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Q-NOTES • JANUARY 18 . 2002
Bullies force anti-bullying
plan revamp
"Controversial" (read, "homosexual")
items have been removed
by Carrie Smith
CHARLESTON, WV — Questionable mate
rial in the attorney general’s controversial
anti-bullying program has been removed, and
other resources are being reviewed to deter
mine if they are appropriate for West Virginia
public schools.
Deputy Attorney General Fran Hughes said
national publications which referenced hate
crimes were yanked from the state’s Civil
Rights curriculum after parents and Christian
groups complained the publications promoted
homosexuality.
The “Civil Rights Team Project" is a
statewide project teaching -students to recog
nize and stop hate in hallways and classrooms.
“The materials were not prepared in our
office. As soon as they were brought to our
attention we studied them,” DAG Hughes said.
“We decided to pull them out of the schools
because we didn’t think it (homosexualtiy)
was a matter our office should be involved in.”
The “controversial” publications came
from the National Education Association, Gay
Lesbian and Straight Education Network and
Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
They suggest students and teachers use inclu
sive language such as “parent” instead of
mother or father, “date” instead of boyfriend
or girlfriend and' “permanent relationship”
instead of marriage.
Some of the material also encourages stu-
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dents to serve as support systems for gay stu
dents by wearing T-shirts or buttons with pink
triangles or slogans like “Straight but not
Narrow.”
Hughes said the program, which has been
halted by the state Board of Education while
members conduct an investigation, will likely
be revamped to include some pro-family
materials.
“We want to emphasize how we are alike
rather than how we are different," she said.
“We all have a share in humanity and don’t
want to single out specific groups.”
Organizations such as the American
Family Foundation complained that the pro
gram promoted homosexuality in the schools
by using materials that said it was acceptable
for teens to engage in “same-sex intimate
relationships.”
Hundreds of parents attended an October
school board meeting to stage a protest. Some
state board members were not even aware the
program was being operated in about 20 of
the state’s 800 schools and placed it on hold
while they gathered some information.
At press time, the Civil Rights Team Project
has not been reinstated. The state board did,
however, recently pass a student code of con
duct prohibiting bullying, intimidation and
harassment.
Kevin McCoy, director of the West Virginia
chapter of the American Family Association,
who led the opposition to the attorney general’s
program, said he is pleased with the changes.
His biggest complaint was the materials
made reference to homosexuals and included
them in categories for hate crimes. West
Virginia has not passed a law to include that
group in its hate crime legislation, though it
has been debated for several years.
“If the Legislature can’t even come to a
conclusion about it, then it has no business in
the schools,” he said. “Schools should not be
used for political purposes.”
Hughes said she plans to include groups
such as the American Family Foundation and
parent groups in discussions about the
revamped programs. She said that children
are harassed in school for many reasons and
the new focus of the program will be on the
fact they are indeed bullied but will not sepa
rate children into groups.
“We just want to prevent children from
being targeted, period,” she said. “We won’t
focus on why, just that they are and we hope
to do something about it.”
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