New Petitions

I am a minister at Cambusnethan in Wishaw. I have brought my wife with me but I am afraid that Mgr Michael Conway, my Roman Catholic colleague, who would have liked to accompany me to this meeting, has not been able to get cover. I will speak only for myself, but the petition is in the name of both of us and of the many people who signed it.

I thank the convener and members of the committee for allowing me to speak to the petition. Since our first meeting in March and in later letters, officials and politicians have not given us straight answers; they have dismissed our concerns as exaggerated or irrelevant, claiming that we have taken things out of context. It is still being denied that the list is official and that resources are designed for use in the classroom. I refer members to the letter that the Minister for Education and Young People wrote to MSPs on Friday.I would like to believe all the assurances that we have been given, but some defy plain common sense and the facts. As we are faced with a brick wall of contradiction and denial, the Public Petitions Committee offers us redress and the possibility that our concerns will be given proper consideration, without fear or favour.I have supplied members with coloured sheets that have been culled from books on the list of approved materials. We ask MSPs to consider carefully not just those explicit excerpts, but the use of unsuitable resources generally. Close scrutiny will confirm that those resources flagrantly contradict and undermine the Executive's guidance on sex and drugs education. I do not think that the Executive wishes to adopt a new approach, in breach of assurances that were given to the Scottish Parliament in March 2001. However, if it continues to recommend inappropriate and irresponsible resources and to condone their continued recommendation and use in some council areas, its assurances will become worthless.The materials sideline morality and encourage children to experiment with sex and drugs and to break the law. The two drugs packs both accept illegal drug use as inevitable and normal and claim that dangers are exaggerated. The sex education materials are gratuitously and inappropriately explicit. Marriage is completely sidelined. The resources ignore the real option of saying no to illegal drugs and early sexual activity. I can provide members with many examples, in addition to those that are quoted in my supporting document.There is a clear prima facie case for saying that the guidance required by Parliament is being ignored and flouted. MSPs, the Education, Culture and Sport Committee and the Executive should re-examine which classroom materials are recommended. Some on the official list are educationally and morally flawed. They contravene and invalidate the statutory guidance that was much trumpeted by education ministers and officials in circular 2/2001. That document requires instruction appropriate"to each child's age, understanding and stage of development"and facts to be presented in a"balanced and sensitive manner within a framework of sound values".Pupils are to be encouraged"to appreciate the value of stable family life"and"commitment in relationships … including the value placed on marriage by religious groups and others".They are also to be encouraged"to recognise the … moral implications … of behaviour"and"to understand the importance of self-restraint".We all agree with those statements. They are often quoted, but in practice they are too often ignored.The petition is competent and should be referred to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee. The Scottish Parliament and the Executive have responsibility in education for giving guidance to local authorities and ensuring that it is followed. The choice of teaching materials is not always a mere detail that should be left to quangos to advise on and to local councils, school boards, teachers and parents to check. The previous Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs quite properly accepted that it was his responsibility to be concerned with details of the workings of the exam system and to intervene, rather than to leave everything to the relevant agency. Parliament and the Executive should ensure that classroom materials comply with statutory guidance.It is important that pupils in our schools receive appropriate, clear information and are equipped to handle the pressures that they may face. The Executive and the Parliament should give a lead in encouraging a more balanced list of resources that meets statutory guidance and the assurances that have been given to Parliament and to the public.Why should I bother with this issue? I am busy—I am a parish minister and this is not my priority. However, over a six-week period last year, I had to deal with the so-called sudden deaths of three youngsters, all of whom lived within half a mile of one another. Those who signed the petition are not just church people, but health professionals, ordinary parents and grandparents, and ordinary members of the public. They are not moral fanatics who are yearning for some fantasy world of innocence. We live in the real world of individuals, families and communities that are damaged by premature sexual activity and promiscuity, by drug dependency and by violence that is often fuelled by a culture of hard drinking. In that context, it is vital to present people as far more than sex objects and to teach the value of commitment, self-respect and relationships—to instruct pupils not just in the mechanics of sex, but to build a moral framework for life.That is what Parliament and the public were assured would happen, but it is not what is happening. For the sake of our young people, please do not blindly accept the assurances that have been given, but allow our petition to be considered objectively and impartially.

I have not distorted the situation. I have merely quoted and given examples from the materials that are recommended in the Executive's "5-14 National Guidelines Health Education Guide for Teachers and Managers". I believe that the minister's letter says that there is no Scottish Executive-endorsed or recommended list of resources for sex or drugs education. Well, the guide for teachers and managers has the Scottish Executive's imprint. It is referred to as a basic document in the 2001 circular. It contains a clear list of resources that are suggested as useful. Whether that list is official, recommended or endorsed may be a matter of semantics. The fact remains that it is the only official list that has been produced. It is the only list of resources that has been published on behalf of the Executive. I would like the Executive to take responsibility for it. The guide goes much further than any previous guidance and gives a clear list of resources. It is not a balanced list. We would like the Executive to address that.

