On Thursday 21st of March S4 Modern Studies pupils visited the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh. The parliament educational staff put on a brilliant programme. On arrival the class participated in an interactive quiz about Holyrood and the powers it possesses. They then witnessed a lively and topical First Minister’s Questions. The class noticed the skill of the First Minister when giving responses to questions, observing the tactics used to shed a positive light on the work of the government whilst tackling any criticism. One example was when a question surrounding drug related deaths in Scotland and the approach they are taking to tackle this. Liz Hamilton MSP asked a question around social media and the harm it causes to teenagers, especially the mental health and self-esteem of teenage girls, which generated much discussion once back at school, with a pupil promising to raise the issue of deeper education about the harms of social media within PSHE at the next pupil council meeting. Lastly, the pupils met with Graham Simpson MSP and had the chance to question him about life as an MSP and his views on various matters. The pupils behaved impeccably and engaged well. They were a credit to the school, and received compliments from members of the public on the high standard of conduct shown.
