Bel Nabulele:

It is kind of the way RSE is branded. In my timetable for school, RSE is not called RSE; it is called religion. We cover RSE in religion, apparently. Everyone started to cop on that it is RSE.

Part of it being weird for teachers is that, now in RSE, we talk about gender identity and sexuality. I have seen in the school I have been in that sometimes if parents do not want their children to learn about gender identity and sexuality, they can literally write them a note to remove them from RSE. I do not know how they are doing it, but parents literally write their child a note saying their child is going to be exempted from religion and is not going to be in the class anymore. They can just sit in the resource room and they do not have to learn about RSE. Inevitably, however, they are going to start learning about RSE from different ways and from the Internet or other unhealthy ways of getting information. In my school anyway, RSE is mandatory. It is a mandatory course. We have to get at least six weeks of RSE. I do not want to overrule parents, but it should be mandatory automatically like mathematics, English and Irish. It is kind of essential for your development as a young person. I do not think people should be allowed to be exempted from it.