It is wrong to dismiss the latest generation of young people as “woke”, “cancel culture” or “snowflakes”, the president of the Girls’ Schools Association was expected to say today (Mon, Nov 22).
In a no-nonsense message, Samantha Price will tell her fellow heads: “I am getting a little weary of hearing the older generation say, ‘you can’t say anything anymore’. The fact is that times have changed, and we simply need to keep up with them.”
Mrs Price, the headmistress of Benenden School in Kent, will address more than 100 heads of the leading independent girls’ schools in the UK at their two-day GSA Conference in Manchester.
She will say: “What has really stuck me is that this so-called ‘woke’ generation are actually simply young people who care about things: about causes, about the planet, about people. It ultimately comes down to something very simple: being kind.”
In her speech, Samantha Price will acknowledge that the younger generation doesn’t always approach protest in the best way, but schools can teach young people how to do so appropriately and affect lasting change.
Mrs Price will say the past 18 months have seen national and international outcry and demand for justice and action on an array of issues such as Black Lives Matter, Everyone’s Invited and environmental collapse.
She will say: “It is fair to say that these are themes that our students are genuinely very anxious about, that they feel a responsibility to address and expect us to lead and support them in this. There is a sense more than ever that they will be inheriting this world from our generation, and it is their responsibility to fix it.”
She will add that it is par for the course that younger people feel that the older generation does not understand them.
She will say: “In recent years there have been many references to this generation being ‘woke’ — meant in a derogatory sense — and adults commenting that they feel today’s teenagers are speaking a different language to them and that they can’t say anything without being corrected or ‘called out’ by these politically correct – or ‘woke’ – children.
“To a certain extent, as parents and school leaders, we can probably all relate to this in some way or other, but I am getting a little weary of hearing the older generation say, ‘you can’t say anything anymore’.
“The fact is that times have changed, and we simply need to keep up with them. 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 to be referred to in derogatory tones and sighs.
“I would challenge us, the teachers in our staff rooms and the parents of the students in our schools to think hard about whether being ‘woke’ is something to be criticised for?”
Samantha Price will cite the definition of “woke” and say: “It describes someone who has ‘woken up’ to issues of social injustice. I would say that if this word in its true meaning describes our teens, we have much to be proud of and hopeful for in this next generation and it is our duty to listen and nurture this. We should challenge anyone who dismisses this generation as ‘woke’, ‘cancel culture’ or ‘snowflakes’.”
Mrs Price will add: “What has really stuck me is that this so-called ‘woke’ generation are actually simply young people who care about things: about causes, about the planet, about people. It ultimately comes down to something very simple: being kind. Isn’t that what we all want our toddlers to be: we teach them to be kind?
“And then when they grow up to be impressive, kind young people with an understanding and appreciation for the world around them, how can it be right that we mock them or dismiss them as unrealistic do-gooders?
“It is clear to me who is right on this one – the young people are. Those who criticise what they are calling for (although not perhaps how they always go about it) are wrong.”