Don't call young people 'woke' - 13th December 2021

A top head teacher has told parents and teachers to stop describing younger people as 'woke'.

The headmistress of Benenden School in Kent, Samantha Price, asked older adults to understand young people instead of laughing at or criticising them.

The word 'woke' comes from the US and is an informal way of saying a person shows understanding of social problems, such as racism and sexism. However, it has now taken on a negative meaning and is used to criticise people who are concerned about these issues.

The president of the Girls' Schools Association, Ms Price told her audience at a conference that adults "feel today's teenagers are speaking a different language; that they can't say anything without being corrected."

She explained that she was fed up with adults criticising young people, and that the world was different now. Recently, there have been many protests by young people about social issues. These include the Black Lives Matter movement, calls for action on climate change and protests about the unfair treatment of women.

Schools are often at the centre of these social problems because they help young people to develop and understand the issues that are important to them.

Ms Price added that "[this] 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."

She went on to highlight that we can't make fun of young people or complain about them being kind.