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Students Sock it to Sectarianism

Four Glasgow students have teamed up with Nil by Mouth on a new campaign aimed at tackling sectarian language.


The Put a Sock in Sectarianism’ campaign will run in schools across Scotland as part of the charity’s education programme over the next 12 months encouraging young people to think about the language they use, and hear, in person and online as well as holding days of action to highlight the need for change.


It was devised by marketing students, Ben McGovern, Ellie Harkins, Nalin Botterill and Philippa Lynas as part of City of Glasgow College’s ‘Pitch Perfect’ competition which sees more than 100 marketing students, working alongside the charity, compete to create a campaign which encourages people to take a stand against sectarianism.


The campaign was launched in Cambuslang as pupils from Cairns Primary School become the first to get involved by donning purple t-shirts and socks to show their support. It will run across dozens of schools during 2025 with pupils and staff across the country already offering to hold special ‘wear purple’ days to highlight their support for Nil by Mouth and its message that Scotland is bigger, better and bolder than bigotry.



After a weekend where Glasgow City Centre was brought to a standstill by the thuggish behaviour of Ultra groups prior to the Scottish League Cup Final at Hampden highlighted the need for the early intervention and education work the charity is hoping thousands of people will take part in the programme. Nil by Mouth was founded by Cara Henderson in response to the brutal sectarian murder of her school friend Mark Scott. Every year staff and volunteers deliver workshops and activities to thousands of children and young people through its free ‘United Against Division’ programme including bringing together denominational and non-denominational schools to work alongside each other. 


The project is supported by the Scottish Government as part of its ‘Tackling Sectarianism' programme which funds a range of activities right across the country.


Ben McGovern said: ‘Given the audience are children we needed to come up with a campaign that conveyed a serious message in a fun way and provide a positive message for schools to share. All the research we saw highlighted the role language plays in sustaining sectarian attitudes and we wanted to highlight the importance of people moderating what they say, especially around young people. The role older people play in terms of influencing the behaviour of children is well documented but we shouldn’t overlook the capacity of young people to change the minds and behaviour of adults for the better. We’ve created visuals and classroom activities that examine the impact of language and the ‘wear purple’ model also allows schools to highlight to parents and the wider community that they are working with Nil by Mouth and that these values matter. We believe they will pick up these positive messages and bring them back home and into the communities they live in.’

 


Nil by Mouth Director Dave Scott said: ‘Our charity was started by a young woman who wanted to encourage others to find their voice and here we have four young people using their skills and passion to help the next generation find theirs. This competition is always one of our highlights of the year as it gives us the chance to tap into so much creative energy and find new ways of transmitting our message. When we have mentioned the campaign to schools there has been a very positive response as it provides a clear and effective message to pupils and builds on the various workshops we deliver. Language is a hugely significant driver for sectarian attitudes, how we talk too, and about, each other matters and nowhere is this more obvious than when it is used in front of children. With the weekend chaos in Glasgow fresh in in peoples minds campaign we hope to encourage young and old to consider this impact and help promote positive relationships between people from different faiths and cultures and get involved in tis campaign.’

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