 The next item of business is a debate on motion 8171 in the name of Christina McKelvie on behalf of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee on prejudice-based bullying and harassment of children and young people in schools and review of personal and social education. Can I ask those who wish to speak in the debate to press the request to speak buttons? I call on Alex Cole-Hamilton to speak to and move the motion on behalf of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee up to eight minutes, please. I remind the chamber that I am the past convener of Together, the Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights. It is a privilege for me, as vice convener, to open this debate today on behalf of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee on our report into prejudice-based bullying and harassment of children and young people in schools. I must start by offering the apologies of the convener, Christina McKelvie, who cannot be here today for personal reasons. I also want to thank James Dornan and the members of his committee for agreeing to make this a joint debate on their recommendations around personal and social education, which, as we will hear, is vital if we are to help children to understand what healthy relationships and respect both look like. The committee is liais closely during their work, and it is an excellent example of how our parliamentary system can work to uphold the rights of young people in Scotland when we work together. This debate is timely, as it takes place during national anti-bullying week. It is also set, of course, against the backdrop of recent revelations of bullying and sexual harassment in public life. Those revelations are uncomfortable, but they are important. They offer us the opportunity to make this moment a turning point in the life of our country if only he has the courage to grasp it and the commitment. Last month, when speaking about those revelations, the Deputy First Minister said that it is the conduct and behaviour of men that needs to change if we are to end sexual harassment. I agree with that entirely. However, the painful truth is that we are only now reaching a critical mass of public debate around those issues because of the recent exposure in the high-profile worlds of entertainment and of politics. If we are to address that toxic culture, we must see that problem in its entirety. As our inquiry shows, prejudice, bullying and sexual harassment are commonplace in our education system. It would be dangerously naive of us to think that our behaviour as adults in society is somehow unconnected to the learning environment in which we first began to socialise with others. Prejudice, bullying, harassment and the trauma that can result from them possess an enormous risk to the health and wellbeing of Scotland's young people. That is why the aim of the committee's inquiry was to put the voice of children at the centre of public debate on those problems. We have heard from many brave young people who told us of their experiences at school and the picture that they painted to us was a harrowing one. Like all pupils, their hopes were for a school experience that would help them to grow to their full potential both academically and socially. However, for all too many, the reality is that school life is an experience to be endured and from which significant trauma can result. They fight a daily battle in classrooms, corridors, playing fields and online. Their primary goal is merely to survive their education emotionally and psychologically and then to come to terms with the trauma that they have been left with. Our inquiry has stories of racism, sexism, disability prejudice, religious and ethnic intolerance, homophobic bullying, hate speech and physical and sexual harassment. Shockingly, we heard of many cases that included serious criminal offences such as hate crime, assault and rape taking place in the school environment. We were concerned to hear that many professionals in the education sector seemed unequipped to the challenge before them, but most troubling of all were the examples in which some teachers condoned or incited such behaviour among students or even the cause of it themselves. We received evidence that 27 per cent of LGBTI children in Scotland have attempted suicide because of bullying or homophobia. The measure of the task ahead of us is great and laid out in the representations that we received. One study showed that over half the request made by disabled young people seeking additional support identified bullying as a contributory factor to their needs. Another study found that more than half of all Muslim children in Edinburgh encountered Islamophobia in school, with one third of it directly experiencing it in their community. Girlguiding Scotland told us that 59 per cent of their members aged 13 to 21 reported having experienced some form of sexual harassment in the school environment. All of that was reinforced by evidence that we took from organisations such as Rape Crisis Scotland, Children in Scotland, CRER, LGBT Youth Scotland and others. It should sound an alarm bell to all of us. Protecting the rights of our children is central to their development. As such, we should adopt a rights-based approach in all aspects of our education system. That is why our report called for a fundamental shift in the way that we view the problem. Put simply, there is a children's human rights deficit in our midst. We must meet that challenge, head on and seek to build an adequate response to trauma recovery for those who have already suffered because of it. Irrespective of the setting, be it council run, faith-based or independent schooling, it ultimately falls to the state to protect the rights of our children as they learn. We must recognise that the cost of failure is fast becoming a major public health and wellbeing problem. As such, we must work collaboratively to address this problem with the same energy and cross-party commitment as we would with cancer care or domestic violence. Failure to meet that growing challenge will be measured out in increased demands on the public purse. We have already seen in the news that the UK Government may face litigation for its failure to prevent peer-on-peer abuse in schools in England, but the social cost of inaction is greater still in the loss of life chances, lower economic productivity, increased rates of depression, self-harm and suicide. All told, our report made 29 recommendations. I am pleased to say that the Government responded positively to all of them. I thank them for that. We are grateful to the Deputy First Minister for agreeing to put on hold the update of the national anti-bullying strategy respect for all. That allowed us to undertake our work in a way that could influence that refresh of the strategy. We welcome to the Government's commitment to keep the strategy up to date, refreshing it at least every five years. We note the Government silent on our call for the public and the Parliament to be involved in this process. The committee is therefore anxious in this debate for the Deputy First Minister to provide clarity on how the Government will lead on driving forward change with the wider public and with Parliament. We also welcome the Government's support for our call to make the reporting of bullying and harassment mandatory across Scottish education and for all schools to have an actively inclusive culture. However, our fear is that, while many key players such as education authorities, the General Teaching Council, may see the need for change in their individual silos, some might fail to grasp the full-sized scope and urgency of the problem that is now facing Scotland. That is why the committee believes that the full incorporation of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child into Scots law would help to focus minds on driving the cultural change that we need to see in our society and give children access to justice when their rights are denied to them. We also welcome the Deputy First Minister's support for our call that all teachers receive training on how to deal with bullying and harassment and that children be taught about consent, healthy relationships and equalities from their early years and throughout their school lives. I am sure that that sentiment will speak to the many contributions that we shall hear from colleagues on the education committee this afternoon. In conclusion, the Equalities and Human Rights Committees will continue to hold to account. All those responsible for protecting the rights of our children will assess progress on our recommendations as part of our work in 2018. I finish by thanking all my fellow committee members, our clerks and those who gave evidence. I move the motion in the name of Christina McKelvie. I call James Dornan on behalf of the Education and Skills Committee up to eight minutes. It is a great pleasure to speak in this joint debate today on behalf of the Education and Skills Committee. I start by thanking my fellow committee members and the clerks for all the good work that they have done over the course of it. Listening to Alex Cole-Hamilton's speech, there is a clear link between the inquiry of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee on prejudice-based bullying and my committee's work in personal and social education. Both committees found that there is a need to focus on the health and wellbeing aspects of our school in creating nurturing and safe environments for all our children and young people to learn. On that basis, we welcome the invitation from the Equalities and Skills Committee to hold a debate on this cross-cutting issue. I very much hope that that collaboration and the clear cross-committee support for progress to be made in this area can have a real impact. I will briefly work through the approach that my committee took, the evidence that we heard and the broad conclusions that we made. I will leave it to other committee colleagues to explore particular recommendations in more detail. When my committee approached this work, we were keen to hear from as many young people, teachers and parents as we could, as well as hearing from experts and stakeholders. We invited responses in the form of short emails or directly on Facebook and Twitter on what PSC sessions should be about and how it should be delivered. The response was tremendous and much of the most powerful aspects of our inquiry were from the voices of young people themselves. We followed this up with a round-table discussion in 22 February this year. Again, we focused on hearing the views of young people, youth and children's organisations. It was, as Tavish Scott observed at the time, a brilliant panel. As you might expect from such an open consultation, there were a great many suggestions about the contact of PSA. There were so many suggestions that I simply cannot cover them all in the time available, but to give you a flavour, many of the comments were about sex and relationships education, inclusivity, mental health, drug and alcohol misuse, citizenship and financial planning. Content, however, is only part of the story. Who chooses the content, who delivers the content and how it is delivered is also vital. We heard that PSA is most impactful and relevant if the curriculum is co-designed with the children and young people themselves, delivered by a range of people. The committee therefore recommended that all PSA programmes should have an element of co-design and should also feature external speakers. PSA should differ from class to class in school to school, however, there are some things that the committee firmly believes should be part of every school's PSA lessons. The committee identified mental health, equality, sex and relationships education and substance abuse as the cornerstones of any PSA programme. The committee received many personal and sometimes heartbreaking accounts from young LGBTI people, their parents and their teachers, about experiences of LGBTI people in school. One email said, At school, we were only really told in passing that gay people exist. Nothing about any other sexuality or gender identity. I therefore spent years thinking I was wrong for liking both men and women and for not experiencing sexual attraction. I thought I was broken. The last topic I want to address is good sexual relationship education, which has become even more important in the modern online world. In regard to children's access to the internet, Joanna Barrett from the NSPCC told the committee that, by the age of 14, 90 odd per cent of young people had seen pornography and about half of boys thought it was an accurate representation of sex. Girls were articulating that they were very worried that boys' impressions of and attitudes to women were negatively impacted by exposures to pornography. Some of the most powerful and disturbing evidence we heard was about consent. Claire Clarke from Sexpression UK stated, consent is a massive issue, but it seems not to be coming across to young people. There is clearly a gap. We are letting people leave school with no information about consent and we are having to cover it in universities. I will come back to this later on in my contribution. The committee also heard about the importance of age-appropriate SRE starting at an early age, which was also highlighted in the session for health and sport committee, the 2013 report on teenage pregnancies. The committee asked the Scottish Government about the progress that it had made in this respect since 2013. Excuse me. One of our main findings is that PSE provision is patchy. The committee heard from teachers who are truly committed to PSE. Fantastic guidance teachers put enormous thought, effort and passion into ensuring that our young people are equipped to face and be part of the world. There are some places, though, where we could do a lot better. The committee believed that the first step was to recognise the inconsistent delivery of PSE and for the Scottish Government to undertake a review. We simply do not know enough about how PSE is taught in our schools and the reasons why it is better in some schools and others. The committee was pleased to be preempted by the Scottish Government, which announced such a review before we even had the chance to suggest it. As part of the review, the committee wants the Scottish Government to examine whether schools' PSE offer meets their duty to be health-promoting and duties under the Equalities Act to meet the needs of those with protected characteristics, such as LGBTI young people. Recently, the committee asked those who had engaged with us during the inquiry to let us know for this debate what one point it would make in the chamber if it could. One response from Liz McNally simply states that the issue of LGBTI equality cannot be emphasised enough in the context of PSE, particularly with regard to the number of non-binary young people now self-identifying in the school community, to help their peers understand the importance of knowledge and respect and to help them to challenge homophobic bullying safely. In terms of the next step, we need to wait for the conclusion of the review of PSE and to need the working group looking at the recommendations of the TIE campaign. I would be grateful if the cabinet secretary will provide an update on these pieces of work and his speech on summing up. Before I finish, I beg my fellow committee members for a little leeway to speak briefly as a member for Glasgow Catechart. We spoke earlier on about the importance of knowledge around the meaning of consent. This is important in schools, not just for the well-being of the young people who are at school, but to prepare them for when they leave to attend further and higher education institutions. Constituents of mine Fiona and Jermaine Drute lost her daughter in the most terrible circumstances imaginable when she took her own life in her first year of university last year after being bullied and abused by another student. With their permission, I would like to let them use my voice so that they can speak to you today about the importance of PSE. Losing our beloved daughter Emily in such tragic circumstances left us questioning every aspect of her life. The never-ending what-ifs, why didn't we, if onlys? But in our calmer and more rational states of mind, we understand all those questions of the same answer. Our question, why didn't we, often continues as why didn't we know he was a danger? The misogynistic cold-hearted and determined way he conducted himself was alien to Emily and the outcome speaks for itself. How could a 20-year-old boy be so ignorant and lacking in human decency, empathy and compassion? Unfortunately, it seems that parents can't be relied upon to have those all-important conversations with their children about healthy and respectful relationships. PSE is the perfect opportunity to tackle the many and complex issues that young people in a fast-evolving society may face, but it has to be made relevant to our children. Consent, kindness, love, honesty, respect are values