Debate contribution: Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (Northern Ireland) 2016
Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Givan
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 23 March 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (Northern Ireland) 2016
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5465454
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I am always happy to take on board Members' comments about being more effective. The Member clearly has not engaged with schools about the challenges that there are with cardboard boxes. When it comes to smartphones and "off" buttons, I regularly encourage the Alliance Party Members to hit their "off" button and stop engaging in some of the activities that I have witnessed on their Twitter feeds. You do not need to have a cardboard box or a pouch in order to do that. If you were all to find the "off" button, you would do us all a favour.
100 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: 0.24 (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).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.95).
- 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 | 0.09 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.13 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.28 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.45 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.05 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.24 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.95 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.03 |
| Adopts it | 0.02 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.85 |
| Education structures, integration and community division | 0.10 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.03 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:07 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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