GREAT BAY--Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Melissa Gumbs has underscored the impact that discrimination, bullying and concerns about personal safety can have on the educational and personal development of young people, following her participation in the WorldPride Human Rights Conference in Amsterdam.
Gumbs recently returned from a working visit to the Netherlands hosted by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, with engagements taking place between The Hague and Amsterdam.
Part of the visit centered on WorldPride, which was hosted in Amsterdam, and included participation in the WorldPride Human Rights Conference, a three-day gathering featuring panel discussions, workshops and networking sessions across a range of human rights and social development issues.
Gumbs said the conference brought together LGBTQ+ persons, allies and participants from different backgrounds to examine challenges affecting communities in different parts of the world.
Topics addressed during the conference included LGBTQ+ rights, discrimination, leadership, social and organizational responsibility, youth safety and the wider impact that exclusion and discrimination can have on development.
Among the discussions highlighted by Gumbs was one involving activist Jason Jones and efforts surrounding the decriminalization of same-sex relations in Trinidad and Tobago.
She also referenced workshops dealing with leadership and the responsibility of companies and other organizations in creating environments in which people are treated fairly and safely.
For Gumbs, however, one of the most important areas of discussion concerned young people and the effect that discrimination and insecurity can have on education.
She said that when a young person’s everyday sense of safety is threatened because of how they are perceived, it can become difficult for that student to focus fully on school and other academic pursuits.
The Minister stressed that the issue is not limited to young people who identify as LGBTQ+.
According to Gumbs, children and teenagers can also become targets of bullying simply because someone assumes something about their identity based on their appearance, mannerisms or behavior.
She cautioned that once those perceptions take hold among peers, bullying can begin regardless of whether the assumption is accurate.
Gumbs said this reinforces the need to look at discrimination more broadly within education systems and to recognize the effect it can have on youth development, confidence and the ability of students to concentrate on their education.
During discussions with counterparts from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Gumbs said attention was given not only to LGBTQ+ youth safety, but to discrimination in its wider forms and the consequences it can have for young people.
She said the discussions reinforced that discrimination, regardless of the basis on which it occurs, can be detrimental to youth development and educational pursuits.
The Minister’s participation in the conference also provided an opportunity to engage with international participants on approaches to leadership, institutional responsibility and creating safer environments for young people and other vulnerable groups.
Gumbs said the discussions were relevant to the work of education systems because issues affecting students outside the classroom can directly influence their ability to learn, participate and develop.
Her comments placed particular emphasis on the importance of recognizing bullying and discrimination as education issues as well as social issues, especially when students feel unsafe or targeted because of how others perceive them.