that can only be brought home by involving them in a thought-provoking discussion. We have to develop PSE in such a way that pupils fully engage with the subject. PSE shouldn't be just another lesson but be a challenging experience where pupils are openly asked their opinions and encouraged to share experiences and feelings. You should also be educated in the role as bystanders. Early intervention and education can only help other girls avoid the horrific experiences that our daughter had to endure. There are no words that I could possibly add that would more eloquently or powerfully highlight the importance of PSE, and I very much support the motion in the name of Christine McKelvie. In her call, John Swinney, up to seven minutes please, cabinet secretary. Presiding Officer, can I begin by thanking the Education, Skills, Committees and the Equalities and Human Rights Committee for their reports, which are the subject of debate today? There is a vast amount to cover in this debate, and I will do my level best in the opening and closing speeches to cover as much ground as I possibly can do. This debate takes place during anti-bullying week, which provides us with the opportunity to send a clear and positive message that bullying of any kind is totally unacceptable and that, when it happens, we all have a responsibility to address it. We need to intervene early and deal with it quickly and effectively. We now understand more than ever before about how children and young people's confidence, resilience, participation and attainment can be affected by bullying, both in the short and the long term. How and where children and young people are experiencing bullying, how they can be supported and, most importantly, how it can be prevented. During anti-bullying week, we are asking adults and young people alike to get involved in a national conversation about what respect means to them. Respect is central to all relationships, and it should be at the heart of how we treat each other. We all have a role to play in promoting respectful behaviour. To that end, the Government has this week announced the details of the new guidance on anti-bullying, which was influenced by the contents of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee consideration on the question. Respect for all the national approach to anti-bullying for Scotland's children and young people forms part of our wider attempts to improve the health and wellbeing of our children and young people. It fits in with our on-going work to promote positive behaviour and ensure that children and young people feel safe, secure and are able to build up strong and positive relationships. Respect for all is also underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and places children's rights at the very centre of the policy approach that we have adopted. It sets out a common vision and aims to make sure that work across all the agencies and communities is consistently and coherently contributing to a uniform approach to anti-bullying within Scotland. Respect for all, of course, is not just for schools. It is for everyone involved in children and young people's lives in Scotland. The guidance outlines the common expectations of everyone in preventing and managing pooling, as well as what they can expect from others. That includes local authorities, schools, governing bodies, independent and voluntary services, youth clubs, parents and carers, and children and young people themselves. We expect all schools and organisations to develop and implement an anti-bullying policy that involves all stakeholders, including children and young people, parents, carers and staff. Respect for all encourages everyone to take a proactive and holistic approach to anti-bullying, regardless of the type of bullying that is experienced. That includes an explicit commitment to address prejudice-based bullying. The Government believes that there is no place in Scotland for prejudice or discrimination and that everyone deserves to be treated fairly. We must continue to address prejudice and discrimination and to promote equality and diversity and to continue to introduce those messages at the early stages of a child's development. Respect for all is clear about the impact of prejudice-based bullying, including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, and how schools, youth and sports organisations can respond appropriately. As one of the quotes in respect for all from a 15-year-old says, people have a right to be themselves and no one should deny them that, and the position is expressed no more clearly than by the 15-year-old that is quoted in the document. Respect for all includes also an importance of ensuring that the instances of bullying are properly recorded, monitored and acted upon. I am certain that Parliament understands that effective monitoring allows organisations to gauge the effectiveness of their policy and practice and to inform the review and update their policy on a regular basis. Monitoring of bullying incidents is essential and helps organisations to identify recurring patterns thereby ensuring early intervention and appropriate support. I am clear that we need a consistent, uniform approach to recording and monitoring. Following the committee's inquiry and subsequent report, I have discussed this issue with a number of key stakeholder organisations regarding the approach that we should take to recording and monitoring instances of bullying. What is clear from those discussions is that we need to make immediate progress on this question to ensure that we can take the steps, practically, to put in place the measures to enable such an arrangement to be put in place. That is why I have commissioned a working group to convene involving Education Scotland, COSRA, the Association of Directors of Education, local authority officers, the teaching unions, parents groups and LGBTI groups to develop additional supporting guidance on the process for recording and monitoring. While we are actively looking at the practical measures that will enable us to consider that material and to implement it in practice through the CEMIS system, which is used habitually to record information on events and instances within our school system. The approach that we are taking is a timely and swift approach to ensure that we can properly record the instances of bullying and tackle it. Jamie Greene I thank the member for taking my intervention. I am very welcome to hear those words of progress on the recording of bullying, but my worry is that, although I hear the phrase immediate steps being taken, I hear in the same sentence another working group being set up. What sort of timeline are we looking at so that we may see some practical on-the-ground results of recording of metrics so that we can measure performance in the future? John Swinney I want to make an early progress on the issue, but it is a practical question. It is about putting in place the mechanisms that will enable schools to properly record instances of bullying so that we can assess and consider exactly the points that Mr Greene makes about practice. Those are practical, logistical issues that need to be confronted. We have taken the decision in principle. There is going to be a uniform recording system across the country. I am now simply turning that into practice, and I have to work with our local authorities and the schools around the country to put that into practical effects. I am very happy to report to the Parliament about the progress that we make, but that is the swiftest route to make sure that we have a uniform recording system in place. If I was to rely on statute, it would take significantly longer to have such a system in place. That is why I have opted for the earliest possible route to ensure that the recording of those instances can be considered and assessed. I will turn now, and I will do more justice to the remarks that Mr Donner raised about personal and social education. Following the publication by the Minister for Mental Health, the Mental Health Strategy in March, I commissioned Education Scotland to undertake a national review of personal social education in schools. There are three elements to that review. Phase 1, which is now complete, covered communications and initial exploration of PSE teaching resources. Phase 2 began in October, and it covers the thematic review of the delivery of PSE in schools across Scotland. Phase 3, which will commence in June 2018, will analyse findings and develop recommendations. It is important that the scope and the remit of the review has been informed and shaped through consultation with our local authority partners and educational practitioners who have expertise in PSE, pastoral support and counselling. Education Scotland has now started the first set of visits to schools and early learning and childcare centres, and it will undertake approximately 55 visits as part of the process. I will, of course, update Parliament on the progress of the review and ensure that the measures are taken forward in a timely fashion to ensure that the objectives that are set out by Mr Donner are fully addressed as part of the review of personal and social education. Many of us in this chamber are fortunate enough to have positive memories of a school life that was not blighted by being bullied. However, sadly, I am sure that there were some that were never happier than the day they closed the door on their school life. Bullying is not a new phenomenon. It is a facet of human behaviour, driven often by a need to exert power and is particularly noticeable in schools. Parents, schools, Governments and young people have wrestled with the challenge of how to eliminate bullying, and the sad truth is that we will never stop it completely, but we can and must do everything we can to minimise the frequency to ensure that both those who choose to act this way and those who are impacted are supported. Today's debate is focusing on prejudice-based bullying, the negative judgment of someone based on characteristics such as disability, race, religion or sexual orientation. The effects of prejudice-based bullying can be manifest, the victim may feel socially isolated and unable to talk to anyone about their experiences, they may develop anxiety or other mental health conditions, or they may even feel compelled to take their own life. Indeed, the fact that 27 per cent of LGBT young people attempted suicide at least once as a consequence of prejudice-based bullying should engage and alarm all of us. Prejudice-based bullying cannot be tackled by a one-size-fits-all approach. We must recognise that there is a complex and involving spectrum of acts that might constitute bullying. What we do know is that the nature and method of bullying has changed over the years. The advent of the digital age and particularly social media has done little to stem the rise of this bullying. Children and young people are now expressing opinions without thought and behind the veil of anonymity of a code name, saying and doing things they would not do if it was in the full glare of their peers. Whether careless commentary or targeted attack, the pervasive nature of social media has given a new lifeblood to prejudice-based bullying. A single comment or photo can reach whole-school communities in minutes. Unlike when most of us were young, it does not stop at the school gate. It reaches out to other schools and social settings and it follows the victim home. It is this lack of relief from the torment that can lead a young person to believe that taking their own life is preferable to enduring another day of the comments and attacks that they may face. So what can we do to change this? We know that children learn many of their prejudice and societal norms from their parents, peers and the adults in their lives, such as teachers and celebrity role models. We also know that child development means that children become more sensitive to others as they mature. Although our society is more inclusive than ever, we see a rise in prejudicial bullying so we cannot be complacent and it is clear that we need to review the way in which we deliver personal and social education in our schools. I welcome the fact that a reviewer is under way and I hope that it will bring to the chamber some useful recommendations. However, I would like to take this opportunity to raise some salient points about the university of Strathclyde. If we are serious about tackling prejudice-based bullying, we need the right people to do the right jobs. Dr Joanne Maw, a senior education lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, highlighted that PSE is typically delivered by the least experienced members of staff with often minimal support or guidance in its delivery. We must remember that our teachers, first and foremost, are subject specialists. That is particularly true in secondary schools. They are historians, they are linguists, they are chemists, they are mathematicians, they are not social scientists, counselors, sexual health educators or substance misuse specialists. Teaching a complex and multifaceted issue such as PSE also requires a very specific skill set. PSE is a subject and a specialism in its own right. To teach it piecemeal without appropriate background and context can do far more harm than good. When you factor in the existing workload pressures facing our teachers, it is clear that the current inconsistent delivery of PSE teaching is unsustainable. Presiding Officer, this cannot continue. PSE, as we know it, must be overhauled. We need to see greater involvement from external contributors with relevant experience and training in the specialist areas that make up PSE. We need to ensure that every young person has access to and knows that there is a safe place where they can go and that they will be listened to in confidence. We need to ensure that teacher training includes awareness of the use of language and the impact that even a perceived joke can have on a young person. We need to ensure that our embracing of the digital age does not take possession of the school classroom and enable covert bullying to take place. The committee's reports and this debate should be the impetus for taking this issue forward. Let's collectively make sure that it is. I thank the committee, but perhaps more importantly to the many organisations and individuals who helped to contribute to those two important reports. A discussion on bullying and personal education is well timed, as many people have pointed out already. That is currently anti-bullying week. Of course, it is not always easy for parliamentary debates or committee reports to capture the subtleties or realities of subjects such as social education or bullying in our schools. However, we have a duty to explore those issues because of the devastating impacts and tolerance that exclusion can have for our young people. Reading those reports, I cannot be the only one to have thought about the similarities with my own school experiences. More often than not, when I am dealing with education matters, I remark on how much progress we have made and how much more developed our thinking is on education. However, when it comes to bullying, I find it depressing to read how entrenched a problem it is and remains. We need to understand in this debate that the terrible effects that bullying can have on children and young people and the impact that can be deeply felt whether it is one-off instance or smaller cumulative cruelties. Clearly, there is a connection to personal and social education through developing better understanding of young people's personal and social needs and supporting their understanding of themselves and of each other. Hopefully, we can make progress. That is an important debate, one that brings two important reports together. I would like to try, in my remark, to draw on the common themes and the overlaps between the two reports. On bullying, the Equalities and Human Rights Committee have taken a difficult subject of bullying and have provided a genuinely helpful look at how children's rights and prejudice in bullying all intersect, providing better understanding, clarity on definitions and, indeed, terminology. On PSC, the Education and Skills Committee has provided a useful marker of what is going right but also what must be improved in our schools. Both reports are clear on the shortfalls and areas where there is a lack of consistency between schools. There are a number of broader common themes between the two reports, the first of which is clearly mental health. The impact on children's mental health from bullying is a clear conclusion of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee report. It is vital that those impacted by bullying receive speedy and appropriate support, including through in-school counselling but also beyond schools. That means that the Government must tackle the unacceptable waiting times for CAMHS. Likewise, the PSC report pointed to the need for mental health to become a larger part of the curriculum. The committee received a powerful contribution