Hansard

I thank the Education and Skills Committee and the Equalities and Human Rights Committee for their reports, which are the subject of debate today. There is a vast amount to cover in the debate, and I will do my level best in the opening and closing speeches to cover as much ground as I possibly can.

This debate takes place during anti-bullying week, which provides us the opportunity to send a clear and positive message that bullying of any kind is totally unacceptable and that when it happens, we all have a responsibility to address it. We need to intervene early and deal with it quickly and effectively.

We now understand more than ever before about how children’s and young people’s confidence, resilience, participation and attainment can be affected by bullying, in both the short and long terms. We understand more about how and where children and young people are experiencing bullying, how they can be supported and, most important, how bullying can be prevented.

During anti-bullying week we are asking adults and young people alike to get involved in a national conversation about what respect means to them. Respect is central to all relationships, and it should be at the heart of how we treat each other. We all have a role to play in promoting respectful behaviour.

To that end, the Government has this week announced details of the new guidance on anti-bullying, which was influenced by the contents of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee consideration of this question. “Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti-bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People” forms part of our wider attempts to improve the health and wellbeing of our children and young people. It fits in with our on-going work to promote positive behaviour and ensure that children and young people feel safe and secure and are able to build up strong and positive relationships.

“Respect for All” is underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and it places children’s rights at the very centre of the policy approach that we have adopted. It sets out a common vision and aims to make sure that work across all agencies and communities consistently and coherently contributes to a uniform approach to anti-bullying in Scotland.

“Respect for All”, of course, is not just for schools. It is for everyone who is involved in children and young people’s lives in Scotland. The guidance outlines the common expectations of everyone in preventing and managing bullying, as well as what they can expect from others. Those include local authorities, schools, governing bodies, independent and voluntary services, youth clubs, parents and carers, and children and young people themselves.

We expect all schools and organisations to develop and implement an anti-bullying policy that involves all stakeholders, including children and young people, parents, carers and staff. “Respect for All” encourages everyone to take a proactive and holistic approach to anti-bullying, regardless of the type of bullying that is experienced. That includes an explicit commitment to address prejudice-based bullying.

This Government believes that there is no place in Scotland for prejudice or discrimination and that everyone deserves to be treated fairly. We must continue to address prejudice and discrimination, to promote equality and diversity, and to introduce those messages at the early stages of a child’s development. “Respect for All” is clear about the impact of prejudice-based bullying, including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. It is also clear about how schools and youth and sports organisations can respond appropriately.

As a 15-year-old who was quoted in “Respect for All” said,

“People have a right to be themselves, and no one should deny them that”.

The position is expressed no more clearly than by that 15-year-old.

“Respect for All” refers to the importance of ensuring that instances of bullying are properly recorded, monitored and acted upon. I am certain that Parliament understands that effective monitoring allows organisations to gauge the effectiveness of their policy and practice and to inform, review and update their policy on a regular basis. Monitoring of bullying incidents is essential and helps organisations to identify recurring patterns, thereby ensuring early intervention and appropriate support. I am clear that we need a consistent, uniform approach to recording and monitoring.

Following the Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s inquiry and subsequent report, I have discussed with a number of key stakeholder organisations the approach that we should take to recording and monitoring instances of bullying. What is clear from those discussions is that we need to make immediate progress on this question, to ensure that we can take steps practically to put in place measures to enable such an arrangement to be made. That is why I have commissioned the convening of a working group, to include Education Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, local authority officers, the teaching unions, parents’ groups and LGBTI groups, to develop additional supporting guidance on the process for recording and monitoring.

We are actively looking at the practical measures that will enable us to consider that material and to implement it in practice through the SEEMiS system, which is habitually used to record information on events and instances in our school system. Therefore, the approach that we are taking is timely and swift, to ensure that we can properly record instances of bullying and tackle—