Researcher Questions Findings on Harassment of Homosexual Students
by Jim Brown
December 11, 2003
(AgapePress) - A pro-family researcher is questioning the findings of a study by a homosexual lobby group that went unchallenged in a major U.S. newspaper. The researcher is concerned abut the agenda behind the group's study on harassment of homosexual students in public schools.
The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has released a survey that claim in-school harassment of homosexual students has a negative effect on their grade point averages and college aspirations. A December 8 USA Today article with the headline "Harassment Affects Gay Kids' Schoolwork" did not include views or figures countering GLSEN's 2003 National School Climate Study, which contends that homosexual students who report verbal harassment are more than twice as likely to skip college and have a lower academic performance.
GLSEN's study surveyed 887 homosexual, bisexual, and trans-gendered middle and high school students in 48 states and the District of Columbia. But Ed Vitagliano, director of research for the American Family Association, says GLSEN is not a reliable source for scientific studies.
"For USA Today to simply accept what GLSEN has produced as if this were a scientific study ... is irresponsible journalism -- and I think it simply demonstrates the link between the mainstream media and pro-homosexual efforts," Vitagliano says. "This is basically a press release from GLSEN winding up in USA Today."
While he does not deny that harassment of homosexual students does occur in the nation's public schools, he says such harassment is going on across the board. "There is a growing coarseness in our public schools that reflects the growing coarseness and aggressive behavior all across the nation. It's not simply directed toward homosexual students," he says.
"The problem is that pro-homosexual groups like GLSEN are using that as an opportunity to promote their agenda in schools."
That agenda, Vitagliano says, is to have all public school students be given specific instructions condoning homosexuality.