That is difficult. The Healthwise materials are all designed for classroom use. On almost every page there is advice that the sheets may be photocopied. Some of the examples that I have given are clearly designed for easy and convenient use. That is the purpose of the sheets. For education authorities and busy teachers who are under pressure, the plain import is that the sheets are a resource that they can pick up and use. The wording is clearly geared towards that.When we met the then Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs in March, he was seeing "Taking Sex Seriously" for the first time—we showed it to him. Since then, there have been denials that there is anything harmful in the materials. I defy anyone who reads the documents and considers the nature of the materials and the principles behind them to think that there is nothing harmful in them. They make it clear that, in a moral framework of tolerance, there should be open discussion and a removal of inhibitions. Those materials are not helpful, appropriate or suitable.

There is a parental right to withdraw children. That right comes from European legislation and is referred to in the Executive's circular. However, if we have to rely on a right to withdraw, we have admitted defeat. We should be able to send our children to school without worrying that they are going to be singled out because their parents are clear that the materials are not suitable. Some local authorities are using those materials. I am not aware that there has been full consultation in every instance; I am certain that there has not been.

It is true that local authorities have recommended the materials. Where they have been recommended, it is as a resource for teachers. However, it is clear when one reads through the material, especially that produced by the Healthwise organisation in Liverpool, that it is designed for handy and convenient use.I spent 14 years as a schoolteacher. I never had to teach sex or health education or the equivalent. As a young teacher, I would have felt inadequate and intimidated by the prospect of doing so. Some teachers, councillors, education officials and head teachers have said that they would not allow such materials to be used or lifted in the classroom.Those materials are for the convenience of teachers and teachers are under pressure. If there are such well-produced, glossy, efficient and well-presented materials, there is a considerable temptation to lift those materials and use them as they are. They are designed to be lifted and used as they are, despite the odd caveat that has been thrown in here and there.I ask people to read the materials from cover to cover. I also ask the Minister for Education and Young People and her officials to do so. In local authorities, such as North Lanarkshire Council, where the materials have been brought to the attention of councillors, there has been almost universal disgust and a feeling that the resources are not suitable. They are not just teachers' resources; their nature is that they are designed to be used.It is all very well to say that, even if the materials are not used, they are useful because they inform teachers and give some factual information, but their whole ethos is distorted. The materials start with the underlying principles that drug laws are wrong and that harm is grossly exaggerated. That contradicts the Executive's previous official guidance and assurances. The same applies to the attitude to sex—there seems to be a gay abandon and a gratuitous and inappropriate approach to the whole business of sexual activity.

The four materials that were produced by Healthwise do not only give information; they also give misinformation. The principles that lie behind the materials are insidious. The materials suggest that, when primary school teachers are preparing to teach sex, there should be brainstorming sessions in which teachers are encouraged to share their sexual experiences and to overcome their inhibitions. That does not seem to be a healthy approach. This stuff is fundamentally flawed.I ask people to look at the materials. I do not know whether members have read the materials from cover to cover or whether education ministers past and present have done so—perhaps people have simply accepted the assurances of ministers. Jack McConnell's letter refers to the McCabe committee, which included representatives from the Catholic church and the Church of Scotland. Back in March, Mr McConnell said that the Church of Scotland representatives were quite okay with the materials. However, having given the materials a closer examination, those representatives have made it clear to the education minister that the materials are not okay. We are asking people to think again.

Yes. We have heard that from parents in various places.

I have heard that the materials have been used in Fife and in Perth. They were used in Glasgow before they were withdrawn. The materials have also been used in an Edinburgh school and are recommended for use by Dundee City Council, Angus Council, Fife Council, Scottish Borders Council and Orkney Council. I understand that the materials are being used by those local authorities.Not all the materials are used. The principal ones that are used are "Taking Sex Seriously" and "The Primary School Sex Education Pack". Only one authority—Fife Council—recommends the drugs material that is so clearly inappropriate and against the wishes of parents.

My understanding is that the material is used in the classroom and that inappropriate handouts have been received. I am not a full-time politician or researcher. It is probably not the remit of the Public Petitions Committee to investigate all the details, but the matter should be remitted to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee to uncover the real facts. Great play has been made about stating things on the record so that we can get to the reality. I would welcome clarification of what is really being taught and of what guidance is being given to teachers.

It would be useful. However, it is important to say that the material that I have shown to the committee is just selected highlights.

