Hansard

I declare an interest as a member of the Educational Institute of Scotland and a former teacher.

The word “bullying” is a much misused term. Yesterday, the dispute over the Office for National Statistics withdrawal of data on taxation saw the Tories accuse the Scottish Government of bullying. Every day we hear someone who makes a legitimate criticism of another person or group charged with being a bully. We hear the increasingly ludicrous President of the United States claim that the media is bullying him. That misuse of the term undermines the real impact and the everyday misery that the systematic misuse of power by one person over another brings.

We might be in danger of trying to present all MSPs in here today as somehow unique and saintly people who would never, ever indulge in such practices. If we all recalled from the dark recesses of our minds some of the behaviour that we engaged in or the things that we had done to us in school, we might reflect on that a bit more.

Over the nine years in which I taught in schools and colleges, I saw at first hand pupils being singled out for being different—for being gay, coming from a different country, coming from black and minority ethnic communities, their gender, their beliefs, the clothes that they wore, the football team that they supported, how they looked, how they spoke, their disability, their academic achievement or lack of it, where they lived or their social class. I heard some of the most appalling things said by one pupil or a group of pupils to another.

Schools and classrooms can be very cruel and lonely places, but they can also be the most inspiring, caring and compassionate places. I saw the overwhelming majority of pupils showing humanity, solidarity, decency, dignity and respect to their fellow pupils, especially to pupils in real need. I also saw pupils who had been aggressors develop into being good and compassionate members of society. Such pupils need support, help and understanding too; often, we do not know what is going on in their minds or backgrounds.

A few years ago I had the privilege to show a film in this Parliament that had been made by pupils from St Kentigern’s academy in Blackburn, which they made with UNICEF UK. It featured a young boy called Timmy. When pupils were asked at an assembly in front of the whole school whether anyone believed that they were poor, Timmy raised his hand in front of all his peers. Instead of being singled out for ridicule, that boy was supported and surrounded by people who wanted to help and a school community that was looking after one of its own. His real story, and the school’s work, won a UNICEF award, and it was inspirational.

However, for a young person feeling increasingly alone and vulnerable, systematic bullying can have disastrous and lifelong consequences for their self-esteem, mental health and many other aspects of their life. In the past, of course, when the school gates opened for home time there would be respite from the aggressor, but not now. The dominance of technology and social media provides the bully with a new toolkit. A quarter of the young people who contacted Childline reported online abuse. That means that the misery continues long after the school bell rings, which impacts on people’s relationships, families, attainment and mental health, and it can damage them for life.

I spoke to a constituent recently who has been a friend of mine for many years and used to be a neighbour—a man in his 50s. He has a speech impediment and he recalled how life at school was a misery for him. He was relentlessly mocked and embarrassed and was made to read aloud with others sniggering and mocking him, all because he had a stammer. That has affected him all his life. It affected his confidence and self-belief, his social life and so many other areas. None of us can really understand that unless we have experienced it ourselves.

For girls and young women, we see the consequences of sexual harassment and pressure to share images of themselves, which can be devastating. The Sunday Herald recently reported that 43 per cent of the more than 10,000 sexual crimes recorded in 2015-16 had a victim under the age of 18. That is a shocking figure. We need to ensure that there is equality and fairness for all our young people, and to do that we need to have systems in place through which people can fight back. We need not just rhetoric but real action.

The motion mentions PSE in schools, and I taught PSE in a number of schools. Working with outside agencies and people such as youth workers, charities, the police, the national health service, the fire service, ex-offenders and pressure groups on range of issues can ensure that PSE is an engaging part of school. However, topics must be taught in a non-patronising way. They have to be real and they cannot and must not ever be tokenistic, because young people can smell tokenism a million miles away.

I support the thrust of the report. There are lots of questions and recommendations in it and all of us will be interested to see how we make progress on this very important issue.