Mess with children's education at your peril: DUP issues stern warning to Alliance ahead of sex education debate

An Alliance motion on what is now called "relationships and sex education" (RSE) is scheduled to take place in the Assembly on Monday, with the party demanding an overhaul in what pupils are taught.

Alliance also wants pupils themselves to help pick what is on the curriculum.

RSE is already mandatory in all publicly-funded schools.

The government says each one should draw up its own course content "based on consultation with parents and pupils", with responsibility ultimately resting with the board of governors of each school.

Abortion, transgender, and feminist activists have been pushing for years for a single, compulsory RSE syllabus which includes their talking points.

For example, it is commonly said that teaching pupils about "consent" will cause a reduction in physical attacks on women.

Telling pupils what a "healthy relationship" is and "how to recognise the signs of abuse" should also be on the syllabus, Alliance says.

Its motion calls on MLAs to recognise "the value of compulsory, standardised, inclusive, high-quality, evidence-based and age-appropriate RSE as a means of empowering and preparing our children and young people for life".

It also says "RSE has a vital role to play in tackling violence against women and girls" and asks education minister Paul Givan to "enshrine the right of children and young people to access RSE" which is "standardised" and "inclusive" ("inclusive" is often taken to mean something that covers LGBTQQIA+ issues).

Ahead of the debate, Alliance South Belfast MLA Kate Nicholl said in a statement on Sunday: "Now is the time to move the conversation on RSE forward. The quality, content, and amount of RSE that a child receives should not depend on what specific school they attend.

"A study by the Belfast Youth Forum showed that 73% of young people only received RSE ‘once or twice’, or ‘rarely’, and 60% of young people felt that that the information they received was either ‘not very useful’ or ‘not useful at all.’

"In their recent report on LLW, Secondary Students' Union NI found that only 22.8% of young people surveyed felt they had been adequately taught about consent."

She added that this new RSE syllabus should be delivered "at all levels of education, including information around responsible sexual behaviour and violence prevention, sexual and reproductive health rights, and sexual diversity".

The minister should include pupils themselves "in the development of RSE policy" too.

Cheryl Brownlee, the DUP MLA for East Antrim, criticised the motion for making no mention of any input for parents.

“The DUP has consistently argued that parents are best placed to determine what is in the best interest of their child and that the ethos and values of schools must be respected," she said.

"Parents however are absent from the Alliance motion.

"The Alliance Party should be aware that they mess with children’s education at their peril.

"There is a genuine feeling of anger and fear amongst parents who feel that the Alliance Party wants to diminish their rights and will seek to legislate in a manner where teachers will be forced to teach materials which collide with their conscience.”