Barnardo's Scotland Children and Young People Engagement Report – Religious Observance and Religious Education in Schools

6. Independent right to withdraw

“Having that right avoids disagreements when you try to withdraw as it is your right”

Young Person, Non-Denominational, Secondary School

Although the legislation and guidance does not include an independent right for children and young people to withdraw from RO and RME, participants were asked to explore their views on this as part of the engagement. In some cases, the topic arose naturally in discussions about parental withdrawal and participation more generally:

• “what if the child wants to take themselves out of RE and the parents disagree?”

Young Person, Denominational, Primary School

• “Does it work the other way around? Straightaway you would think the opposite would be true, it seems stupid”

Young Person, Denominational, Secondary School

These discussions reflected similar themes to those explored earlier in the report, particularly around choice, fairness, and the role of parents, children and young people in decision making. However, discussions relating to RME often returned to its perceived importance as a subject, with some participants expressing concern about the potential implications of withdrawing.

6.1 Vote: Should young people have the right to withdraw from RO and RME?

To explore views in more detail, a voting activity was carried out with 64 secondary participants. Participants were asked whether young people should have an independent right to withdraw from RO and RME. The activity was conducted before and after a structured discussion exploring the potential impacts of withdrawal (see below Fig 14: Examples of voting sheets).

1st Vote: Should young people have an independent right to withdraw from RO and RME

In the first vote, a majority of participants supported an independent right to withdraw from RO (73%). Views on RME were more mixed, with 41% supporting an independent right to withdraw. The difference aligns with earlier findings, where participants more often described RME as an important part of the learning, compared with more varied views on RO.

2^nd vote: Should young people have an independent right to withdraw from RO and RME

After the discussion, responses slightly shifted.

For RO:

• Yes responses decreased (73% to 59%)
• Maybe responses increased (11% to 14%)
• No responses remained low (6% to 5%)

For RME:

• Yes responses remained broadly stable (41% to 39%)
• Maybe responses increased (27% to 31%)
• No responses decreased (25% to 16%)

Overall, the voting activity suggests that while there was relatively strong initial support for an independent right to withdraw from RO, views on RME were more mixed. The shift in responses following the discussion indicates that participants engaged with the complexity of the issue, including potential implications of withdrawal. This reflects wider themes in the report, where participants often balanced principles of choice and autonomy with considerations about learning, fairness and the role of education.

6.2 Impacts of withdrawing from RME

Through the scale activity and Menti responses (see Fig 18), participants explored potential impacts of withdrawing from RME. Discussions highlighted a range of perceived consequences, reflecting both opportunities and concerns.

Many participants suggested that not taking part in RME could affect their understanding of different cultures and beliefs. This was often discussed in relation to everyday interactions and future experiences:

• “If you are [not learning RME] and don’t know the difference between what’s good and what’s bad you might make a bad decision”

Young Person, Denominational Primary School

• “It would be better to take part in RME as you might accidentally offend people without realising in certain conversations”
• “Without learning RME, you might accidentally disrespect someone and/or their religion without even knowing it”
• “We wouldn’t get to learn about other people’s beliefs/religions”
• “If you don’t withdraw yourself from RO/RME and stay educated, then children will be more inclusive and respect other people’s beliefs”
• “People wouldn’t care about other people’s religions. They could be less respectful”

Young People, Non-Denominational, Primary School

• “You might meet a religious friend in the future and not know what they do”
• “Religious practice in other countries, you might do something they don’t like”
• “Travelling to new countries, you might not know about their religions or culture”
• “If you don’t learn about religions you could turn out a bit stubborn”
• “you’d be ‘one minded’ and not understand other people’s religions”

Young People, Non-Denominational, Secondary School

These views suggest that participants often associated RME with developing awareness of others and navigating different social contexts.

Participants also described RME as contributing to broader skills, including critical thinking, communication, and group work. Some expressed concern that withdrawing from RME could limit these opportunities:

• “Would impact secondary school as other children might know more about it than you, you wouldn’t know the basics”

Young Person, Non-Denominational, Primary School

• “Cause it’s not just RME. You also do critical thinking skills”

Young Person, Denominational, Secondary School

• “We’re doing YPI – we also get qualifications from RE in core”
• “It helps with other skills – communication skills, presentation skills, working in groups”

Young People, Non-Denominational, Secondary School

These comments suggest that some participants viewed RME as contributing to wider learning beyond subject knowledge.

Participants also raised questions about what would happen if they chose to withdraw, particularly in relation to alternatives and flexibility. Participants also expressed concern about potentially regretting a decision made earlier and suggested that decisions should be revisited over time to reflect changing views.

• “You might regret it when you change”

Young Person, Denominational, Primary School

• “What happens if you change your mind, would you be able to choose to go back, if not you might be sad”

Young Person, Non-Denominational, Primary

• “What’s the alternative? What am I being offered if I do withdraw?”
• “Ask each school year – your views can change”

Young People, Non-Denominational, Secondary School

Overall, discussions highlighted that participants considered both the potential benefits of RME and the possible implications of not taking part. These perspectives often reflected broader themes in the report, including the importance of choice, understanding, and the role of education in preparing children and young people for future experiences.

Menti Responses to Question: “Why?”

• If they don’t want to do it they shouldn’t have too, what other class can they do instead to replace it could be maths, Spanish, French
• Everyone should have a choice on own values and beliefs
• If they don’t want to learn it they shouldn’t have to
• I want to say
• Sometime don’t like it
• I like this idea a lot, I have a lot of friends with different religions and backgrounds and I write a lot, feel I don’t know as much about different religions as I should
• Do parents get to know? Maybe this could cause disagreements. Especially certain groups of Christians.
• It shouldn’t be just a free way out of class , they should find some other work, not fun stuff, that they need to do