La Jornada: Laura Poy Solano
Translated by Tristan Foy
In Mexico it is estimated that 5 out of 10 high school students believe that firing a teacher for being homosexual is not a violation of his or her rights, while 39 percent of male students completely disagree with recognizing legal marriage between same-sex couples.
The third National Survey on Exclusion, Intolerance and Violence in High School, developed by the Secretariat for Public Education (SEP), reveals that the risk factors for youth do not just include intolerance towards sexual diversity, but also the acceptance of violence.
It states that 32.8 percent of those surveyed justify assaulting anyone who takes something that was theirs, and 15.9 percent believe it is right to threaten others with a forceful character. Additionally, nearly one out of four students say that it is okay to hit someone who has offended them.
The report states that at least 5.1 percent of those who attend high school accept that a man may assault his girlfriend when she decides to leave him.
Almost five out of every 10 high schoolers deem domestic violence to be the private business of that home, since it concerns issues that should not be discussed outside of that household. Furthermore, 25 percent feel that violence makes up part of human nature, which always is the cause of wars.
As far as their ... attitudes towards diversity, 73.1 percent state that the quality of education is lessened in schools where there are children with disabilities. This perception is supported by almost eight out of every 10 female students and by 69.3 of the male student body. Additionally 75 percent of the young people attending high school feel that hiring people who are not disabled is preferable than to those who are.
Concerning gender, 78.8 percent of students do not agree that women who want to work should only perform activities deemed appropriate for their gender, and nearly nine out of every 10 say that women do not have less ability than men to carry out leadership positions.
However, in analyzing dating relationships, it was found that 51 percent of female students claimed to have suffered psychological violence, and 22.5 percent physical violence. Among those who have been victims of non-physical assault, 16 have been insulted; nearly two out of ever 10 girls were called stupid by their partner, and 22.9 percent are prohibited to be friends with their classmates.
Mocking and spreading false rumors are methods that affect little more than 5 percent of female students while dating; two out of every 10 are accused of flirting with someone else, and 3.2 percent have been threatened that they would be beaten. Spanish Original