The snowflakes who can’t cope with hearing ‘as you know’

ACADEMICS are being urged to avoid saying ‘as you know’ in university lectures in case it makes ‘snowflake’ students feel stupid.

They should drop the terminology to ensure their teaching is more inclusive of undergraduates of lesser abilities, according to Bath University’s equality and diversity network. But critics say the advice is ridiculous. Network members were warned that the phrase might cause some undergraduates to feel dimmer than others if they did not know what was being referred to. Feelings of inadequacy could lead students to perform worse in their degree courses, it was argued.

Berenice Dalrymple, co-chairman of the university’s student union race equality group, told members: ‘Some lecturers used commonly known references stating “as you know”, which could make students feel at fault for not knowing and make it difficult to engage with the course content.’

Her comments followed the screening of a video called Why Is My Curriculum White? in which an unnamed student complained that ‘saying “as you know” leads to self-doubt and makes things difficult to question’.

Joanna Williams, a former university lecturer and author, criticised the move, telling The Mail on Sunday: ‘The assumption that students can’t cope with the common expression “as you know” is ridiculous.’

She said the ideas were being generated by administrators and academics ‘who need to justify their salaries’.

Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘This takes political correctness to a new dimension. It’s a very alarming turn of events because it means that one can no longer use normal language and parlance to engage with students. It’s restricting discussion.’

‘Alarming turn of events’