What are teachers supposed to do though? Corporal punishment isn't allowed, teachers have absolutely no power anymore. All they can do is expel or exclude a student, and that doesn't solve the problem either. As a society we constantly complain about how teachers should not be too harsh on their students, and then when there's an issue we complain that they aren't dealing with it properly. It's easy to say they're doing something wrong; but nobody seems to be able to say what the right thing to do is.
It's not the duty of a teacher to shape the personality of a child, in fact it's near impossible for a teacher to do that. How many bullies have you known about that really gave a damn what the teacher told them? It's the role of the parent to teach children these things; but there's nothing to stop racist, ignorant, homophobes from having children, and they're not going to educate their kids about good values. The whole situation is the result of an underlying problem that doesn't seem to have any real solution.
It is the duty of the teacher to
not dismiss things. It is their responsibility to handle school related issues in school.
Like it or not, bullying is starting to turn into a real problem now. If you want people to handle their own problems, then fine. It isn't unusual for those problems to be handled with a gun, a noose, or a razor blade. Give me five seconds, and I'll find stories on Google. There is literally no excuse for how the teacher handled it, as it shows gross insensitivity to the issue at hand (you go to a teacher to confide, and that is one way to have it broken). People here keeps popping up with their motivational stories about how they were bullied and snapped right out of it. It doesn't always work like that. Suicide via bullying is increasing at an alarming rate, and it's easy for it to spread - it isn't always heckling.
Though to be honest, the issue here isn't bullying in and of itself, which, apparently, we seem to be very dismissive of. It is the way the teacher responded, which is a good way to get fired. School is a place to learn, and it is the right for every child enrolled to get an education, unmolested. If a bullying problem is persisting, it is their job to intervine
to the best of their abilities. If all they have is "act less gay", then maybe this is the wrong job.
There is a saying that goes, "life isn't fair."
This doesn't really address my post much, considering I was stating the same thing, in response to his "live a normal life" post (which, ironically, isn't possible for all because 'life isn't fair'). However, life being 'unfair' isn't much of an excuse. Life certainly isn't bleak, and if you want things like this to stop, you gotta get over that 'life is unfair' mentality. Life is only unfair when you lie down and take it.