following our report, calling for more resources for PSC, especially in the light of rising expectations that we all have for what it should be delivered. It is also about the reality that, for many teachers, they find themselves ill-equipped to explore the complicated issues of mental health for young people. The next theme is about the need for consistent policy and regular reviews. Both reports pointed to their hopes and expectations for the Government's and to building approach, and it is very welcome having that here today. Indeed, I would remark on how it sets out the need for schools to have a consistent policy, and I think that there are many positive things that both committees called for. Likewise, I welcome the Deputy First Minister's details that he provided today about the Education Scotland review into PSC. Again, I think that the requirements that the committee made out are clear, and I hope that they are met by that review. Both committees grappled with the tension, and I think that there is a real tension between the principles of curriculum for excellence but also the desire for consistency across schools. That is a tricky issue, because, while our schools must be able to create their own and individual approaches to anti-building and PSC, especially given the evidence that they have from their own context communities, we must also ensure that there is a minimum level of expectation and policy that every child can expect. We must ensure that we spread best practice across the whole school system, but that cannot come at the cost of schools being able to make their own decisions and take different approaches. Perhaps the most important point that comes from both reports is that of culture. We know that we cannot reduce bullying to simple policy points or instill the right learning simply through PSC or guidance to law. Behaviors are shaped by a much wider range of contexts and behaviours. Change needs to be through the whole school community that everyone needs to buy into anti-bullying measures if they are to work. Similarly, we must involve children and young people in the creation of personal and social education, but it will be relevant and therefore work for young people. The education committee's comments about co-production are vital and important. I would also like to make one small remark about initial teacher education. Both reports highlight the need to improve teacher training and also CPD. The PSC report highlights about the need to improve subjects such as LGBTI inclusiveness, and the bullying report also highlights the emphasis of language and rights. However, I would like to make one small remark of caution, because, although those things are undoubtedly true and important, we are all familiar with the call for education to solve a great many of society's aims, whether it is personal finance through to intolerance or other issues. Much is the same in education in which we seek to fix those issues by calls on changes to the initial teacher education. While we need to do that, it is not a simple magic bullet, and I would caution about that, but we must also look to make improvements. In conclusion, both reports help hugely in clarity on the two important issues, but we have a long way to go in eliminating bullying and improving the PSC, but I have no doubt that those reports in the debate take us a step in that direction. Thank you very much, Mr Johnson. I move to the open debate. Speeches are tight six minutes, I call Claire Houghy to be followed by Brian Whittle. Scotland is no different from any other country across the world in that our young people and children are living increasingly complex lives. Sadly, many experience bullying and stresses at school, although others may be facing a multitude of problems at home, such as poverty or abuse. Those are pressures that have existed for generations. However, with the increase in the usage of social media and with people's lives now being shared online, such problems can be amplified and are harder to escape from. Helping our children and young people cope with those pressures is of paramount importance, and schools can play a leading role in supporting them through the teaching of PSC. Presiding Officer, alongside the formal evidence sessions and focus groups held, the Education and Skills Committee also asked the public what should personal and social education sessions be about and how should it be delivered. The response that the committee received from pupils, as was mentioned by James Dornan, on social media and by email, was overwhelming. The committee is incredibly clear that pupils find good quality PSC as being invaluable to them. It was evident that there are particular subjects that should be taught in PSC, including sex and relationships education, inclusivity, drug and alcohol misuse, financial planning and learning and talking about mental health. Sex and relationship education, the core issue that the committee concludes should be taught in PSC, is one that must go further than merely talking about biology, but by properly discussing sex and relationships. The committee took evidence from various organisations and charities who were of the opinion that at school there is a real lack of teaching about consent and of the diversity of relationships, including that of LGBTI relationships. Shockingly, the committee received evidence that some LGBTI young people's sex education was learned online due to a lack of adequate provision from within their schools. Nonetheless, across Scotland there are many positive and innovative examples of how PSC is taught in our schools, and there are several that could be looked at as models for breast practice. I was delighted to learn that the Catholic High School and my constituency of Rulligland have an incredibly varied and thorough PSC programme, teaching about relationships and sexual health in their PSC classes from second through to fourth year. Trinity High School, again in my constituency, has worked with external organisations during PSC lessons. For example, police and fire service personnel come to the classes to allow pupils to learn what is happening outside of the school environment, and that ensures that their PSC reflects and is tailored to the real world. Drawing on the expertise of those outside of teaching provides another perspective on life and equips students with the skills and information that they need to thrive. That was one of the committee's recommendations that the cabinet secretary agreed with in its response to the report that PSC should be used to involve external contributors with its relevant specialism, so I was particularly pleased to hear that that is already happening in South Lanarkshire schools. Unfortunately, there are schools across Scotland whose delivery of the subject is not as high as others. One of the main issues found throughout the report was the lack of consistency and effectiveness in PSC delivery, an issue that was highlighted by the session 4 health and sport committee and the current equalities and human rights committees. Although PSC is not mandatory, there are statutory requirements in relation to health and equalities, but the committee is concerned that the importance placed on health and wellbeing is not borne out in all schools across the board. Through curriculum for excellence, health and wellbeing is spread across the curriculum, and it is one of the three core areas that are the responsibility of all staff in the school, with the other two being literacy and numeracy. Despite the same from central government and given the fact that the schools health promotion and nutrition Scotland act 2007 places the duty in all schools to be health promoting, the committee found that that was not always the case at local level. That health promoting duty includes mental health. However, that was one of the areas that respondents persuasively reported is not sufficiently included in PSC. The Scottish Youth Parliament's submission to the committee on that topic said that young people have told them that there is not enough focus on mental health. Their research, to which almost 1,500 young people contributed, also found that the quality of education on mental health and wellbeing is varied across the country. Sam H estimates that three pupils in every classroom will have experienced a mental health issue by the time they are aged 16, while the world health organisation has found that up to 20 per cent of children and adolescents across the world suffer a mental illness in any given year. And who do many of those children and young people turn to for help? The class teachers and their guidance teachers. Young people want to learn and to talk about sex and relationships, alcohol and drug misuse and mental health issues in an atmosphere where they feel safe and supported, so we should give them their self-opportunity at school and during PSE. Schools are vital settings for promoting positive wellbeing, challenging mental health stigma and tackling by-trans and homophobia, so I hope that key stakeholders across Scotland note the conclusions and recommendations made by the committee's report. The committee was clear that PSE and its current form is too inconsistent, and I am pleased that the Government has committed to reviewing it within the new mental health strategy. I have confidence in the Scottish Government to complete that review in the near future to ensure that all schools across Scotland teach good quality PSE for the benefit of all our pupils. Thank you very much. Ms Hockie, I call Brian Whithled. We are followed by Gail Lawson. Mr Whithled, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I can point the members to my register of interest, and I am a board member of the west of Scotland NSPCC. I also like to thank the committees for bringing this debate to the chamber and the organisations who have contributed briefing papers to this debate. As a debate, I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to it. I have got to be honest, I take no pleasure in having to speak to a topic that can be so destructive in the lives of our school pupils. We look at our schools in the hope that we are affording each and every pupil the opportunity to be all they want to be, to open up their eyes to the possibilities. It is often said that school days are the very best years of their lives. It is a time when pupils are not only developing their academic skills, but also learning social skills, interacting, developing relationships, building resilience, in other words, developing the basic academic and social skills that will define them into and throughout their adulthood. The experiences that we go through in our school years stay with us throughout our lifetime. It is vitally important that pupils get the wide opportunity as possible to participate, to integrate, to try, to fail and to bounce back and succeed, to be as much a part of everyday school life as possible. Here lies the crux of today's debate for me. Prejudice, abuse or bullying of any kind, be it physical or mental, can have such a devastating effect on this personal development process. We are talking about withdrawing from the very opportunities and activities that can have such a positive impact on individual and collective development. We are talking about victims taking themselves out of the mainstream, out of harm's way as they see it, being on the outside looking in. On a Sam H put it, good mental health is based on inclusivity and activity. We are talking about health and wellbeing, health inequalities, attainment and mental health. We are talking about a very low self-esteem, self-loathing and ultimately seeking escapism through self-destructive behaviours such as self-harming, overeating, drug, alcohol abuse or even suicide. All those topics are very familiar to the chamber and are often discussed, but I have not really heard them mentioned in the same breath as prejudice, abuse or bullying. I only mention this because I think that when we are looking for solutions, it is important how we link all those issues and look at the wider implications. If we could really tackle abuse and prejudice at source, what impact could that have on our school pupil's mental health that has been mentioned, on the strain and calm referrals or on attainment, on physical activity uptake or even obesity? If you are from my generation, bullying was something that you did looking someone in the eye, that sort of abuse, sorting out issues with your fists or name-calling is being dealt with on the whole. Although I would imagine that we have all had case work where bullying is still swept under the carpet, which is why I was very pleased to welcome the cabinet secretary's assurances about education and evidence-based action. However, harassment in bullying has evolved. Cyberbullying is now a major concern and somehow that seems worse to me because the victim remains unseen so the impact of their behaviour is not witnessed by the perpetrator. The chamber would obviously understand the cowardice of keyboard bullies who would not say what they say online if they were looking new in the eye. In a way, that has removed a barrier to bullying, so we need to continually evolve our approach. I just want to take this opportunity to mention the work of the NSPCC as a shining light in tackling abuse through education and going into primary schools because often children who are being abused do not recognise that they are being abused. Deputy Presiding Officer, we have talked about the consequences of getting this wrong and I wanted to share a story with the chamber that highlights the outcomes that can happen when we get it right. My middle daughter was at primary school. One of her classmates had a significant physical disability, confined to a motorised wheelchair, but was part of mainstream education. She was a really bright boy. That school and all the pupils went out of their way to make sure that she was included in just about everything that she possibly could be. The kids absolutely loved him. Every time I spoke to him, he was bubbly and bright and full of enthusiasm. He was a very same at secondary school. I did lose touch with him. He was up to until earlier this year, when a team of MSPs was being richly and systematically shown up and humbled at the Scottish Power Chair football championships. Up he bows to say hello, and there was no mistaking who he was because he looks virtually the same as he did back then. He proceeded to tell me about his desire to start his own business. I am not going to share that business with you in case somebody is watching and mixing his idea, because it is an absolute cracker. He was a very bright young man intent on making his mark, and that is how it should be. That is the kind of outcome that can be, that being included, can deliver. Follow him on Facebook. He actually calls himself WeBod Big Heed. He is an remarkable young man, accompanied by a wicked sense of humour, and many of his classmates are still in touch. Social media at its very best, all started by a school totally committed to treating him the same way as every other people, as an individual, as the cabinet secretary highlighted. That surely speaks to the very foundation of getting it right for every child principal. It would not necessarily take complicated interventions and legislation from this place. What we need to look at is ensuring that our educators have the tools at their disposal through their education to be comfortable in teaching, integrating it, including all pupils in aspects of life. Education, the basis of so many of the solutions that we seek, as every submission in this debate has highlighted, lies in educating prejudice, bullying and harassment out of our society. I hope that somebody caught your reference to a site there. I think that you better give them a note of the name of that Facebook site. Gail Ross, followed by Monica Lennon, please. When the Equalities and Human Rights Committee started taking evidence on this issue, it was apparent that it was far more widespread and deep-seated than anyone had imagined. I would also like to put on record my thanks to everyone who gave evidence. Some of the testimony that we heard cannot have been easy, and I hope that you know that you have already helped others with your bravery. I am sorry to say that some of the stories that we heard were absolutely shocking. We should not shy away from the fact that bullying in some of our schools is very real, it is affecting children's mental health and it is preventing some people from reaching their full potential through its profoundly damaging impact on children's self-esteem. In his opening statement to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee, the Deputy First Minister said, I make it absolutely clear that the Government considers bullying of any kind to be completely unacceptable. Wherever it occurs, we have a responsibility to take action to deal with it quickly and effectively. The Government believes that there is no place in Scotland for prejudice or