Personal and social education (PSE) is key to counteracting the “hate” that girls can experience in schools and wider society, MSPs heard today.
The issue arose in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon during a Conservative-led debate on behaviour and violence in schools.
Green MSP Ross Greer expressed his “frustration” over a “lack of urgency” in addressing this problem in recent years, despite the Scottish charity finding that one in five young women and girls feel unsafe at school and that two in three have been sexually harassed.
“In large part that’s because boys and young men just don’t respect girls and women and, in some cases, hate them,” said Mr Greer.
PSE role in tackling misogyny in schools
He added that such issues could be addressed “through the PSE curriculum in our schools”, yet he was disheartened by a lack of progress during his nine years as an MSP.
“The issue has only got worse,” he said. “The ‘mԴDz’ did not exist nine years ago. Andrew Tate was not an influencer nine years ago.”
Mr Greer also said that national sex and relationships education guidance that dates back to 2014 “makes one passing reference to the principle of consent - just one”.
New , in contrast, has “a substantial section on the principle of consent and the importance of respect in relationships and respect for women and girls in particular”, he said. But Mr Greer added he was unhappy that, after three years, this guidance remained in draft form.
However, he told MSPs this afternoon that, after submitting a parliamentary question, he had received a response from education secretary Jenny Gilruth informing him that “we will finally now get a finalised copy of that guidance in the coming weeks”.
Mr Greer said “that’s important because the new guidance starts with that substantial section on consent, and it is also inclusive of LGBTQ young people [who] are disproportionately victims of violence in school”.
He said that “age- and stage-appropriate guidance for boys and young men on the importance of respect and healthy relationships is absolutely essential”.
Mr Greer also called for pupils to play a bigger role in shaping school PSE.
“PSE in our schools is supposed to be co-designed by young people, specifically because of issues released with sex and relationships education, [but] that’s simply not the case,” he said.
Girls ‘fear sexual harassment every day’
During the same debate, Conservative MSP Pam Gosal cited evidence that , while 34 per cent had experiencing unwanted touching.
Ms Gosal said that “the vast majority of pupils experiencing sexual harassment are girls”, and that “a generation of girls are learning to fear sexual harassment every day”.
She also shared evidence from a round-table event she had held in December on such issues, where one guest was “a teacher who recounted some of the shocking incidents that took place at her school”.
Ms Gosal said: “She described boys having a group chat where they rated girls and photoshopped their heads on to fake bodies. And, most appalling, she said the boys took advantage of unisex toilets to sneak their phones under the stalls and film girls.”
She added: “It’s no wonder so many girls feel unsafe at school when even toilets and changing rooms are no longer safe spaces. That is why it’s vital that single-sex facilities are available in every school.”
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