Mr. Matthew Ryan:

I will touch on the point about relationship and sexuality education. I disagree with the point made because there are major links between the RSE course and the way students interact with each other. I will read out some quotations from a survey I conducted within our union before drafting my policy. These are all anonymous quotations.

I often felt left out when I was younger, especially when I came out. People would ask inappropriate questions and harass me and my girlfriend. People tried to grab her other hand while we held hands and asked if we had kissed or had had sex. We were 13.

This happens if we are not educating our students with adequate RSE. That is the realistic view of students. It is very out of touch with students to say that sex is a big huge thing. It is not anymore these days with young people. It is a very different thing from what it was 30 years ago. We need to educate young people on the issue as opposed to telling them what we think was right 30 years ago, because it is a completely different timeframe. If I have the time I will read out the second quote:

People would make inappropriate comments and harass me about being gay. Either I was being made fun of or ignored, even before I came out. In first year, the boys thought it was funny to make weird comments to all the girls by talking about condoms and making lewd suggestions. One boy even rubbed his crotch on the corners of the girls' tables asking if they wanted to use his ruler. Another held up a drill piece asking if they wanted it up their fannies. This happened repeatedly.

That only stems from a lack of education. A remark like that is only made through a lack of education and ignorance. We need to educate our young people from the age of 13, because we know that is how young this is happening. I strongly disagree that there are no links between the RSE curriculum and bullying.