discrimination and that everyone deserves to be treated fairly. That statement is very welcome. We have a duty of care to every young person, and I thank the Deputy First Minister for his honesty when he came to give evidence at our committee session in June. It is a testament to the work of our committee and the clerks that the Government has agreed to or are considering all the reports recommendations. We heard of pupils being picked on for their sexual orientation, a disability for their religion, for their skin colour, their gender, their foreign accent. Moreover, sexual harassment with girls being raided and given nicknames based on how they look or dress is also rife. We also see instances of children being tormented and made to feel as if they are less due to their socioeconomic background or their appearance. As has been mentioned before, there is a huge rise in social media use. Cyberbullying is a massive problem and it can happen at any time of the day, not just in school. Assaults, including those of a sexual nature, are being videoed and we had a robust discussion around the issue of consent. Technology is moving so quickly that it is hard to keep up with apps such as Snapchat and how they can and are being used. Teachers need to be equipped with the knowledge and understanding of how to deal with those issues but, as a society, we need to teach our children why they are wrong in the first place. Teachers can only do so much. Parents also have a responsibility to educate and inform. We all know that being a teacher is a very important and sometimes a very difficult job. They are shaping the future. They have the chance to make sure that our young people are nurtured, respected and listened to. They teach them facts and figures, yes, but they also have a duty of pastoral care. Unfortunately, in committee, we heard some very uncomfortable evidence about the conduct of some teachers and local authorities. We heard about lack of care, lack of understanding of personal issues, lack of response to incidents of bullying, lack of proper investigations by some local authorities to complaints from parents and a complete disregard for scrutiny or anyone being held to account. To put that in perspective, we know not every teacher in every classroom behaves like this, but even one is one too many. There are many brilliant teachers in schools all over the country that we are rightly proud of. A minority of individuals are not representative of the sector and I am sure that most teachers will be horrified to hear of those accounts. In our committee report, we asked the Scottish Government to work with providers of training for teachers so that greater emphasis is placed on equalities, the handling of bullying incidents, the protected characteristics and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It would be helpful if the Scottish Government could provide more information on how the review of professional standards by the GTC will take into account the Equality Act 2010 and the committee's recommendations on continuous professional development. The standards for registration sets out a number of behaviours that teachers must adhere to. We must make sure that all local authorities are aware of how to deal with those reports as well. Education directors, managers and officers all have a duty of care. We asked the Scottish Government and the education authorities to make CPD training on equalities, the protected characteristics and children's human rights compulsory. We asked the Scottish Government to take steps to ensure that all teacher training makes the position clear that section 28 was repealed in Scots law by the Scottish Parliament on the 15th of March 2001. The fact that this was one of the first pieces of legislation enacted by our Parliament demonstrates our outright rejection of the denial of LGBTI-inclusive education and gives us the opportunity to go further in the provision, especially in regards to relationships, sexual health and parental education. There are great examples in Scotland of schools with a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, and we have a lot to learn from them. We need to foster a whole-school ethos where everyone is equal and respected, pupils and teachers, because respect goes both ways. As a final ask, it is essential that all equalities and human rights organisations that we heard from and commit are consulted going forward, including representatives from those who deal with race, gender, LGBTI and young people's issues, as well as children's charities. If we are to stamp out bullying in our skills and make our classrooms truly inclusive, we have to make sure that the process to get there is also truly inclusive. For as rightly noted by LGBT Scotland— No, you must conclude. I must conclude. I call Monica Lennon to follow by Colin Beattie, please. Thank you, and I'm pleased to follow a fantastic speech by Gail Ross that was cut short at the end here. I'm pleased to have this opportunity to contribute, and I'd like to begin by congratulating both the Equalities and Human Rights Committee and the Education and Skills Committee for their work on the important and cross-cutting issues that we are debating today. Although there is much to celebrate for too many young people in Scotland today, their time at school is a battle. Bullying means that school for them becomes something to be endured rather than enjoyed. Instead of being an environment in which they are thriving, prejudice-based bullying means that some young people are instead struggling to survive. The TIE campaign research is well established and well known amongst colleagues in this chamber, but the sheer awfulness of their research findings bears repeating as loudly and as often as possible. 90 per cent of LGBT young people experience bullying at school because of their identity. 27 per cent of those attempt to take their own life and 15 per cent try more than once. Beyond these statistics are real stories, real people and real devastation due to the havoc that is wreaked upon individuals because of the prejudice they face. Today, I want to take the opportunity to talk about the experience of one of my young constituents, whom I have been supporting in recent months, due to the absolutely appalling treatment that they have faced at school as a result of their gender identity. I think that their story, albeit anonymised, can tell us more about what needs to change and why than standalone statistics or reports ever can. This young transperson has been the victim of an appalling catalogue of abuse and harassment by other pupils at a school in South Lanarkshire. From name calling, physical assault to consistent online harassment in verbal abuse, it really is as bad as it can get. The situation has deteriorated to the point where this young person has already, on one occasion, tried to take their own life. The campaign of abuse, which remains on-going and incessant, means that my young constituent faces a daily battle of torment, frequently missing out on school because the pressure of facing the harassers is just too much to cope with. This young person is still, to date, struggling to access the advocate support that they need from the school, in large part because of a lack of adequate reporting and recording of incidents that are prejudice-based in nature and an apparent inability on the part of the school leadership to see those bullying incidents as part of what is a wider cultural problem, which amounts to a pattern of abuse. The school cannot even recognise a hate crime when it sees one. I am continuing to work with this young person, their family, the school and I met with the local authority again last week to try and make some progress, but it has been heartbreaking at times to witness the utter dejectedness which this young person has come to expect at such a young age. When recently speaking with them, I heard something that seems to sum up their experience so well and yet it is something that is also so utterly unacceptable. The school for them, for this young person, is not or cannot be about making friends or having an enjoyable experience. It is simply about them trying to survive through their next few years so that they can receive an education. That sentiment is a shocking indictment on the experience of some of our LGBT young people and we must do better. School should not be a battle, so we need to change and urgently. As we know the experience of my young constituent, it is not the experience of all young LGBT people in schools. When I am more positive, no, earlier this week I had the fortune of being in Brannock High School in Motherwell and I was there with the TIE campaign. I was overwhelmed and amazed by the supportive environment that they have fostered in their school. Brannock High is clearly outward looking and forward thinking and it was a delight to speak to their LGBTI committee, newly established in August, which provides a welcoming and safe network for pupils of all ages in that school. As a visitor to the school, the commitment and passion of Miss Divers, who helped to set up the committee and the headteacher, Mr Cohoon, was clear to see and truly impressive. On Monday, we talked about today's debate. They know that it is happening and the young people were really keen that their voices could be heard today. I have agreed to read out some of their questions. From the experts themselves, which include Jamie McLean, Rachel Dillon, Sophie Steele and Kira Gillespie, here are some of the issues that the group raised for me to raise with you all today. What can be done to ensure that all teachers receive compulsory training on LGBTI inclusive education? How can we make content on LGBTI issues in family life and sexual health and PSE compulsory for all schools and pupils? How can LGBTI bullying be recorded so that we know the true bullying figures and can be confident that schools are recording it? I am sure that pupils at Brannock will be interested to hear from the committee and the Government on those points. With the right attitudes and support, we know that things can be different and the experience of Brannock high school gives me hope that things can and will change, but it should not be down to your luck or what catchment or what postcode you live in. That is why I believe, and I will finish here, that we need legislative change with the obligation on the recording of prejudice-based bullying, placing a statutory footing, as well as a legal duty for all education establishments to provide inclusive sex and relationship education. It strikes me today that there is wide agreement across those benches. It is the pace of change that we now need to work on. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ms Lennon. I call Colin Beattie to be followed by Jeremy Balfour. Mr Beattie, please. Presiding Officer, over the years, the concept of bullying has changed and evolved as we became more aware of the impact of the differing ways in which bullying can be inflicted. There is no doubt that bullying at a young age can have a long-lasting adverse effect on those in the receiving end. Respect me, Scotland's anti-bullying service defines bullying in the following terms. Bullying is both behaviour and impact. What someone does and the impact it has on the other person's capacity to feel and control of themselves, we call this their sense of agency. Bullying takes place in the context of relationships. It is behaviour that can make people feel hurt, threatened, frightened and left out, and it can happen face to face and online. It is important to understand those terms by defining bullying so that we can recognise it immediately and understand how to minimise it. Respect me goes further in noting how bullying behaviour can be solitary incidents and not just repetitive, and how such behaviour may not be intentional, but the impact on the person being bullied is no less severe. Bullying is distinct from criminal offences such as hate crime, child sexual exploitation and gender-based violence. Respect me's 2014 survey, Bullying in Scotland, provided some context as to the present situation. More than 8,000 children and young people were surveyed of which 30 per cent stated that they had been bullied in the 2013-14 school year. Of this sector, 60 per cent had been bullied in person, 19 per cent online-online and 21 per cent a mixture of the two. Unsurprisingly, the most common type of bullying behaviour was name-calling, hurtful comments and rumour spreading. Against this background, in May this year, the education committee produced a report on personal and social education. The committee took evidence from round-table sessions and online surveys and had a tremendous response that emphasised the importance of good personal and social education, PSE, and yet noted how the delivery of PSE can be variable across the country. PSE can cover a wide range of topics, including study skills, sex and relationships, drugs and alcohol awareness, with the intention of enabling children to gain a greater understanding of such topics and developing the skills and attributes that they need to thrive. As part of the committee's work in producing the report, focus groups were held at Dalkeith High School in my constituency. I am pleased to report that a beneficial and supportive PSE is clearly valued and appreciated at that school. As examples, students noted that outside agencies such as employers and colleges advised them on issues such as pathways into careers, and also teachers made themselves available outside PSE sessions so pupils were able to meet them at different times. In terms of transgender children and LGBT issues, the school confirmed that Stonewall comes in to provide support and that the school has its own LGBT support group. However, in other cases that the committee heard of, LGBT support through PSE lessons was not as valued as that at Dalkeith High School. We heard from students who were bullied and struggled with who they were because of a lack of LGBTI-inclusive PSE lessons, and from those who believed that their sex education lessons focused on all the terrible things, including shocking videos, that can happen to you if you have sex or take drugs rather than a constructive approach that informs pupils of the support that is available to them. In one case, a pupil was apparently told by his schoolie that he would go to hell because of his sexuality. When Scotland's young people are facing such attitudes from our own educational establishments at a time when they should be receiving the maximum emotional support, it is clear that steps need to be taken to address the issue. Stonewall Scotland's 2012 school report provides context to LGBTI issues, including that 52 per cent of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people had experienced homophobic bullying behaviour in our schools and that 26 per cent of such young people had tried to take their own life at some point. Those statistics are profoundly shocking and do highlight where action needs to be taken. With its explicit commitment to addressing prejudice-based bullying, respect for all encompasses a vision that I would hope is supported by everyone here today, I have touched on some of those points already but they bear repeating. Every child and young person in Scotland will grow up free from bullying and will develop respectful, responsible and confident relationships with other children, young people and adults. Children and young people and their parents will have the skills and resilience to prevent and respond to bullying appropriately. Every child and young person who requires help will know who can help them and what sport is available. Adults working with children and young people will follow a consistent, coherent approach in dealing with and preventing bullying from early learning and childcare onwards. There are many actions that we can take to allow us to help instill the consensual understanding and empathetic attitudes in our young people, attitudes that can carry forward through their post-school lives and into society and work environments. In this way, we can make Scotland into a fairer, more tolerant country in the years ahead. Prejudice-based bullying can manifest itself in many forms and encompasses a wide range of prejudices from race, sexuality, disability, body image, religious beliefs and gender identity. Those who pick up bullying habits at a young age are likely to keep them throughout their lives and, indeed, such habits may translate themselves onward into the children of such people. The Scottish Government will now take forward the review of personal and social education alongside the steps that are outlined in respect for all. I very much welcome the Scottish Government taking that forward. In conclusion, I would like to thank those who gave evidence and all who have contributed towards this debate. I have to confess that when I was sitting on the Equalities and Human Rights Committee and we decided to do an inquiry into this area, I have to say that I was a bit skeptical and