One Girl’s Story

Helen is autistic.  One evening when she was 9 years old, she was upset.  Parents enquired what was bothering her.  She answered that she was worried that she might be a lesbian or bisexual.  She had been taught about these concepts at school and told that there was a significant chance that she was.  Parents reassured her that this wasn’t something that she needed to think about for now as she was so young.

At one point, the parents noticed that Helen was reading a novel that looked particularly dark.  On further inspection, they found that its theme was a girl who repeatedly attempted suicide by overdosing on pills and thereby entered a new world of spiritual encounter and adventure though it.  This book was from the school library.  The parents complained to the Headteacher.  He expressed some concern about the book, but stated that he was unable to influence the contents of the library in his school.

When Helen was 13 she reported that she has been sexually assaulted on more than one occasion by one boy in particular, Angus (aged 16), in the presence of other pupils from their school in Ayrshire.  It was not rape that she reported, but very serious sexual assault.  She was adamant that she repeatedly told the boy to stop. 

The school was aware of this incident and investigated. They contacted the parents and asked them to come in for a meeting in two weeks’ time, reassuring them that it was nothing to worry about in the meantime.  The school declined to give further information to the parents before the meeting. 

Helen was very distressed and disturbed by the assaults, giving her parents great cause for concern, but she did not divulge what had happened to her parents at this stage.  The parents were unable to fully support her as they had not been informed what had happened.  In the period before the meeting with the school, Helen attempted suicide by overdose.  Angus, the alleged perpetrator, repeatedly messaged Helen urging her to commit suicide and recommending methods.  These messages have been captured and are available as evidence.

Even when the meeting did take place, the school was reticent to give all of the facts.  The parents had to keep pressing until the full story emerged.  Angus admitted that Helen had been saying “no”,  but the school took no action against Angus, claiming to believe that the incidents were some sort of game that had gone wrong. 

The matter was referred to the Police, but, ultimately, no action was taken.

Aged 15, Helen began a romantic relationship with a boy, Rob.  Later, Rob’s father informed Helen’s parents that the couple were having sex.  Without any communication with Helen’s parents, Rob’s father took Helen to an NHS sexual health clinic to have a contraceptive implant. 

Helen’s parents only found out about this later.  Helen reports that she felt pressured into this and that the clinic staff did not make any attempt to assess her capacity to give informed consent, or even to establish the identity of the adult with her.  Helen’s GP has told her parents that, in his view, Helen was not capable of giving informed consent. 

There are reports of Rob’s father doing the same thing with his son’s previous girlfriends.

After the implant, Helen changed from being upbeat to being depressed and volatile.  A side effect of this type of implant can be “low mood”.  Suicide attempts followed. 

Throughout, mental health services were extremely slow and the support and treatments offered were inadequate and too brief.  On one occasion Helen was discharged while still suicidal, despite the parent’s pleas for her to stay in hospital.

The following issues are highlighted by this case:

1. The policy of “LGBT Inclusive Education” causes confusion and distress to younger and more vulnerable pupils.
2. The policy of not enforcing the age of consent (16) leaves children vulnerable to sexual assault as consent serves as a defence.
3. The failure of schools to keep parents informed of serious issues relating to their children leaves parents unable to properly support and advise them.
4. The state is very keen to replace parents when it comes to making decisions with and for a child, but is only too keen to hand them back for the daily care, support and love that parents supply.
5. Schools routinely seek to excuse bad behaviour and diffuse personal responsibility, leaving pupils vulnerable to increasingly emboldened bad characters.
6. Headteachers often plead impotence with regard to issues relating to their school.  Sometimes this is just an excuse.
7. School resources should be vetted and dangerous material excluded.  Currently, it is common for no-one to believe that it is their job to apply basic moral and common sense standards.
8. Under 16s should not be able to consent to medical treatments without parental involvement. 
9. Sexual health clinics operate with a value system at odds with many parents, and they see their role as providing advice and services while “protecting” children from the values and influence of their parents. 
10. Youth mental health services are overwhelmed.  Alongside improving provision, treating parents as allies instead of enemies would help young people receive the care that they need. 
11. Inviting children to alienate themselves from their parents and to keep secrets from them undermines the relationships most crucial to a child’s wellbeing.
12. The commendation of suicide in our culture is dangerous.  Children especially need to learn to see suicide as tragic, unnecessary and wrong, not as brave, positive and romantic.
13. Encouraging suicide is illegal in England and Wales, but not Scotland.  SFP policy is to make it illegal in Scotland as well.

To protect children and prevent heartbreak, we need a whole new approach, not tinkering.  A radical change of direction.  We’re the only party set on steering Scotland on this new path.

(Some names and inconsequential details in this account have been changed.)