Why school climate surveys matter

INCREASINGLY, parents are concerned about discussion of sex or gender with children and adolescents. They are also concerned about school-based studies that ask about gender or sexual orientation and experiences of, for example, family violence, sexual coercion or bullying.

The fear is that these will make children become interested in sex or identify as LBGTQ.

Surveys do not expose children to sexually explicit material, and simply asking multiple-choice questions about whether an adolescent is sexually active, has been sexually abused or is being bullied (or bullies others) doesn’t make it suddenly happen.

Surveys do not influence morality. They measure it, by measuring respect for others, engagement in abusive behaviours, and the extent of family and other support systems.

Rather than influencing children to have a particular view, surveys gather the range of views held by those being surveyed. They are not teaching instruments, but learning tools. They show what children and adolescents have already been exposed to, and inform how we counter harm, harassment and misinformation.

The survey may take 30 minutes to complete. Children are in school and with peers for seven hours a day, on the internet for several hours each week, and with family on evenings and weekends. These are the agents of socialisation that teach them how to behave and what to value. There is virtually no potential for or history of grooming or influencing students through such data collection.

In contrast, this evidence is crucial for understanding children’s vulnerabilities and how best to approach child protection through a national and preventative approach.

The benefit of working through schools is that an entire generation can be targeted so that wider transformation of social norms and practices occurs. School surveys provide children’s own perspective on what the greatest number, including those in the most vulnerable contexts, need to be safe, well and supported.

Decades of data tells us that about one third of adolescents (more boys than girls) become sexually active before the age of fifteen. Many report their first experience as nonconsensual or coerced. It is therefore important to teach about consent and coercion so that adolescents know they can say no and to not be silent about victimisation. Those adolescents who are sexually active need information to help them make healthy decisions about sex and relationships, contraception, partner violence, and trusted adults to whom to turn for advice.

Those adolescents who are sexually active need information to help them make healthy decisions about sex and relationships, contraception, partner violence and trusted adults to whom to turn for advice.

If we don’t provide such information, children turn toward the internet, sexually graphic literature, pornography and their peers to answer questions. If your Standard 4 or Form 1 child has any access to the internet or interacts with peers, do not expect them to be innocent about sex.

Most parents still do not speak to adolescents about sexual practices, consent, feelings, desires, relationships, contraception or pornography. This is why it is important for schools to meet adolescent needs for education and guidance.

Earlier National School Climate Surveys showed that about one-third of bullying in schools is gender-based.

Reducing violence in schools (and society) requires transforming our beliefs about masculinity and femininity to promote greater acceptance, equality, inclusion and non-discrimination, and safety for children regardless of their sex, gender or sexual identity.

The 2016 and 2019 surveys showed that LBGTQ youth exist. Knowing that some students identify as sexually diverse encourages policies to ensure the safety of all students from gender-based bullying, the effects of which are long lasting and have an impact on everyone, not just LBGTQ students.

Tolerance and acceptance improve outcomes for all, especially for boys, regardless of their sexuality or gender, as fears of homophobia compel males to enact violence to prove masculinity.

The 2016 and 2019 school climate studies stressed the need for age-appropriate comprehensive sexual education, since students reported experiencing sexual abuse and sexual assault, with many of them unable to properly understand or articulate what they had experienced, demonstrating a gap in their knowledge about their bodies and their rights.

Parents are being discouraged from allowing their children to participate in the 2024 National School Climate Survey being done by the Ministry of Education.

I urge those parents to read the surveys from 2016 and 2019, which have been very useful for advocates for child protection (publicly available on silverliningtt.com).

The ministry must also be commended for continuing to gather this vital data, though a more effective communication strategy is necessary to allay fears and promote participation rates which will give an accurate, updated picture of what is happening in families, schools and communities, for children’s sake.

This column was written collaboratively with Dr Krystal Ghisyawan, primary author of the 2016 and 2019 school climate studies

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