thought that surely things have moved on since I was at school. I am a bit like Mr Johnson as we heard the evidence over the number of weeks that I was shot at someone who lives in 21st century Scotland of how perhaps little progress has been made at the grassroots of schools. I say that as a parent of two young children who are starting off their educational career, that as they will go through school and as their contemporaries will go through school, and as my constituents will go through school, that if they experience anything like some of the evidence that we heard, then we should hold our heads in shame as a society. The common sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never break me is perhaps one of the first truths that we have to stop saying as a society. Because words do affect people not only at the time they are said but as they go on through their lives often it will shape them and shape the person they are. I want to just pick up on two characteristics of individuals who are bullied and then offer a couple of comments briefly. In paragraph 43 of the equality and human rights committee most of the evidence suggests that disabled people are twice more likely to be bullied than that of a non-disabled child. That bullying can take place in regard to what happens in the classroom but far more likely it is what happens in the lunchroom, the playground or on Facebook. We need to realise that last week we had a helpful debate on inclusive education but if we truly are going to have inclusive education then we need to make sure that disabled people, wherever their disability, are protected and that is true particularly those who perhaps have mental health issues or have disabilities around that area who often are far more likely to be disabled than even those with physical disability. I think that we are an interesting juncture in regard to where we are with faith belief. As faith belief perhaps changes within our society, as people come to different views, as traditional religions perhaps are being turned upon by people or turned away from people, we have to say how does the perhaps traditional child who believes in Islam or Judaism or Christianity fit into our schools and how do we protect them from having their beliefs and their thoughts held at the same time. I think that we are way forward and evidence came out of this on a number of groups is that what we need and I think that the Scottish Government is working towards this is a holistic approach but we have to say all brilliant in whatever form it takes is wrong and we have to work that through our syllabus. It was interesting when we were talking to people about race brilliant and when there are incidents of race brilliant going on it perhaps gets a higher priority in regards to what happens in schools and then when it drops off the agenda a bit it's not taught as much and I think there is a danger that if we pick on one characteristic over another characteristic where we say disability is more important than race at this time we end up with some groups missing out. I think it does start with what happens in the classroom what is taught by our teachers and that actually starts with what teachers are taught in the teacher training. One teacher told us at committee that they had half a day on brilliant for disabled children so if you happen to have a code on that four-year course you missed out completely and that was true with other characteristics as well and I do think that we need to look at what our teachers are being taught. I welcome the cabinet secretary's comment about how we record it because again most of the evidence that we took was that it is unrecorded and lots of incidents are still going by. I think that we need to involve parents in regard to this. We need to see how we can involve parents, educate parents, people like myself have been away from school for many years and how do I help my children face these issues if they are brilliant or heaven forbid they become the brilliant. How do parents involve this and as many people have said we need to involve the children in our schools both who are facing this but also those who might face it in the future. I welcome both these reports and I welcome all the evidence that has been given to the two committees and as other members have already said I think those who were brave enough to come before our committees and give that evidence have hopefully started something that would change our society. I hope that the message that comes out from this Parliament today and in the months ahead is that bullying is wrong and there is no place for it in 21st century I thank you very much. I call Neil Findlay to be followed by Ross Greer. I declare an interest as a member of the EIS and a former teacher. I think that the word bullying is a very misused term. Yesterday, the dispute over the ons 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 a group charged with being a bully. We hear the increasingly ludicrous president of the United States claiming that the media is bullying him. I think that this misuse of the term undermines the real impact and the everyday misery that the systematic misuse of power by one person over another brings. I think that we may 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. However, if we all recall from the dark recesses of our minds some of the behaviour that we engaged in or had done to us in school, we may reflect on that a bit more. When I taught in school, I saw first hand in schools and colleges over the nine years that I was there. Pupils being singled out for being different. It could be for being gay, for coming from a different country, BME communities, for their gender, their beliefs, the clothes they wear, the football team they supported, how they looked or spoke, their disability, their academic achievement or lack of academic achievement, even 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 a very cruel and lonely place, but they can also be the most inspiring, caring and compassionate places. I saw the overwhelming majority of pupils show humanity and solidarity and decency, dignity and respect to their fellow pupils, especially pupils in real need. I saw pupils who had been aggressors developing to good, compassionate members of society because they need support, help and understanding too. We do not often know what is going on in their mind or in their backgrounds. A few years ago, I had the privilege to show a film in this Parliament made by pupils from St Kenny Gairns academy in Blackburn. They made it along with UNICEF. It featured a young boy called Timmy who, when asked at a school assembly in front of the whole school whether anyone believed that they were poor, he raised his hand in front of all his peers. Instead of being singled out for ridicule, this boy was supported. He was surrounded by people wanting to help in a school community 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 parts of their life. In the past, 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. In a quarter of young people who contacted Childline reported online abuse. That means that misery continues long after the school bell rings. Of course, that impacts on their relationships, their families, attainment and mental health, and it can impact and damage them for life. I spoke to a constituent, recently a friend of mine, who used to be a neighbour of mine in his 50s, and he is a speech impediment. He recalled how life at school for him was a misery, how he was relentlessly mocked and embarrassed, made to read aloud with other sniggering and mocking him, all because he had a stammer. It has affected him all his life. It has affected his confidence, his self-belief, his social life and so many other areas. None of us can really understand that unless we have experienced it ourselves. Of course, for girls and young women, we see the consequences of sexual harassment and pressure to share images of themselves. That can be devastating. The Sunday Herald recently reported that 43 per cent of the over 10,000 sexual crimes reported in 2015-16 related to a victim under 18 is a shocking figure. We need to ensure that there is equality and fairness for all our young people. To do that, we have to have systems in place to fight back in not just rhetoric but real action. The motion mentions PSE in schools, and I taught PSE in a number of the schools that I was in. Working with outside agencies such as youth workers, charities, police, NHS, fire service, ex-offenders and pressure groups on a whole range of issues can ensure that PSE is an engaging part of school. However, those 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. Thank you very much. I call Ross Greer to follow by Ruth Maguire. Four minutes, Mr Greer. I think by agreement. Yes, thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Personal social education is an issue that I have been raising since my first election, not here but six years ago to the Scottish Youth Parliament. SYP has long made the case that PSE needs to change to reflect the experiences, the real experiences, of young people. I was pleased that one of the first requests that I made here, a committee inquiry into PSE, was agreed. Many of us were only too aware that PSE just isn't working, and the inquiries put that on the record. With hundreds of submissions from young people, parents, teachers and charities, the strength of feeling was clear. It's clear that PSE is often seen as an extra, something less important than assess subjects. However, whether it's mental health education, consent and relationships or personal finances, you cannot argue that this essential knowledge should be relegated to a lower tier. We've heard only too clearly what happens when those areas are not covered. The committee heard that many—most—young people in Scotland are not taught about consent in sex and relationship education. It would be wilfully ignorant to believe that there's no link between this and the issues of rape culture, sexual harassment and the deeply embedded misogyny in our society. It's expression highlighted the appalling need for classes on consent at university level. This weekend, the Sunday Herald reported that the experiences of young women at school cited how normalised words like slut, bitch and horror are, how unwanted touching and groping, sexual assault was far more common than many would care to admit, and how many who highlight or resist such behaviour were accused of overreacting. Revamped sex and relationship education, starting with the principle of consent, will not end on its own. Much can be drawn here from the Equalities Committee report on bullying, but to be in a situation in which most young people in Scotland do not learn about consent just is not tenable. That isn't unique, though. The Terns Higgins Trust found that 75 per cent of young people across the UK had not learned about consent at school. We also heard of the impact where classes are not LGBTI-inclusive. Almost every LGBTI young person suffers from school bullying. More than one in four of self-harmed or attempted suicide and almost nine in 10 said that they did not receive an LGBTI-inclusive education at school. Who they are, their life, was not covered. For young people who are confused and anxious, trying themselves to understand who they are, this is not good enough. I am so glad to see progress being made as a result of the work carried out by LGBTI Scotland, Stonewall and, of course, the Thai campaign, who have been tremendous advocates for LGBTI-inclusive education. The need for quality mental health education for every young person has also emerged strongly. The youth parliament found recently that three in four young people do not know what mental health information, support and services are locally available. The Church of Scotland's youth assembly, declaring an interest as a member, highlighted the need for PSE to tackle stigma around mental health, particularly the common use of stigmatising language. That will make a big difference in tackling the rising issue of young people's poor mental health. The young Greens have recently launched a healthy minds campaign for a guarantee that every young person receives quality mental health education and that the transition from school to college or university is improved for young people receiving mental health support. I hope that the Government will listen carefully to those calls. The range of issues that can and must be delivered through PSE is considerable. In a new era of exploitative work, our evidence showed the need for young people to learn about their rights and about key skills such as personal financial management. Now that 16 or 17-year-olds have the vote, another win for the youth parliament, citizenship and democracy is a key subject. We have heard wonderful examples from Bearsden academy, again declaring an interest as a relatively recent former pupil, where the PSE curriculum is co-designed with pupils, featuring topics such as the sixth year holiday. In summary, while great work is going on, PSE is delivered inconsistency, inconsistently, with glaring emissions and dated practice in key areas of young people's lives. I am delighted by the Government's announced review, but refreshed guidance alone will not be enough. We need to be bold in ensuring that every young person receives the quality inclusive personal and social education that they deserve. I call Ruth Maguire to be followed by Tom Mason. I am pleased to contribute to this important debate about the crucially interrelated issues of prejudice-based bullying and personal and social education in our schools. How we approach those topics will have a huge impact on the lives of children, the length and breadth of Scotland. It will profoundly influence the crucial and formative years that our children spend at school, shaping the lessons and experiences that will be carried into adulthood. In that, it will play a significant role in defining the type of adults and members of society that they will become. The importance of those topics and the responsibility that lies with us to get this right cannot be overstated. As such, I strongly welcome the Scottish Government's commitment to both refreshing the national approach to anti-bullying and to the national review of personal and social education. As a member of the Education and Skills Committee, I will focus my comments today on PSE. As we have heard, the short investigation undertaken by the committee found that the sex and relationships education, inclusivity and diversity, mental health and drugs and alcohol misuse are the essential issues that young people tell us must feature in PSE. The core values that have to underpin the teaching of those subjects can be summed up as respect, tolerance and consent. The concept of consent is particularly associated with sex and relationship education. I agree that consent is an hugely important issue. I am very concerned that the committee's research found that it is not covered consistently within PSE at the moment. As a starting point, we have to make absolutely sure that our children and young people fully understand and respect the notion of consent. However, I hope that people would agree that it should only be a starting point when it comes to discussing healthy and fulfilling sexual relationships. Consent, that is the absence of resistance, can only be a baseline, an absolute minimum standard and not the ultimate goal or the extent of our aspirations when it comes to the relationships of our young people. As we all know, healthy, emotional, social and physical relationships are based on far more than just consent. They are based on enthusiastic and whole-hearted commitment and participation, on mutual respect and confidence. So, whilst I completely recognise and support the need to improve education around consent, I would also caution that we do not lose sight of the bigger picture and that we make sure that our younger people know that they should be aiming for far more than just the lack of resistance in their relationships with others. In a similar vein, during yesterday's statement on preventing sexual offending involving children and young people, I was pleased that the cabinet secretary agreed with me that the education received by children on the issue must focus on more than just what is lawful and unlawful, but also on what is healthy, safe and respectful. That is important because the review of personal and social education overlaps with many other key strategies and actions that are currently under way, from anti-bullying to equally safe, the national action plan on internet safety for children and young people and most recently the newly announced ex-work group on preventing sexual offending involving children and young people. In all those areas, it is crucial that we distinguish between basic minimum standards of what is legal or acceptable behaviour and behaviour and relationships that are unambiguously positive, healthy, respectful and safe and which we should be promoting as the ultimate goal for our younger people. As well as consent, another key issue identified by the committee when it comes to sex and relationships education was inclusivity. Our young people must have the right to see themselves and their families respectfully and honestly reflected in what they are taught in school. That valuing of diversity applies to the LGBT inclusive education and I reiterate my support at this point for the TIE campaign and the fantastic work that they are doing, but it is also about recognising and respecting that families come in all shapes and sizes, whether it is lone parent families, divorced parents, married parents, step families, blended families. Lastly, although the committee's report focused on PSE in the school context, the other point that I would like to make is that it is really important to acknowledge that we cannot give full responsibility to schools and teachers. It is up to all of us to install and instill values of tolerance and respect in our children and young people. The provision of quality and fit for purpose PSE is one part of the task, but it is also about what children and young people are learning at home and in their communities, what is happening in their families and in wider society. It has been heartening to hear a pretty agreeable debate this afternoon with lots of contributions from members who clearly care deeply about how our young people learn. I look forward to working with everyone to make quality PSE and anti-bullying a success. I have Tom Mason, followed by David Torrance. