Debate contribution: Relationships and Sexuality Education and Healthy Young Adult Relationships
Debate contribution by Mr Colin Crawford on .
- MLA
- Mr Colin Crawford
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 14 January 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Opposition Business
- Heading
- Relationships and Sexuality Education and Healthy Young Adult Relationships
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4736697
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Our children and young people are growing up in an increasingly complex digital world where they need to know how to stay safe and be healthy. Like other Members, I want to make sure that young people understand what healthy relationships look like and how they can navigate their personal lives in a positive, safe and healthy way to embrace the challenges of creating a happy and successful adult life. RSE can support children and young people to develop healthy relationships and to keep themselves and others safe, both online and offline. Whilst we know that many schools already teach those topics, very well in some cases, it is important that we ensure universal coverage and improve quality for all pupils. The focus of RSE in primary school should be on building healthy relationships, including friendships and family relationships, and on dealing with strangers, with the ultimate goal of staying safe. As children move to secondary school, they should start to develop their understanding of healthy adult relationships in more depth. That should include different types of relationships. Young people should be taught how to recognise, understand and build healthy relationships, including through teaching on self-respect and respect for others, tolerance, boundaries and on how to recognise unhealthy relationships, including coercive control. It is evident that wider concerns about the safety and well-being of women and girls relate to the types of topic that the subject can cover, such as online abuse, sexting, sexual harassment, stalking and ways of preventing violence against women and girls. The healthy young adult relationships project report, which was written by researchers at Ulster University, makes evidence-based recommendations on the teaching of age-appropriate knowledge and information to build healthy and safe relationships. RSE is a multidisciplinary subject, and any improved working relationships involving the Department of Education and the Department of Justice should be welcomed in enhancing RSE as a method of tackling violence against women and girls.
323 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.92).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.92 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.86 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.13 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:50 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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