Meeting of the Parliament 06 March 2024 [Draft]
Like colleagues, I believe that no pupil, teacher or member of school staff and no one else in the school environment should suffer physical or verbal abuse, and that every child and young person has the right to an uninterrupted school day that is free from violence and disruption. I commend colleagues for bringing the issue to the chamber for debate, because the welfare of our young people and their nurturing and education could not be a more important issue.
Like colleagues, I have concerning casework on the issue involving parents, carers and staff who work in schools. As colleagues have mentioned, the Education, Children and Young People Committee has taken evidence on the issue and it is undertaking an important inquiry into support for those with additional support needs and the many challenges in ensuring that those young people—and people around them—are appropriately supported.
Given the extent of the challenge and its importance, I was pleased to see the five-point plan and to hear the Government’s reassurance that there will be targeted support for schools. The cabinet secretary and our colleagues and officials are focused on working with teachers, unions and stakeholders to make a meaningful difference. There is political unity as well.
In response to one of the five points, the whole-school framework on preventing and responding to gender-based violence was published this week, which is very welcome. I am pleased that there has been expert input from Rape Crisis Scotland and Zero Tolerance, which I know, because it is based in my constituency, has been extremely concerned. Ross Greer mentioned the research and surveys that Zero Tolerance undertook. According to that research, 64 per cent of girls and young women aged 13 to 21 experienced sexual harassment at school in the past year. That gives an indication of the scale of the challenge.
Given those circumstances, I would be grateful if the cabinet secretary could touch on how implementation of the framework will be supported, if there is capacity for her to do that in this short debate. Can we, as MSPs, help the Government, local authorities and schools in our constituencies and regions to take that forward? On that and the other four points, can we engage other stakeholders in a way that is similar to the engagement with the expertise of Zero Tolerance and Rape Crisis Scotland? As Brian Whittle rightly highlighted, the power of sport can make a difference here. I have seen that in north Edinburgh in my constituency, where the Spartans Community Foundation makes a real impact in supporting schools and, in particular, the young people who are involved.
To state the obvious, the issue is not isolated to schools. We have previously discussed challenges on public transport and the wider issue of the effect of the pandemic on young people. We cannot put it all on our teachers and those who run our schools. We perhaps need to have a wider debate at some point on the wide-ranging challenge of the behaviour of young people. Tomorrow, when there are young people sitting just behind me in the chamber, perhaps we can ask ourselves whether we are setting the best example.