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is somewhat of a poor reflection on our society that this topic needs to be discussed in the first place. However, we have a duty to acknowledge where we can do better and work constructively to deliver for those affected. The necessity of ending the preachy social bullying in the highest point in Scotland schools is an area where all in this chamber undoubtedly agree. Our views differ on many things in Parliament, but this is certainly not one of them. I appreciate the constructive manner in which this has been approached by colleagues from across the political parties, but we have a lot of work still to do. For example, Scotland against criminalisation community is noted earlier this year that 55 per cent of Muslim children experience verbal Islamophobia in school. The Thai campaign reported that 91 per cent of LGBT youth have experienced homophobia and related prejudice-based bullying. This also causes huge teaching problems with more than 16,000 absences taking place due to bullying. As members are no doubt aware, there are numerous different reports and statistics that I could cite and many have been put out today, but one in particular shocked me, Presiding Officer. The same study from Thai found that 27 of LGBT youth have attempted to suicide at least once as a result of prejudicial bullying. That is 27 per cent. That is a huge number. Young people feeling compelled to take their own lives due to the actions of others. This simply cannot be allowed to happen in a civilised society, so we must discuss solutions. The Education and Skills Committee report identified weaknesses and delivery of personal and social education, and I cannot stress enough how important I believe this is to be. When well done, PSE educates children and young people who are about healthy relationship diversity and equality. Unfortunately, as the committee has found, only 9 per cent of teachers felt that the Scottish Government's PHSPE guidance was to be sufficient. That is without mentioning the fact that 34 per cent had not been rated. We need to approach PSE that is consistent across the country and deals adequately with matters such as minority issues, diversity and mental health. We will focus on combating the attitudes that allow prejudice and hatred to prosper. Another key consideration is the ability of the teachers to deliver such content. The high-specialised nature of secondary education means that often teachers do not have the relevant training to deal with these complex issues. I can impress on the cabinet secretary the need not just to improve what we used to teach as part of the PSE and how we deliver it, but to ensure that the guidance is given serliant for teachers across the country. Starting off, there is another area that I have some reservation, and that is the review process for the national anti-bullying approach. I know that the cabinet secretary has committed to reviewing this every five years with the intermittent ad hoc evaluation in two periods. I would urge him to look again. I do so not just looking at where we might be in five years from now, but also the changes that we have seen in the past years alone. I think that the committee's recommendation to make a full review more regular is a sound one and should be considered to gain by the Scottish Government. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, I think that we all appreciate the necessity and the gravity of the task ahead of us. To end bullying and harassment in our schools, we need to put in place educational practices to prevent this behaviour from surfacing, showing why it is unacceptable in the first place. The Scottish Government will promise this review in PSE by the end of next year as part of their mental health strategy. Whilst I look forward to seeing the recommendations, that town should not prevent the ministers from taking swift reaction when needed. I encourage all those who can make a difference to do just that, whether we are teachers, ministers, MSPs, community leaders, we all have a responsibility to do better. So let's work together and make prejudice-based bullying and harassment in schools a thing of the past. Thank you. I call David Torrance to be followed by Andy Wightman. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I refer members to my register of interests. As a member of the Qualities and Human Rights Committee, I would first like to thank the clerking teams for their hard work in comparing the findings of the committee's fifth and seventh reports to highlight prejudice-based bullying and harassment in schools. I welcome both reports and recommendations. I would also like to take time to acknowledge the contributions from children and young people who shared their extremely moving stories with us. It was their stories that shared experiences that provided the greatest insight into the extent of nature of prejudice-based bullying in our schools. I offer you my heartfelt thanks, and I appreciate how difficult it was for many of you to share such personal experiences. When children and young people are continuously bullied because of their race, age, disability, gender or gender identity, religion or belief or sexual orientation, we are told to accept the negative identity that others give them. The policy recommends the recommendations that came out of those reports being discussed in this debate that focus on changing attitudes and behaviour among young people and teaching staff. Young people should see all students and staff that are treated with respect as a quality of relationships and the ways in which people's staff in a wider community interact all provide vital indications of an inclusive educational experience. Policies and approaches need to adapt to the changing nature of technology and social media. While we provide a platform to voice our opinions, it can also ruin a child's life without a moment's hesitation. By the time we reach 18 at school, we have spent 11,000 hours of our life in school. Our time in schools can have a great influence on our characters, our beliefs and our attitudes as we spend more time with our peers than with our parents. In order to promote a stronger anti-bullying policy, we need to understand that the voices of young people are the first voices that should be heard. The committee had the pleasure of welcoming Cameron Bowie and Rector Derek Allen from Kirkcaldy High School to one of our meetings to discuss the challenges that young people face in my community. Every school in Fife is required to develop and maintain their own anti-bullying policy, developed in conjunction with children and parents. Kirkcaldy High School continues to impress me in valuing the respect for others in the classroom, as well as informal school settings. The presence of young voices around the policy-making table is crucial for formulating anti-bullying legislation, and we must continue to encourage students to voice their concerns with parents, teachers and their representatives. I believe that Kirkcaldy High School to be leading a way in equality, acceptance and inclusivity in education with my constituency. That was recently echoed when the school was identified by Stonewall Scotland as the leading practice nationally and named as Stonewall's champion school. Extremely positive ethos at Kirkcaldy High School has been achieved by reinforcement of a consistently strong and clear message from all staff and strong educational programme focusing on topics such as prejudice and sterile typing. The LGBT Plus group at Kirkcaldy High School, which is made up of around 30 young people, has played a major role in attaining the positive culture that exists within the school. The group was formed in 2015 as we have become an integral part of the school thanks to a highly visible presence both in and out of school. Following an invitation from the Dector of Respect Me, the group recently gave a presentation at a national conference on bullying and discrimination. All too often, young people's voices are often drowned out. The amazing efforts of pupils at Kirkcaldy High School prove that we are giving young voices the means of tackling bullying. They will have the power to shape bullying culture and give younger people a better experience at school. Bullying detrates confidence and therefore it is crucial that we help children to fulfil their full potential. Recent studies have shown that bullying has a long-term impact long into their adult lives. Most who experience bullying as early as four years old are much more likely to be physical, psychologically and mentally disadvantaged. Therefore, bullying is not only a problem for our children, it becomes a problem for our adults too. As everyone is aware, I have a great passion for skeleton. Skeleton is a place for people to be themselves, welcoming all young people and adults regardless of their sexuality or gender identity. The committee recently heard ever since from a range of people from all around different backgrounds. Evidence that affected me most on a very personal level was that from the girl guiding Scotland and the results of the research which included statin statistics that nearly two in three girls aged between 13 and 21 have experienced some form of harassment in school. It is therefore a priority to ensure that all young people feel they are able to thrive and feel safe in a supportive environment that celebrates differences, inclusively ensures that LGBTQA plus community can access support. Scotland has a national Scout active support unit called Flaggs, which actively supports recruitment and support of LGBTQA plus adults within the Scout Association. Our equal opportunities policy has covered LGBT rights for more than 20 years and we do lots more to that through the reach of the LGBTI community. We welcome LGBTI members at all levels into our organisation. Upon volunteers specialists in diversity, including LGBTI advisors, I have attended the Scottish Pride festivals for the last five years. I continue to be impressed by evidence from several youth organisations who have already recognised the importance and have implanted measures to address this issue and ensure inclusivity for all. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, I welcome a cabinet set response to 29 recommendations and look forward to working with the Scottish Government to advance awareness to tackle prejudices based bullying as well as to continue to hear evidence sessions that have been shared across Scotland. We need to empower young students to feel part of the solution, not the problem. Policymakers, teachers and local authorities need to co-operate on anti-bullying policies alongside their students and work with them to come up with a solution. When young people participate, when it becomes their rules too, they will be more inclined to follow in. Schools are an excellent way to promote respecting and celebrating differences and diversity and to learn to stand up to bullying. We need to send a message to our young people that they are proud that they can make a huge difference in changing their own lives and the future attitudes towards bullying in Scotland. The last of the open debate contributions is from Andy Wightman. Two minutes has agreed, please, Mr Wightman. Thank you. Very shortly after being elected, I was approached by constituents with a case involving a child who was the victim of serious bullying that ended up causing lifelong injuries at George Watson's College in Edinburgh. On 15 February 2017, a report of the annual HMI engagement visit to the school reported that there were, and I quote, no identified areas for development in relation to safeguarding. Yet by this time, the school was aware of a catalogue of complaints of various forms of bullying against a pupil, and either its parent liaison group had heard of bullying concerns by parents who were scared to complain. The school was also aware of potential regulatory action under consideration then by Scottish ministers. In September this year, a special inspection was conducted, and three weeks ago Scottish ministers wrote to the merchant company of Edinburgh to inform it that, and I quote, the Scottish ministers are satisfied that George Watson's College is at risk of becoming objectionable on the following ground, that the welfare of a pupil attending the school is not adequately safeguarded and promoted there. Presiding Officer, I do not know whether the governance failures identified at George Watson's College are an isolated incident within the merchant company of Edinburgh schools or within private schools more generally, but we need to find out as a matter of urgency. The EHR committee makes a number of recommendations in its report. Recommendations 20 and 28 are of particular relevance, yet neither recommendation nor the Government's response to them suggests that those will apply equally to the private sector, and I would be particularly pleased to hear from the cabinet secretary his view on whether, in particular, monitoring and recording should apply to all schools. Anti-bullying measures, whether statutory or in the form of guidance, should apply equally to all schools, including private schools, as children's human rights are universal and indivisible. It is self-evident that the welfare of children at this school is at risk, yet the letter intimating regulatory action and the HMI report have not been published. I plan to publish both documents this afternoon, and I would invite ministers to reflect on the possibility that there are wider governance and safeguarding failings in the private sector, and to investigate whether that is or is not the case as a matter of utmost urgency. We now move to the closing speeches, and I call Mary Fee up to six minutes, please, Ms Fee. