Meeting of the Parliament 15 November 2017
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
Personal and social education is an issue that I have been raising since I was first elected—not here, but to the Scottish Youth Parliament six years ago. The SYP has long made the case that PSE needs to change to reflect the real experiences of young people.
I was pleased that one of the first requests that I made here—that there should be a committee inquiry into PSE—was agreed to. Many members are only too aware that PSE is just not working, and the inquiry has put that on the record. With hundreds of submissions from young people, parents, teachers and charities, the strength of feeling is clear: PSE is often seen as an extra—as something that is less important than assessed subjects.
Whether it is about mental health education, consent in relationships or personal finances, we cannot argue that such essential knowledge should be relegated to a lower tier. We have heard only too clearly what happens when those matters are not covered. The Education and Skills Committee heard that many—indeed, most—young people in Scotland are not taught about consent in sex, and are not taught relationships education. It would be wilfully ignorant to believe that there is no link between that and the issues of rape culture, sexual harassment and the deeply-embedded misogyny in our society. Sexpression:UK has highlighted the appalling need for consent classes at university.
Last weekend, the Sunday Herald reported the experiences of young women at school, who cited how normalised words such as “slut”, “bitch” and “whore” are, and how unwanted touching and groping—sexual assault—is far more common than many people would care to admit. They also mentioned how many women who highlight or resist such behaviour are accused of overreacting.
Revamped sex and relationship education, starting with the principle of consent, will not end all that on its own. Much can be drawn here from the Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s report on bullying. It is not tenable that the situation is that most young people in Scotland do not learn about consent, but the situation is not unique: the Terrence Higgins Trust found that 75 per cent of young people across the UK had not learned about consent at school.
The Education and Skills committee also heard about the impact of classes not being LGBTI-inclusive. Almost every LGBTI young person suffers from school bullying, and more than one in four has self-harmed or attempted suicide. Almost nine in 10 said that they did not receive an LGBTI-inclusive education at school: who they are—their life—was not covered. For young people who are confused and anxious and are trying to understand who they are, that is not good enough. I am glad to see that progress is being made as a result of work that has been carried out by LGBT Youth Scotland, Stonewall and the TIE campaign, which has been a tremendous advocate for LGBTI-inclusive education.
The need for good-quality mental health education for every young person has also emerged strongly. The Scottish Youth Parliament recently found that three in four young people do not know what mental health information, support and services are locally available to them. The Church of Scotland youth assembly—I declare an interest as a member—highlighted the need for PSE to tackle stigma around mental health; in particular, the common use of stigmatising language. That will make a big difference in tackling young people’s poor mental health.
The Scottish Young Greens have recently launched a campaign called “Healthy minds, healthy students”, which seeks a guarantee that every young person will receive good-quality mental health education, and that the transition from school to college or university will be improved for young people who are receiving mental health support. I hope that the Government will listen carefully to those calls.
The range of issues that can and must be delivered through PSE is considerable. In this era of exploitative work, evidence shows the need for young people to learn about their rights, and about key skills including personal financial management. Now that 16 and 17-year-olds have the vote—another win for the Scottish Youth Parliament—citizenship and democracy are key subjects.
We heard wonderful examples from Bearsden academy—again, I declare an interest, as a relatively recent pupil—where the PSE curriculum is co-designed with pupils and features topics such as the sixth-year holiday.
In summary, although great work is going on, PSE is delivered inconsistently and with glaring omissions and dated practice in key areas of young people’s lives. I am delighted by the Government’s announced review, but refreshed guidance alone will not be enough: we need to be bold to ensure that every young person receives the good-quality inclusive personal and social education that they deserve.
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