Wake up to kindness - 13th December 2021

One of the foremost headteachers in the UK has called on the older generation to stop mocking young people by referring to them as 'woke'.

Head of the prestigious independent Benenden School in Kent, Samantha Price urged teachers and parents to keep up with young people, telling her annual conference that students are sincerely concerned about issues such as climate change, sexism, and racism, wanting to face them with their parents’ and teachers’ support.

Originating in the US, the word 'woke' means being aware of bigotry and prejudice, especially discrimination on the grounds of race or sex, but it has now come to be used pejoratively to condemn those who hold a particular set of values.

President of the Girls' Schools Association, Ms Price told the annual conference: "Adults comment that they feel today's teenagers are speaking a different language; that they can't say anything without being corrected or 'called out' by these PC children."

Ms Price went on to inform the conference that she is weary of hearing people say "you can't say anything anymore," observing that the world has moved on and older people risk falling behind.

Large numbers of young people have taken part in protests recently, among them the School Strike for Climate, youth demonstrations over racism with Black Lives Matter, and protests about misconduct towards women with the Me Too movement. Schools are inevitably involved, being central to the development of young people as they become conscious of these social ills.

Ms Price explained, "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?"