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As a member of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee, I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to speak in this debate today. Can I start by thanking my fellow members of the committee and the committee clerks, who, as always, were of tremendous assistance in helping to publish the report into prejudice-based bullying and harassment of children and young people in schools. The inquiry by the committee was extensive and comprehensive, taking evidence from a wide range of witnesses, including academics and third sector organisations. However, undoubtedly, the most compelling voices were those of the young people who spoke candidly of their experiences of bullying and harassment in schools. The debate has been consensual in nature with all parties across the chamber expressing a clear commitment to eradicate prejudice-based bullying and harassment of young people in schools. In closing the debate today on behalf of Scottish Labour, I want to reflect on the key themes of this afternoon's debate and consider some of the particularly thoughtful contributions from colleagues across the chamber. However, before doing so, I would like to briefly touch on the pertinent issue of LGBTI bullying in schools, about which the committee heard quite harrowing evidence from a range of young people. Reason evidence from Stonewall Scotland has revealed the continuing high prevalence of LGBTI bullying in schools, an area that was highlighted earlier by Monica Lennon and also by other speakers. In giving evidence to the committee, LGBT Youth Scotland revealed that many of the young people who use their support services have experienced intrusive suicidal thoughts as a result of the bullying that they have experienced in school. For too long, we have accepted that bullying is just banter or part of the natural order of the transition from childhood to adulthood. Bullying is an extremely serious issue that can cause long-term damage to an individual's mental health. We have a responsibility to ensure that every young person, no matter their sexual or gender identity, has the right to a safe and enjoyable education without fear of bullying or harassment. LGBTI bullying in schools is not restricted to a certain group of schools, a specific region of the country, but it is present in schools in every village, town and city across the length and breadth of Scotland. However, things do not have to be this way. Cercodi High School, as David Torrance mentioned, provides a shining example of how schools can take the initiative to tackle LGBTI bullying. The ethos of Cercodi High School is to actively promote diversity and inclusivity. The school works tirelessly to eradicate LGBTI bullying with the establishment of a student-led LGBTI committee, which has helped to ensure that their students feel safe, secure and valued, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. I know that I speak for all members of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee in saying that we were extremely impressed by the approach that was taken by Cercodi High School. All of their staff and pupils should be incredibly proud of what they have achieved. In the time remaining, I would like to reflect on the key themes of this afternoon's debates. We have heard considered and thoughtful speeches from across the chamber, and there has rightly been a focus placed on improving the recording and monitoring of bullying and harassment in schools. There has been a focus put on the discussion around how to improve support services that are available in schools to give the appropriate guidance and counselling to young people who have been bullied or harassed. The importance of PSE was highlighted by several speakers. James Dornan's contribution covering his committee's work was particularly helpful, and I am grateful to the education committee for their on-going focus on the issue. In the time remaining, I do not have the time to go through every individual contribution that was made to the debate. However, I would like to specifically mention the contributions from Gail Ross and Neil Findlay, which I think were particularly powerful. In addition, the important issue of mental health was touched upon by Daniel Johnson and Claire Hoche. In closing, I look to, once again, thank all members who have contributed thoughtfully and constructively to this vitally important debate. Most importantly, I would like to once again take the opportunity to thank all the young people who gave evidence to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee. Without the bravery, honesty and openness of those young people, we would not be aware of the true scale of prejudice-based bullying and harassment still experienced by thousands of children in Scotland each and every day. We as a Parliament must do more to promote inclusivity in schools, but local authorities and individual schools must also take greater responsibility to eradicate prejudice-based bullying and harassment. Before we move on, it is disappointing to note that not all those who took part in the debate are in the chamber for the closing speeches. I remind all members that, if they have taken part in the debate, they should be in for the start of the closing speeches. It is discourtes to the chamber to do other rise, and I call Jamie Greene up to six minutes please. Alex Cole-Hamilton opened proceedings today outlining the context of the debate. It is national anti-bullying week, and there are a number of national conversations around our behaviour towards one another across all walks of life. Today's debate makes it abundantly clear that we cannot just tackle bullying as it happens, we must stop it happening in the first place. Therefore, preventative education is the key, and I have to say today's debate has been quite depressing in many ways. Story after story, from every corner of Scotland, so many young people suffering on a daily basis. Admittedly, we do live in a far more inclusive society than ever before in terms of gender, sexuality, race, religion and disability, but, underneath that, there still remains an undercurrent of discrimination. One of the most startling figures to come out of the debate was from Stonewall Scotland that said that 90 per cent of LGBT people have experienced homophobia, biphobia or transphobia at school. At school, not in the street or on a bus, but in school, the very place that we expect our children to learn and develop from childhood into adulthood. Nearly half of LGBT students are routinely bullied. How on earth can we expect that to be an environment where children can learn, develop or grow? The warm words and commitments that are made by the Government today are very welcome from those benches, but for some it will be too little, too light. I must agree with my colleague Michelle Ballantyne, who said in her opening comments that a one size does not fit all when it comes to tackling bullying. The methods have changed and, therefore, how we tackle it must be flexible and nimble, too. It is evidently clear that education at the earliest age appropriate is the way we tackle intolerance in society. We will have to tackle sensitive and often challenging issues with our children. Of course, education must be age appropriate, but we must also accept that today's world is a digital one, and that the by-product of that is that access to adult themes from a younger age is much more prevalent than was the case in our childhoods. I would like to thank some of the excellent contributions that are made today from right across the chamber. First of all, Jeremy Balfour pointed out that disability can come in many forms, both physical but also unseen and mental. He raised some salient points around the need for improvements in teacher training. High school teachers are specialists, but they are not always specialists in PSE. Our teachers really need the support of externally trained experts along with consistent teacher training mechanisms to allow them to deliver PSE adequately. Mr Balfour also touched on the often overlooked point of faith-based harassment. Where that still exists, it must be stamped out, and this is especially important where we see sectarianism in sport. The language, the imagery and the chants really have not changed very much at all since the days of my educational segregation. It is a blight on our society. Following on from Monica Lennon's very sad story about a transgender constituent suffering the hands of daily harassment, the risk of repeating ourselves too much may also pay tribute to my friends in the Thai campaign for their cross-party efforts in tackling this. Like many other third sector charities, they work in schools talking to teachers and pupils directly. They are confronting prejudice at the cold face. I have signed their pledge and I encourage others to do the same. Tom Mason rightly emphasised the need for a coherent strategy across the country so that there can be a clear understanding of what needs to be covered in the classroom. I was also particularly struck by my colleague Brian Whittle's participation. He had a very positive story to share. He gave the example of We Bod Big Heed, who I shall be looking up on Facebook later, but he shows an example of what can be achieved when we get things right when we often speak of what happens when we don't. Daniel Johnson, in his contribution, was right to point out the important issue of the waiting times for mental health support for young people in Scotland. He is very right to do so. Waiting months for specialist help is a dire outcome. Gail Ross, I think, made a very thought-provoking speech today. Boolean isn't a word, it is an action. Right now, there is someone sitting at home who has just returned from another day at school and probably another day of hell. Guess what, the Boolean has probably followed them home and it's probably due to social media. Moreover, and this should bother us as MSPs, is that some of those people try to seek help and found no solace. In closing, I would like the Government benches to consider some of our proposals to improve PSE. Let's ensure that PSE is adequately delivered in every school across all of Scotland. It is absolutely remarkable that this is not currently the case. Let us train teachers on how to deliver the subject. Let us enshrine LGBTI subjects in PSE and train teachers on how to deliver it. Let us standardise the teaching framework so that there is consistency in Scotland. Let us be open-minded as to the content of PSE so that it scopes way beyond just sex, drugs and the internet and looks at all walks of life, including personal finance and citizenship. Let's really make speedy progress with the introduction of Boolean monitoring and metrics. We can no longer accept the response that is someone else's job to do that. When we speak in the political arena about getting it right for every child, I have to say that the stories shared in today's debate make it clear that this still remains an ambition rather than an achievement. I call on John Swinney up to seven minutes, please, cabinet secretary. This has been a valuable and thoughtful debate, where we have had the opportunity to reflect on two important reports from two parliamentary committees that have drawn together a considerable amount of evidence and feedback from members of the public, an awful lot of which, given great courage and provided with great courage by members of the public who endure examples of Boolean behaviour and who are living with the consequences. I put on record my admiration and the Government's admiration for individuals who have come forward to contribute to our discussions in that fashion. A number of the contributions in the discussion today have reflected on some of that evidence, and I was struck by the contrast in Monica Lennon's contribution between one very bad example of a young person and the very good example that she raised about Brannock High School. It is also related to the contribution that Mr Whittle made, where he talked about the example of one young man who prospered within a mainstream educational situation, despite the challenges that he was facing. However, the fundamentally strong theme that ran through both of those contributions from Mr Whittle and Monica Lennon was about the strength of the ethos of the schools in concern. I am not sure whether I recall the school that Mr Whittle was referring to, but what was fundamentally at the heart of ensuring that those young people had a good experience was the ethos of the school and the inclusivity of the school. That is essentially what lies at the heart of the Government's thinking about the respect for all guidance that has been issued. We are setting out to our school system and to the wider debate in Scotland some of the important elements that must be at the heart of the approach to education that we take forward to ensure that there is the strongest possible ethos that gives support and assistance to young people. That will be a valuable part in the journey of supporting young people to avoid them developing further mental health challenges that will require more acute interventions, which ministers have acknowledged that those services are under significant pressure. However, if there is a strong ethos in the school, that can assist in equipping young people with the ability to avoid having to seek further assistance because their condition has not deteriorated to merit such intervention. Of course, the challenge of this whole area of policy, which has been with us for all time, is made more demanding by the era in which we live, in which cyber bullying is a significant factor in life. It can follow young people out of an educational setting into a home setting where young people may be able to experience much greater support. The importance of ensuring that our policy approach adequately equips young people with the resilience to be able to withstand the pressures that may come from cyberbullying, but also given the confidence to tackle that unacceptable behaviour and to be clear that that behaviour is unacceptable is an important part of the agenda that we take forward. Also, because of the importance of the home setting, it brings in to play the points made by Ruth Maguire, Tom Mason and Jeremy Balfour about the importance of parental involvement in ensuring that parents are equipped with knowledge in which they can support young people should their children be experiencing some of those difficulties and be able to support them to acquire the resilience to tackle many of those questions. One of the points that Mr Matheson announced in the statement that was given to Parliament yesterday as part of the expert group on preventing sexual offending involving children and young people was the importance of tackling early those examples and creating the resilience within young people to ensure that they can withstand those issues. That addresses one of the points that my colleague Gil Ross made in a very powerful contribution to the debate this afternoon. I said in my opening remarks that I would spend a little bit of time on personal and social education, which I intend to do, because the review of personal and social education is an important aspect of ensuring that there is proactive support and assistance within our schools to assist young people. Personal and social education must be appropriate for the times, it must be relevant and, in that respect, the point that Mr Greer made in the debate, which is a point that he has made before to me and one that I happily respond to, is that the issue of consent and the development of a deeper understanding of the issue of consent must be central to the approach that we take forward on personal and social education. There has been a call in Parliament today for that personal and social education to be delivered, and I think that I would characterise it in a uniform fashion across the country. I think that that inhibits, although I want to make sure that personal and social education is valuable and relevant to every young person across the country, I think that that approach inhibits the professional responsibility of individual teachers to decide what is the correct approach to be taken in certain circumstances around the country. I do not want to in any way impede on that professional capacity of teachers to make the judgment about the most effective way in which they can deliver personal and social education. Let me close by reflecting on the contribution of the convener of the education committee, James Dornan, who talked about a number of values that must underpin the approach that we take in all of those areas of policy, whether it is about the way we tackle bullying in our society or whether it is about how we equip our young people with the capacities to handle some of those challenging issues with which we wrestle in personal and social education. Mr Dornan talked about the importance of the understanding of consent, of love, of kindness and of respect at the heart of this agenda. I think that it is important in this parliamentary debate that we reflect on those values and understand the significance that they can have in ensuring that we have an approach in this area of policy supported by very broad consensus within Parliament that can have a profound impact on the lives of young people and equip them with all that they require to withstand the pressures that come from bullying, but also have the ability to be well educated through personal and social education to meet the challenges of our times, as we intend that to be the content of the review that we undertake. I call Johann Lamont on behalf of the Education and Skills Committee. Up to seven minutes, please, Ms Lamont. