Consultations with young people

Consultations with 40 young people were conducted in five locations - Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Inverness, Glasgow and North Lanarkshire. The aims of the consultations were to:

investigate what young people know about sectarianism
gauge young people's thoughts on a website dealing with sectarianism and religious intolerance
understand more about what would make young people use a website about sectarianism.

A range of young people took part aged from 11-24. The majority were in the 11-17 age group.

There were at least twice as many females as males (26:14) and two declared themselves with a disability. Twenty-five described themselves as European and / or Scottish and the others did not disclose.

Eighteen of the 40 young people declared they had a religion, seven did not wish to disclose and the others did not record their intention. Of the eighteen, fifteen declared themselves to be Christian (including Catholic and Protestant). There was one Buddhist, Muslim and Orthodox Russian.

Key issues arising from the consultations with young people

The meaning of sectarianism

The young people consulted with Aberdeen were unfamiliar with the term 'sectarianism'; however the young people in Glasgow, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire and Inverness were aware of the term and in all cases were able to identify that religion was a contributing factor.

In all of the discussions on the meaning of sectarianism the young people raised issues such as the influence of football loyalties and in particular the role of Rangers FC and Celtic FC. Denominational schooling and a person's upbringing were also cited as contributing factors to sectarianism.

All of the groups were familiar with the concept of racism and frequently drew comparisons with sectarianism. The young people in Edinburgh and Aberdeen suggested that it was easier to understand the term 'religious hatred.'

Consequences of sectarianism

In all of the consultations the young people identified issues of sectarianism around the world and in particular the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, Iraq and Northern Ireland.

Some of the young people in Glasgow and North Lanarkshire spoke about their own personal experiences of sectarianism and identified football loyalties and language as contributing to sectarian attitudes.

In Aberdeen, a girl spoke about the discrimination she experienced because she wore a head scarf as an expression of her faith. Another girl explained that she had been excluded from RE when she attended a denominational school because she was not Roman Catholic; she felt strongly that she had been discriminated against. { Editor note: This is actually an erroneous view. No pupil is excluded in denominational schools unless their parents make formal request to withdraw }

Islamophobia and anti-semitism

In each consultation the young people were asked what they knew about Islamophobia and anti-semitism. The responses varied; some were familiar with the terms but were unfamiliar with the religious groups involved or causes. Some young people were familiar with anti-semitism as they had studied World War II and the Holocaust in history class.

Generally, the young people recognised that individuals could be discriminated against because of their religion.

Challenging sectarianism

In each consultation the groups discussed how sectarianism could be challenged and some interesting debate and comments arose.

One boy in Aberdeen spoke about his friends behaving in a racist way. He explained that 'everyone is entitled to their own opinion' and this was why he had not challenged them.

Another girl said that she felt sorry for people who were hurt by sectarianism but she felt that 'she couldn't do anything personally'.

Many of the young people identified that sectarianism could be challenged through education.

One girl said that 'Religious education is important but we should be taught about all religions'; she felt this would challenge religious bigotry.

Another girl suggested that sectarianism was a problem because 'there is a lot of ignorance about Scottish heritage and about Ireland and people don't know the facts about sectarianism'. She asserted that if people understood their own heritage then they could challenge sectarianism.

Why use a website about sectarianism?

One girl in Inverness said 'to be honest, no one is going to use this site if sectarianism is not included in school'; she explained that she would have no other reason to look for information about sectarianism.

Many of the young people suggested that sectarianism would fit into the RME curriculum. In Inverness the group felt that RME should include more information about religions other than Christianity, especially since they did not have the opportunity to meet people who held different religious views to themselves. Other young people suggested that sectarianism could be included in English, PSE and Sociology.

Content of the website

The young people in Aberdeen suggested that a section on the website specifically for young people could be 'patronising' and that older teens would not use a section that looked like 'the kids' version'.

All of the groups agreed that to encourage young people to use the site it should be bright, visually appealing and interactive. A few of the young people identified that long pages of writing puts people off a site and that there should be links that would lead you to in-depth information.

Common suggestions for content included:

A definition of sectarianism
What causes sectarianism - why does it happen?
Where does it happen?
How does it manifest itself?
How are stereotypes formed?
What prolongs sectarianism?
Examples of sectarian incidents / victims of sectarianism
Views of different people - explore the generational divide
Historical factors and information
Statistics - religious groups in Scotland
Information on how to challenge sectarianism
First-hand stories and accounts
Global perspectives / experiences of religious hatred
Information about Northern Ireland
Real pictures / shocking images

Conclusions

All of the young people who were consulted welcomed the opportunity to discuss sectarianism.
They were positive about developing a site which would help them to understand more about sectarianism.
There appeared to be a lack of knowledge about sectarianism, Islamophobia and anti-semitism. The website should provide factual information to bridge this gap.
The website should have different levels of information for young people to access.
The resource should be promoted to young people through schools and youth organisations.
Sectarianism should be mainstreamed in the school curriculum to encourage young people to examine the issue in more depth.
The site should encourage young people to find out more about religious groups and to challenge sectarianism.