A survey that asks upper secondary school students about sex and relationships will not be withdrawn, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said this afternoon.
Ms Sturgeon was asked about the Health and Wellbeing Census for the 2021-22 academic year in the Scottish Parliament today, and responded to concerns over data protection and a question that asks participants about sexual experiences including anal and oral sex.
It emerged in the first minister’s response that, so far, 24 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities have said they are taking part in the Scottish government survey.
The first minister was asked today by Tory MSP Meghan Gallacher whether the Scottish government would “withdraw the Health and Wellbeing Census, given reported concerns over school pupils being asked questions relating to sex and relationships”.
Ms Sturgeon responded: “Firstly, no, we won’t. But secondly, I want to make clear that the questions which have been the focus of much of the commentary around this survey are being asked of 14-, 15- or 16-year-olds.
“Next, the census is not mandatory, neither for local authorities to use in full or for children, given that parents may or may not consent to their child taking part and pupils themselves can also, if they wish to, opt out of the survey”.
She added: “But all governments have a responsibility... to ensure that public-service delivery is informed by lived experience.
“We have two choices: either we can bury our heads in the sand and pretend that young people are not exposed to the issues or the pressures that we know they are exposed to. Or we can seek to properly understand the reality young people face and then provide them with the guidance, the advice and the services they need to make safe, healthy and positive decisions - and I choose the latter. ”
Ms Sturgeon said the latest information held by the government showed that 24 local authorities had confirmed they were taking part in the census. She added that the census “also features extremely important questions about pupils’ experiences of the pressures of schoolwork, bullying and mental health”.
Ms Gallacher followed up her initial question about the census by saying that she and colleagues had been contacted by parents who were “concerned about the explicit nature of some of the questions”.
She highlighted one question that asks students about a range of sexual experiences they might have had, including anal and oral sex.
Ms Gallacher also said there had been “reports that the supposed anonymous questionnaires can be traced back to individual pupils, as they must enter their student candidate number twice that is directly linked to their name”.
She asked: “First minister, would you feel comfortable answering these questions and can you reassure Parliament today that, should the young person complete these forms, they cannot be identified?”
In response, Ms Sturgeon said: “Firstly, on the issue of confidentiality, the questionnaires have been specially designed so that the information provided by children and young people is used for statistical and research purposes only. And that ensures that any results of the research or resulting statistics will not be made available in a form which identifies individual children and young people.”
She added: “Let me repeat what I said earlier on: this is a voluntary survey, it is only for S4 - secondary year four - and upwards. Any parent can refuse to give consent and, of course, any young person can opt not to take part in the survey or to skip particular questions in the survey - it is not mandatory.”
The first minister said the “fundamental point” was that “we can choose to pretend that young people of this age group do not have experiences that the member has narrated” or that “young people - girls sometimes in particular - are not subjected to harassment and pressure around sexual matters”.
She added: “We can refuse to ask the questions so that we don’t know the answers, or we can get the answers that then allow us to better support young people to provide the advice and the information and the guidance to young people that supports and enables them to meet positive, healthy choices for the future.”
Ms Sturgeon acknowledged that there were “legitimate concerns” highlighted by the Conservatives and others. But, she said, “don’t whip up concern on the part of parents for completely unnecessary reasons”.
