10th January 2022
Connect has written to the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Educations and Skills to set out our concerns about the Health and Wellbeing Census which has been distributed to local authorities by the Scottish Government. The Census, which is in fact several slightly different surveys, is to be undertaken in schools by children and young people from P5 to S6. Read the letter here.
After some parents initially expressed concern about the contents of the Census, details of the surveys and accompanying documents were shared with Connect and the National Parent Forum of Scotland, by Scottish Government to enable an open discussion about the purpose and design of the surveys. At Connect, we welcomed this opportunity and we had sincerely hoped this would enable us to reassure parents and carers.
Unfortunately, sight of the documents generated more questions and further concerns, particularly about issues of children and young people's rights, confidentiality, privacy, consent (parents and young people), the purposes and methodology of the surveys. The issue of confidentiality in schools - when is a young person (16+) an adult and when are they not? When do those who are 16+ have the right to privacy and when are concerns reported to parents or other agencies? Some of this will have to be worked through for the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, should that happen.
A further important concern was that the content of some of the questions might prove upsetting for some vulnerable or anxious young people, or might prompt a disclosure - we strongly felt that neither parents nor school staff were given enough guidance on supporting young people, should they become upset. A list of helplines was to be made available to school staff, if needed.