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I declare an interest as a member of the EIS and a former schoolteacher. It is a great privilege for me to close on behalf of the Education and Skills Committee. I thank all those who gave us briefings for this debate today and for all the work that is done by the two committees and clerks in informing this debate, and I hope that informing the work that is taking forward. I suppose that, as a schoolteacher, one of the things that I used to worry about most was bullying and the message that I used to give to young people. You have to speak up, tell us, and I promise you that you will be okay. I realised that it was a promise that it was very difficult to keep. It is because it can be insidious. It is because it is not just within the classroom. It can seep out into the community. It did 20 years ago seep out into the community where a young person could be targeted and feel absolutely destroyed. I knew young people whose life chances, their capacity to learn in school, were utterly diminished by the experience of bullying. I also would like to give a thought for the bullies that I taught, youngsters with bullies. As parents, we often worry that our children might be bullied whenever they think that they might be bullies. I think that there is work to be done to understand what takes people to that place and the collective experience of those around them. I used to teach my children that it is bad enough to be bullied, but if you see somebody else being bullied, that is a greater responsibility to speak out and to speak up for them. It is an issue that people live with right out up into adult life. It is also true that bullying is not without its social context. Do we think about how as a society we treat people with disabilities and then be surprised if that is reflected in our schools, the way in which we treat people of a different culture, a different background and even the way in which we treat each other in our political discourse, whether that gives people messages about what is acceptable behaviour? There are important issues that are highlighted in the report on personal social education, and I want to talk about some of those. There are so many issues that are facing young people today. Pressures on their personal lives, pressures to do well at school and their future opportunities and achieving, the financial pressures that they may experience, the experience of precarious work that I never knew, but I know it is all too much the experience of young people who may be bullied in their workplace when they are trying to do their best to earn a bit of money to keep them going, and all of that in the brutally harsh judgmental world of social media. It is clear that it is unrealistic to think that personal social education can do all of that and can sort all of that for us. I know that, in my own working life, St Andrew's First Aid, the British Heart Foundation, one day or to my heart, remembering Srebrenica Scotland, all want to get into schools, want to go in and work with PSE teachers. There are so many people who see the opportunity that school affords to get those messages out. We know that it is not possible for personal social education to do all of that, but what is done should be done well and should not be a time filler. Of course, education is not necessarily the simple cause of discrimination, but it must not compound the problems that young people already face. As has been said, we commend the campaigns of Tye and others in talking about the direct experience and the way in which school did make things worse. There has been some discussion about consent, and I see a role for PSE in addressing those questions, but we ought not to get away with the idea. We had evidence from someone who said that he got to university and did not know about consent. Frankly, I sometimes think that that is a bit of a get-out clause for people who understand exactly how they are behaving and how inappropriate it is. It is important to talk about consent, but it is also important to talk about personal responsibility. When I was still teaching 20 years ago, Castle milk high school had forward-thinking pioneering around the role of personal social education. It was driven by the guidance department, but it was done with other volunteers participating. It was done in small groups, it was done with external visitors and it was done in a co-productive way with the young people themselves. I have to ask the question, is that model that was so effective, realistic in this day, with pressures on staffing and support staff? It is essential that, in terms of education, personal social education is not a bonus, it is not an add-on, but it can be central to a young person's ability to learn. It is why we emphasise again that education is not just about buildings and teachers, but it is about all the other supports in the school that allow a good PSE programme to develop. In our report, there is an emphasis on a number of things. On the question, we do believe that relationship education, the question of consent, is about sex, but more about respect and how people can respect each other. It should be core to it. It should understand diversity in the classroom, that people will come with different experiences and that it should be inclusive of all those experiences, not describing some as other as something that is not to do with the school. It should be talking about mental health issues, not to medicalise the problems for young people, but to understand trauma, secrecy, what young people may be living with in their lives and try to get other young people to understand and empathise with that. Perhaps a young person's attendance on behaviour is not evidence of a problematic young person, but that young people are responding logically to their own experience. The more conversations there are within schools about that experience of all too many young people is really important. There are a number of concerns highlighted within the report, particularly about the patchy provision. I hear what the cabinet secretary said. We may not want uniformity, but I think that there is a reasonable expectation of consistency. We welcome the review, and it should emphasise the importance of health and equalities, the way in which the curriculum is operated. It should be seen as a core part of that. There are important questions raised. Should personal social education be mandatory? A lot of the organisations working with young people said that it should be, and that it should be consistent and there should be direction from the centre. That is something that we have to wrestle with. It has to be balanced with other curriculum areas and the pressures that schools face, but I repeat again that the reality is that for some young people who will not access the curriculum, they will not achieve unless they get the kinds of support that effective personal and social education can give. That is also an opportunity to acknowledge those people who have spoken out about their experience of bullying in school and elsewhere. We commend the TIE campaign, but those other groups who also understand just how insidious and destroying being bullied can be. If I just say in the by-going that the TIE campaign just attached myself to its success a little, we should note that it started life as a petition to the Public Petitions Committee, and I hope that other campaigns will see that as an important way of bringing to the attention of the Parliament the work that they want to do. I think that there is a question— You must close, Ms Lamont. Just in conclusion, we recognise that personal and social education should be in the context of the broader ethos of the school. It is the whole school's responsibility, and within schools and across schools, all of our responsibility to address bullying wherever it is seen. I call Annie Wells to close the debate on behalf of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee up to seven minutes. Hearing speakers from across the chamber come together on such an important issue is very welcomed by the committee, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to close for the Equalities and Human Rights Committee today. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the many organisations and individuals who gave evidence to both committees and the hard work of the clerks, and also give my thanks to the Education and Skills Committee for their contribution. I have spoken in this chamber before on my own experience of being bullied in school, and although I will not go into the detail again, what I think is really telling is that, 30 years later, that is still happening in our schools. There is not a magic ingredient, we know that, but there are ways and means by which we can drastically go about improving the situation. Perhaps instrumental to this, and as we have seen today, is that we work together on what is essentially a public health issue, and I am pleased that the Scottish Government worked with the committee by halting the publication of its anti-bullying strategy and for also taking into serious consideration the recommendations made in the committee's report. I welcome the introduction of the working group to look at the process of uniformed mandatory monitoring system. During the debate that we heard from my fellow committee members, Alex Cole-Hamilton and Gail Ross talked about the right training for teachers in tackling prejudice-based bullying, as did many others speaking in the debate today. Also that consent, healthy relationships and human rights be taught from the early stage possible. Gail Ross also spoke about section 28, and that all teachers need to be made fully aware that that no longer exists. David Torrance mentioned curcodi high school and its anti-bullying strategy, and during an evidence session with curcodi high school, they shared with the committee how they are leading the way in equality and inclusivity, and as David mentioned, winning Stonewall Scotland's champion school award. Mary Fee and Jamie Greene spoke of LGBTI bullying and the shocking figures of those who have been bullied and more shockingly of those who had thought of taking their own lives. However, what I would like to focus on today, as I close the debate for the committee, is why it is so important to get that right. As has been touched upon by many, including the Scottish Ruth Parliament and its right here, right now campaign, bullying is a human rights issue. The repercussions that we all know go far beyond the school gates and well beyond your time spent as children and teenagers. During the evidence session that is part of the inquiry, we heard from a number of witnesses who shared some very harrowing stories of their experiences in school. One of the most distressing cases that we encountered was that of Rebecca Nicholson, a young woman from the Highlands who had now volunteered as a disabled youth worker with inclusion Scotland. As a wheelchair user in secondary school, Rebecca's life was made miserable by fellow students. She faced verbal abuse, pupils would put rubbish in the hood of her clothing and when she sought help from the teachers and school leadership, that behaviour was brushed under the carpet and rationalised, something simply to ignore. Rebecca changed schools twice, she felt isolated, she was made to feel an inconvenience to teachers and she eventually became depressed. Those issues did not stop the moment she left school, the consequences of which were Rebecca entering into an abusive relationship in her early adulthood and subsequently being diagnosed with post-traumatic disorder. Although Rebecca is now doing well studying health and social care at university and working tirelessly to eliminate disability-based prejudice in schools, that anecdote for which we are indebted to Rebecca for sharing really highlights the devastating effects that bullying can have on someone's life. There is a bigger picture to this and one that arguably makes bullying a public health issue. In politics right now, we talk constantly about mental health and rightly so. In light of recent events, we are now also talking about sexual harassment. Those issues are not devoid of a relationship with the goings-on of our time spent at school. Statistically, we know that 20 per cent of adolescents may experience a mental health problem in any given year and we know that 50 per cent of mental health problems are established by the age of 14. I do not for one minute think that mental health problems stem from issues at school—absolutely not—but we must recognise the need to garner an environment that protects young people from exasperating the problem. Just this weekend, we saw more media coverage of sexual harassment in schools, with girls being subject to shocking levels of sexual harassment on a daily basis, including cat-calling and the casual use of words like slut, hoor and bitch, unwanted touching, boys watching violent porn at school, problems with sexing, where intimate pictures of girls are shared through social media. Recent research by girlguiding found that nearly two in three girls aged between 13 and 21 have experienced some form of sexual harassment in school. The next point that I would like to make is how many of the behaviours we are now really beginning to call out in adult world are starting at school as young people? How many behaviours can we prevent from spelling into our adult lives? That is what this should be about, prevention, looking at the wider societal impact that bullying has on our mental health and our values relating to how we treat one another. We do not always know where things are going, going to go. Even 10 years ago, no-one had predicted the potential impact of social media in our schools as a tool for sexual harassment. No-one had predicted the recent fallout from the Harvey Weinstein scandal. That is why it is so important that we work together to get ahead of those issues and precipitate the possible longer-term, wider effects. Only by taking decisive action at an early stage can we begin to get to the root of those issues and continue to make progress. That is the change in attitudes that I have spoken about today and one that I hope is taken forward by all members on all sides. That is why I welcome the consensus across the chamber in today's debate and the positive contributions made by members. Let this Parliament today send out the message that it is not cool to be cruel. That concludes the debate on prejudice-based bullying and harassment of children and young people in schools and review of personal and social education. It is time to move on to the next item of business. The next item of business is consideration of business motion 8862, in the name of Jo Fitzpatrick, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a business programme. I would ask any member who wishes to speak against the motion to press the request-to-speak button. No-one has pressed the request-to-speak button. I therefore call on Maurice Golden on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau to move motion 8862. No member has asked to speak against the motion. The question is that motion 8862 be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is there for agreed. Can you wait until decision time is complete, please? I recognise that you did it before decision time, but I would prefer it if you waited until we were closed. There is a single question to be put as a result of today's business. The question is that motion 871, in the name of Christina McKelvie, on behalf of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee, on prejudice-based bullying and harassment of children and young people in schools and review of personal and social education, be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is there for agreed. That concludes decision time. Mr Harvie. I'm grateful, Presiding Officer. As you'll be aware, the Finance and Constitution Committee is currently taking evidence in relation to the EU withdrawal bill and the question of legislative consent for that bill. This morning, as part of that evidence-taking, we heard one academic witness raise an argument that calls into question one of the functions of the Presiding Officer. As you'll be aware, the Presiding Officer under rule 9.3 is required to give a ruling that accompanies the introduction of any bill to this Parliament on the question of legislative competence of any bill being considered by the Parliament. The EU withdrawal bill, if it was passed in its current form, introduces a new concept of law called EU retained law and would inhibit the ability of this Parliament to pass legislation that wasn't compliant with this new body called EU retained law. Can I ask what consideration has been given by the Presiding Officer and what advice has been taken by the Presiding Officer in relation to this aspect that may impinge on the Presiding Officer's function in relation to legislative competence and whether that has been discussed with the UK Government in its drafting of the EU withdrawal bill? Will it have an impact on, for example, the resources that the Presiding Officer needs or the time that would be taken to ensure the legislative competence of any future bill after the EU withdrawal bill has been passed? I would like to thank Mr Harvey first of all for giving formal notice and former notice of the point that he has raised. I would like to assure Mr Harvey and indeed the chamber that those matters are under consideration. The Presiding Officer's role is in legislative competence and that will continue. However, retained EU law does indeed introduce a new concept. It will be up to the Presiding Officer to take that into account along with all other considerations. Further, I assure Mr Harvey that there is a careful watch that has been kept in all developments that are happening constitutionally, of course, and that all those matters will be considered in an on-going manner. We now move on to members' business. I would ask please that members leave the chamber quickly and quietly.