is a pupil at Mount Temple School , Dublin
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