Education - delivery of relationships, sexual health and parenthood: draft statutory guidance - consultation report

Section 2: Young People Engagement

In order to ensure the consultation process heard from as representative a group as possible, we aimed an engagement process to canvass at least 300 young people through the survey and focus group activities. This engagement was led by the Scottish Youth Parliament and Young Scot who sought to include a diverse group of young people, striving to include marginalised and seldom heard voices from across broad geographical and demographic communities. In total, they engaged with 321 young people through online survey activities and 49 young people at in-person focus groups.

Engagement with young people through the survey activity and focus group sessions was based around the five key sections contained in the revised teaching guidance:

• Introduction
• RSHP Education
• Embedding RSHP education as a whole school approach
• Summary of key learning points
• RSHP Policy, Guidance and Resources.

In line with our approaches, work to support young people’s engagement around the consultation was not to be focused on views on the content of RSHP education, but rather whether the teaching guidance provides a sufficient framework to ensure they receive the learning in RSHP education that they seek. Put simply: not the “what” but the “how”.

Overall, the approach to this engagement focused on gathering views of young people on the revised teaching guidance that demonstrates:

• How they think it will help them learn about healthy relationships and personal resilience, including how they or their parents and carers may withdraw from learning should they decide it is not appropriate.
• How they think it will help them learn within a Whole School Approach that focusses on the five key areas contained in the revised guidance; and,
• How they think it will support their teacher to ensure they benefit from the key learning points the revised teaching guidance contains.

As stated above, Young Scot led on the creation and delivery of the consultation survey and Scottish Youth Parliament led on the in-person consultation activity.

Young People Consultation Survey

The survey included the themes and questions noted below to cover the key elements of the consultation. The survey received 321 responses. Responses to the survey were received from young people in every local authority in Scotland and across the age range of 11 – 25. The majority of respondents – 66% - were aged 18 and under. 10% of respondents reported having care experience. 32% had experienced being a young carer. 27% considered themselves to be disabled or to have a long-term health condition (including neurodiversity). The majority (68%) of respondents were White/ White Scottish / White British, with Asian / Asian Scottish / Asian British and White Other both the second most commonly selected at 5%.

1. Consent and healthy relationships.

Q: Does this guidance ensure that children and young people will be informed about the most important issues around online consent - including sharing images online and the laws about this?

Q: Would you like to tell us more about how schools could ensure children and young people are prepared to use social media safely, and what to do if they have negative experience for online threats?

Q: Look at a slide from this lesson on consent (aimed at children in P5‑7). Is this slide clear on what consent means for children and young people?

Q: Do you have any other thoughts about the guidance teachers should receive about teaching consent?

71% of those responding to the survey agreed that the revised guidance ensured that children and young people would be informed about the most important issues around online consent. However, 21% were unsure. Comments received in this section highlighted themes including how to teach this material and the need to include information on social media consent at a younger age. 87% of respondents felt that the material on consent was clear.

2. Inclusive Education

Q: Will this new guidance make RSHP education more inclusive for LGBT young people?

• Yes
• No
• Don't know / not sure

Q: Would you like to tell us more about how you think schools can provide an environment where LGBT young people feel included in what they learn about in RSHP?

Q: Will this kind of teaching reduce homophobic bullying?

Q: Would you like to tell us more about your answer?

61% of respondents felt that the new guidance would make RSHP education more LGBT inclusive. However, 32% were unsure – reflecting concerns about broader inclusion and the potential for education to impact on this.

35% were unsure about the potential for RSHP education to reduce homophobic bullying – again reflecting the concern that while materials and guidance are trying to address this issue, there are limitations to how much change education can create in an area where there is such a significant societal concern.

3. The Right to RSHP Education

Q: Do you think this guidance is clear about a parent or carer’s right to withdraw their child or young person from RSHP education?

Q: Would you like to tell us more about your answer?

71% felt that the guidance on a parent or carer’s right to withdraw their child or young person from RSHP education was clear.