There has been great play about items being taken out of context or sensationalised. I would like people to see the full material for themselves. The introduction to the primary school sex pack says that it is a toolkit of resources and activities that may be of use. Of course, teachers do not have to pick everything up. The introduction to "Taking Sex Seriously" says that purchasers of the manual should be able to copy sections of it to use as handouts in sessions with groups. There are clear lesson plans and a scheme of lessons is laid out. The material gives an underlying message to young people. All adolescents are insecure about themselves, but the material appears to give the message that everybody is sexually active or is taking illegal drugs. Pupils might feel that if they are not involved in such activities they must be missing out.

I would be careful about jumping to conclusions, but there is a danger that the pure mechanics and procedures of sexual activity are expounded without any reference to the things that are mentioned in the circular—the need for relationships, the appropriate context, self-restraint and so on.

Yes—there has to be public responsibility. Education is too important to be left purely to quangos, which are not answerable or accountable agencies. In this case, they are irresponsible agencies.

No, of course I am not. It is important that young people get clear information and a framework on which to base their decisions. They need to understand the mechanics of sexual activity and the importance of contraception. They also need to understand the importance of self-restraint and self-respect, as well as the importance of commitment and relationships. One should not be taught without the other, but that seems to be the implication in "Taking Sex Seriously". I do not see the need for primary-age children to be given information about sexual stimulation and about what goes on in homosexual intercourse. I do not see the need for first-year and second-year pupils to be invited to explore a variety of bizarre sexual activities.

Some people have heard me discussing the materials and have said to me that we need open education and that we must be blunt with young people, who are getting information from all around them, including the media. In that case, it is even more important to give them objective information and a framework in which they can make their choices. The majority of people who have seen some of the workbooks have been absolutely appalled by them, in particular by some of the examples given, by some of the worksheets and by the underlying assumptions in them.

I am asking MSPs to consider the materials and to make a judgment on that basis. I am not asking them to take my word for it, just as I am asking them not to take the word of the former Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs or of officials for it. I am asking them to approach this with an open mind.I know that you, like many people, were sceptical when you first saw our material. You probably thought, "This is from the God squad" or that we were presenting a moral agenda and banging the same old drum. It is not that. This is for real, and the reality is appalling. The materials that have been produced seem to contradict and undermine the relevant statutory guidance. That is what I am asking people to consider.Although my view, as a Christian, would be narrower, the guidance, which was issued as a circular, was hammered out and people were willing to accept it. I ask members to consider that it was on that basis that the public and the Parliament were led to expect that the guidance would be applied, and we are asking that it be applied.

The evidence that I have is from individuals who have phoned and passed it on by word of mouth. I do not have documentary evidence, apart from guidelines and curriculums from various councils, which have admitted that the materials are recommended and are being used.

I have had reports from parents that these materials are being used, by which they mean that they are aware that "Taking Sex Seriously" and "Safe and Sound" are being used in the classroom.

The only evidence that I have that they are being used in the classroom is that people have told me that they are being used. I do not have photographic evidence. I am a parish minister who works seven days a week. I have not got the resources to pin things down, but Parliament has. Parliament can get the information; it can instruct education authorities to provide the information. Officials can come clean about some of the contradictions that they seem to deny. There are certainly local authorities that have admitted that such materials are recommended for use in their schools, and that they are being used.

The convener of the education committee of the Church of Scotland, Jack Laidlaw, has written on behalf of his committee to the Minister for Education and Young People asking for these unsuitable materials to be withdrawn. My understanding is that that is the position of the Catholic church as well. McCabe came first, then came the five to 14 guidelines from the Executive—although they were produced by Learning and Teaching Scotland—and then came the circular. The churches were happy with the circular. However, the circular referred to the guidelines and on further examination the Church of Scotland and the Catholic church have asked for them to be withdrawn.

I do not have any evidence from Jack McConnell, the previous Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs. He said that the materials might be useful, in whole or in part.Mr McConnell said that there was nothing harmful in the drugs education material and that he welcomed it, but that view seems to go against all previous guidance. If you want me to pinpoint the previous guidance that that advice contravenes, I can give you chapter and verse on it, but I imagine that you do not have time for that at the moment.

No. That is the straight answer. There are occasional warnings to look out for the signs, as teachers should know their children, but that advice is of no use when outside professionals are brought into a class.

No. Some of the primary school material talks about inappropriate touching and children being able to say no to that. That is helpful. However, the fact that some children will have had sexual experiences or been abused is added almost as an afterthought in the bulk of the material—like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. The approach that is taken is that, although some children may not feel comfortable talking about such things, it is still better to brainstorm.

I can give you a list.