‘We’re stuck in another era’
of national focus in the wake of the rugby rape trial in Belfast – is currently defined as part of the post-primary curriculum but the definition of what qualifies consent has changed dramatically since the programme was designed two decades ago.
The review – which comes on the back of the Irish Daily Mail’s high-profile Protect Our Kids Online campaign to push for an age restriction on smartphone use – will also examine the ‘safe use of the internet, as well as social media and its effects on relationships and self-esteem’.
The emphasis being placed on the issue of consent by the Education Minister follows the fallout in the aftermath of the Belfast rape trial, which led to thousands of people taking to the streets over the last week.
Paddy Jackson, 26, and Ireland team-mate Stuart Olding, 25, were last week acquitted of raping a 19-year-old woman at Mr Jackson’s home following a night out in 2016. Their friend Blane McIlroy was found not guilty of exposure. A fourth man, Rory Harrison, was acquitted of perverting the course of justice and withholding information. A jury found them not guilty on all charges.
‘Must meet needs of young people’
Many of the demonstrators who took to the streets carried banners and voiced their anger over the handling of sex assault cases in the courts, with others calling for a debate on sexual consent and what it means.
With the current sex education programme in secondary schools being described by one TD as an archaic method ‘stuck in another era’, the Department of Education now plans to collaborate with the Department of Health to develop greater resources to assist with the teaching of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) and to allow research be conducted in schools by the HSE and the Crisis Pregnancy Programme.
Mr Bruton said the review is important to ensure ‘we are adequately providing information to students regarding sexuality and relationships through the curriculum’.
‘I have asked the NCCA to consider the experience and reality of RSE as delivered in schools, the supports and professional development opportunities provided for teachers,’ he said ahead of the ASTI conference this morning. ‘The RSE curriculum fulfils an important function. Every student has a right to access information about sexual health, relationships and sexuality, and this must be delivered in a factual manner in every school.
‘This review will help to inform decisions regarding the content of the curriculum and how it is delivered. I want to ensure that the RSE curriculum meets the needs of young people today, who face a range of different issues to those faced by young people in the late 1990s.’
The review will also look at the effectiveness of the supports provided to RSE teachers. ‘It is essential for the curriculum to be delivered by teachers who are fully supported and who feel comfortable teaching the curriculum,’ Mr Bruton added.
Last December, the crossparty Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment recommended that the existing programme of sex education in schools be improved, including in the areas of ‘contraception and consent’, in primary and post-primary schools, colleges, youth clubs and other organisations involved in education and interactions with young people.
In a presentation to the committee, Department of Education officials told TDs and sena-
tors that consent forms a part of the current RSE programme and cannot be omitted on the grounds of school ethos. However, they added schools have ‘absolute autonomy’ when they deliver each sex education topic and how much time they devote to each topic.
Solidarity TD Paul Murphy was given leave last week to introduce a private members’ Bill in the Dáil which would guarantee the right of students to receive ‘factual and objective relationships and sexuality education without regard to the characteristic spirit of the school’. He told the Dáil: ‘The provision of relationships and sexuality education in our schools is not adequate. There is not sufficient education around issues of consent and respect of others.
‘Relationships and sexuality education, RSE, in Ireland is at odds with where society is now. We have an education system that is still stuck in another era while students, parents and teachers have moved on. We have young people far more aware and far more open about relationships and sexuality.
‘There has been an awakening in awareness of consent and sexual harassment, and a desire to end it reflected in the MeToo movement. Right now, across Ireland there are protests against how rape victims are treated in the legal system.’
RSE is delivered through Social Personal and Health Education for students from primary to third year in secondary school, with a separate programme in place for senior cycle at post-primary level.
In primary school, the SPHE course is designed to foster in children a sense of care and respect for themselves and others, as well as understanding of their sexuality and the appreciation of the dignity of every person. Better communication on sex education was a recommendation in the department’s chief inspector’s report which was published earlier this year.
Comment – Page 12 emmajane.hade@dailymail.ie
‘There has been an awakening’