Young People Focus Groups

Right to RSHP education

Focus group participants were asked what they thought the benefits of RSHP education are. Responses focused on the following themes:

• Understanding of self and others.
• Awareness of safe sex and sexuality.
• Building and maintaining different types of positive relationship.
• Emotional and practical skill development.
• Learning about consent and personal safety.
• Knowledge about parenting and looking after children.
• Drug and alcohol awareness.

Furthermore, participants felt the most important things about RSHP education were:

• Supporting and enabling young people to make good decisions in the future.
• Having a comfortable space in which to participate in RSHP education.
• Making young people aware and informed about relationships, sexual health and parenting.

Young people’s experiences of RSHP education

In five focus groups, young people were asked to write words on post-it notes to describe their experiences of RSHP education. Participants were then supported to sort these words into content and delivery. These words were used to frame the discussions that followed.

Content

Whilst the focus of this research was on the delivery of RSHP education, rather than the content, young people in all focus groups shared examples of RSHP education content they had experienced at school. This helped ensure delivery of RSHP education was relevant to their lives.

While one young person said RSHP education content was “sometimes helpful”, the majority of responses were less positive, with young people using words such as ‘boring’, ‘vague’, ‘irrelevant’, ‘censored’, and ‘lacking’ to describe RSHP education content.

Where specific examples of RSHP education content were shared, the majority referred to education about puberty, sex, and parenthood. Some also mentioned learning about drug and alcohol use. Of particular note, in two focus groups young people discussed ‘flour babies’ or fake doll babies, which they or older students had been required to look after for a week to learn about parenting. Feedback about this activity was broadly positive, although some young people were sceptical about whether they had actually learned anything about the realities of parenting.

Older young people, in two focus groups (13 participants), were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements relating to diversity and representation within RSHP education, using an online survey tool (Mentimeter). The results support the feedback from focus group participants which suggests many have not had positive experiences of RSHP education.

In particular, all participants disagreed that their RSHP education lessons have been relevant to their lives, and all disagreed or strongly disagreed that a variety of races ethnicities, genders, and sexualities were represented in their RSHP education lessons.

In discussions, older young people indicated that they felt RSHP education was not inclusive, was heteronormative, and was too gender-specific, which some felt was unsafe and not adequately preparing them for the future. Some participants spoke about gender-specific sessions, in which boys and girls were separated into separate groups by perceived gender. Many participants felt that they or their peers had not learned about the experiences of other genders. This was also reflected in feedback from younger participants, who suggested their experiences were also ‘too gender specific’.

Delivery

Young people in all focus groups also shared their experiences of RSHP education delivery in schools. Many used words such as ‘awkward’, ‘funny’, ‘boring’, ‘uncomfortable’, and ‘cringe’ to describe RSHP education delivery. While some young people referred to practical activities, such as “putting a condom on a banana” and looking after flour babies (as previously discussed), the majority of participants in every focus group said RSHP education was usually delivered through PowerPoint presentations, booklets, and videos, some of which felt outdated and irrelevant.

Some young people said they felt RSHP education wasn’t very engaging because there was “lots of watching” and “lots of information crammed into one lesson”. Meanwhile, others said there was limited time allocated to RSHP education, that learning wasn’t treated as a priority, or that they hadn’t had any RSHP lessons at all (particularly in younger age groups).

In every focus group, young people spoke about the teachers who delivered RSHP lessons. Some participants reported having difficult relationships with staff teaching RSHP, limiting their participation and engagement in the lesson. One young person said they found it hard to take RSHP lessons seriously because their P7 teacher was pregnant, while another said their teacher compared everything to his own life. Some young people said their RSHP teachers weren’t specialists, while others said they often had substitute teachers covering RSHP classes, which made it feel that RSHP wasn’t seen as a priority within the school. One young person (16-17-year-old) suggested “an external adult could be brought in to deliver the lesson, someone with experience in youth engagement, like a youth worker.” Some young people felt that RSHP lessons are often delivered from the point of view of adult teaching staff and more effort should be made to make it relevant to young people and their lives. This could be achieved by young people taking a more active role in interpreting and finding information.

