A DUP MLA is launching a campaign against controversial changes to Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in Northern Ireland’s schools, saying that the content of the lessons is “one of the biggest concerns” parents have raised with him.
Upper Bann MLA Jonathan Buckley says that children’s innocence is something which is “precious” and must be protected – as he launched a 2-minute-long video announcing his ‘Let Kids Be Kids’ campaign.
The campaign comes as schools are set to reopen after the summer break, and relates to the UK Government’s introduction of legislation to ensure secondary school pupils in Northern Ireland are given information about access to abortion and contraception in lessons.
The mandatory changes, which were announced in June, were a result of the introduction of abortion in Northern Ireland through the passing of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act of 2019.
Section 9 of the Bill, which was imposed by Westminster in the absence of the Stormont Executive, legalised abortion in Northern Ireland and also placed a legal duty on the Secretary of State to ensure recommendations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) were implemented in full.
British politicians have argued that the changes to RSE education would simply bring Northern Ireland in line with education in England with regard to abortion and contraception, however, they have sparked backlash from parents, campaign groups and church leaders.
“Northern Ireland is a special place that I, like many of you, am blessed to call home,” the MLA said in the video.
“I believe that children are the heartbeat of our community, a sense of joy that can be found in the innocence of children. This innocence is precious and something we should cherish and wholeheartedly strive to protect.
“However, this sense of protection is now no longer safe for a number of reasons. One of the biggest concerns that parents have raised with me is the proposed changes to relationship and sexuality education in schools. Whatever happened to just letting kids be kids?”
The teaching of relationship and sexuality education (RSE) is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age in Northern Ireland. The requirements for RSE in schools were updated in June by the UK government, in the absence of the Stormont executive.
Announcing the changes, the UK government said the Secretary of State was under a statutory duty under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 to implement recommendations made in the Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination of Women (CEDAW).
The Regulations will amend the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, and the Education (Curriculum Minimum Content) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007 in relation to Key Stage 3 and 4.
“They will make age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, covering prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion, a compulsory component of curriculum for adolescents,” the UK government said in a statement on 6 June.
Mr Buckley said that the implementation of the changes boiled down to an effort to “enforce the ideology of a few” on children, schools and teachers. In his video, he made reference to a report in the UK Daily Mail, which detailed how children aged had been taught about anal sex and masturbation in UK schools.
“Many teachers are ‘indoctrinating’ children with scientifically false claims about biological sex, presenting gender as fluid and furthering a narrative that people can be born in the wrong body,” the British paper reported, as it lifted the lid on “secretive lesson plans” allegedly used by teachers in UK classrooms.
“Radical, woke agendas are yet again interfering in Northern Ireland politics. But not to help the NHS or sort out schools or roads. They’re attempting to seize control of Northern Ireland’s education system to enforce the ideology of a few on children, schools, and teachers. How did we get here?” Mr Buckley said.
“In 2019, Westminster imposed, over the devolved Assembly, a widespread and radical agenda on Northern Ireland through Section 9. Part of this regime was to reeducate the population, and enforce an extremist ideology on kids,” he continued.
“Children have a right to their innocence. Politicians and activists don’t have a right to take this gift from them. Let kids be kids. I want to reassure all the concerned parents and teachers in Northern Ireland that I will be standing with them. Standing to ensure that children are protected from radical, harmful and explicit materials – standing to let kids be kids.
He went on to say that “parents are the ones who should determine what their kids know on these matters, not politicians.”
“I’m concerned about where this is leading, so I’m starting a campaign. It’s called Let Kids Be Kids,” he said. The next few weeks will see the announcement of plans for the campaign, the MLA said, as he encouraged people to get in touch.
“For me, silence on this matter will be merely viewed as acceptance,” he added.
The changes to RSE education in post-primary schools have seen cross-community pushback, with Northern Ireland’s Catholic Bishops also among those to hit out at mandating abortion information in schools.
In June, bishops decried the Westminster regulations as “ideological colonisation” – slamming the proposals as government “overreach” while emphasising the rights of parents.
“Having already imposed some of the most radical abortion laws in the world on the people of Northern Ireland, without their consent, the Secretary of State now seems determined to impose an ideologically biassed view of abortion on all schools, irrespective of parental rights or school ethos,” Catholic leaders said.
Protestant church leaders have also expressed strong opposition to the regulations. The Transferor Representatives’ Council (TRC), which represents the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian Church and Methodist Church in education issues in Northern Ireland, in a June statement, said it was “highly concerning” that the NIHRC was advocating that RSE could be delivered in the classroom in a value-neutral way, outside the parameters of school ethos.
“High–quality RSE within our schools is much more than just information based on legal, biological or medical facts. It involves consideration of behaviours, values and attitudes that bring meaning and purpose to our understanding of healthy and flourishing relationships,” they said.
Jim Allister, leader of the TUV, has labelled new curriculum “scandalous” – with the barrister encouraging parents to remove their children from relationship and sexuality education (RSE) lessons over the plans.
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