At least eight councils have refused to take part in a Scottish Government’s health and wellbeing census for children amid calls for a boycott over its use of sexually explicit questions.

They are among 21 that have failed to commit to taking part in the census, with 12 reviewing its contents and another one distributing it with changes.

I had a couple of residents in the ward contact me about a Scottish Government children’s survey before coverage appeared in the media. Accordingly I contacted Laurence Findlay, Aberdeenshire Council’s director of education and children’s services.

He told me that some of the media coverage is from an old survey which some areas ran a few years ago.

“However, it is true that the Scottish Government are running a health and wellbeing census and as part of this the census will gather information from young people about their health behaviours – physical, mental and sexual.

“The survey questions will vary depending on the age groups being surveyed. To that end, younger children will be asked questions about diet, exercise etc and older teenagers will have questions around smoking, alcohol and sexual activity.

“The census was delayed due to the pandemic and was due to recommence this year. However, we have gone back to challenge some of the questions as we are of the view that some are unnecessarily probing/graphic. To that end, the roll-out of the census in Aberdeenshire is currently stalled.”In my view some of the questions for older children are intrusive and, as Mr Findlay says, graphic.

More here: https://news.stv.tv/east-central/council-halts-contentious-survey-on-pupils-sexual-experiences?top&fbclid=IwAR2BjDx7t3yAFMJtbWk1ZAJTHuSoe9-XRg5yVRwBYBQBSVXBA-Ww3U8a5iU