Older young people, in two focus groups (13 participants), were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statement “I would prefer to have a guest specialist teach RSHP than a regular teacher”, using an online survey tool (Mentimeter). 91.0% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. On the other hand, younger focus group participants felt RSHP should be taught by pupil support teachers or “teachers you feel comfortable with”. It was generally considered important that RSHP is taught by a staff member who young people feel they know well and can trust.

Meaningful participation in RSHP design and delivery

In all focus groups, young people felt it was important that students were involved in RSHP education design and delivery, and participants were asked to consider how teachers should involve them in planning and delivering RSHP lessons.

Young people said teachers should ask students what they want to do, recognising that some people might not want to speak in front of their peers, so they should find different ways to involve everyone. Additionally, some participants suggested RSHP education should be led by young people, which would help students feel they have a stake in the lesson and to learn from their peers.

Creating a safe, comfortable, and inclusive environment for RSHP education

Young people were asked to consider what they need to feel safe and comfortable in the classroom, and what they need to feel included in the classroom. This activity asked them to consider each of the five senses, before then asking them to consider what they need and want to feel safe and included.

Option to withdraw from RSHP education

Young people in two focus groups (19 participants) were asked ‘Why might young people want to opt out of RSHP education?’. In the younger age group (12–13 year olds), participants suggested young people might feel uncomfortable or awkward taking part in RSHP education, and should have the option to leave the classroom if they felt this way. One young person noted that students might be “sensitive to certain topics for personal reasons” while another suggested students might “feel they don’t need to learn it”.

While young people in the older age group (18+ year olds) also suggested discomfort and embarrassment might be a reason for young people to opt out of RSHP education, this age group gave a broader range of reasons to opt out of RSHP education, including:

• Religious reasons.
• Pressure from peers within the classroom or from parents and carers.
• Trauma and not feeling safe discussing topics openly, particularly topics relating to gender-‑specific experiences (eg, periods), sex, and sexuality.
• Fear of discrimination or ‑phobic comments being unchallenged.

Although this specific question was only asked in two focus groups, young people in other sessions suggested it shouldn’t matter why young people want to leave RSHP education, but that they should be allowed to leave for any reason. Additionally, young people suggested RSHP education should be presented as optional, but every effort should be made to ensure they understand the importance of the subject to their lives, and that support is available in the form of signposting to other resources and opportunities to speak confidentially to a trusted adult about related issues.

LGBT inclusive education

As previously discussed, in four focus groups, participants were asked to imagine they were designing an RSHP lesson plan. In this, they were invited to consider the space, the activities, and how they would address two scenarios.

Two focus groups were carried out specifically with LGBT youth groups (14 participants). Of these, two thirds (63.6%) agreed with the statement ‘Incorporating anti‑bullying lessons is likely to reduce instances of bullying’, while one third (36.4%) disagreed with this statement. When asked what measures they felt could be taken to reduce (transphobic, racial, homophobic) bullying through RSHP education, young people noted it is important not to restrict learning about topics such as LGBT+ experiences and race/racism solely to RSHP education. Instead, young people felt these topics should be integrated across the school curriculum.

Consent and healthy relationships

Focus group participants were asked what consent means to them. On the whole, young people understood consent to be:

• Mutual agreement and understanding of what will happen.
• Continual and can be withdrawn at any time.
• An enthusiastic yes.
• Mutual respect, and key to a healthy relationship.
• Not just sexual.
• Not given under pressure or coercion.

Young people were also asked what online consent looks like. The majority of respondents focused on consent in relation to sharing images online and/or via private messages, although a small number gave broader examples. When asked at what age children and young people should learn about online consent, the overwhelming majority of participants said they should learn about this as young as possible, and no later than their early teens.