Dismiss children as ‘woke’ and they will give up on their dreams

DISMISSING children as “woke” could see them abandon youthful passions, a top head teacher will warn today.

Samantha Price, head of Benenden School in Kent, which charges up to £40,000 a year, suggested that schools should host talks with parents on inclusion, diversity and gender to help them understand the “new language” of the younger generation.

Mrs Price, president of the Girls’ Schools Association, will tell the annual conference that some parents are “deeply unsettled” around some topics such as gender identity.

But she will call on school leaders to challenge anyone who dismisses the younger generation as “woke”, “cancel culture” or “snowflakes”.

“If they are consistently dismissed in this way they will just give up,” she said. “As they go into their twenties and further maturity, what was such a passion for them when they were younger will end up just going by the wayside.

“Therefore we probably won’t see the level of progress in society – from sustainability through to equality – that we have the opportunity to see and sustain now if we, our generation, handle this effectively.”

In her speech to the Manchester conference, Mrs Price will criticise references to teenagers as being “woke”, and adults commenting that they cannot say anything without being “called out” by young people.

She will say: “It would be unforgivable for the older generation to close its mind to new ideas, to retreat to ‘the good old days’ and dismiss the energetic changes of this generation as something referred to in derogatory tones and sighs.

“This so-called ‘woke’ generation are actually simply young people who care about things: about causes, about the planet, about people. It comes down to something very simple: being kind.”

Pupils have been demanding action after a number of movements such as Black Lives Matter gained momentum during the pandemic.

But Mrs Price added that pupils should raise their ideas on how to improve the climate with their school rather than taking part in strikes during lesson time. Her comments come after youth activists took to the streets of Glasgow during school time this month to demand action on climate change from leaders attending Cop26.

Pupils across the UK also took part in a series of school strikes before the pandemic, led by activist Greta Thunberg.

Mrs Price said: “I don’t think students should be walking out of class over climate. Students should be encouraged to feel passionate about things and feel they can go to school and bang the drum on aspects around climate.”