Teach Secondary Issue 13.4

The recently published Cass Review (see cass. independent-review.uk ) documents how a number of gay and autistic children have been subjected to irreversible gender transitioning – and yet we’re still teaching kids that they can change their gender. On the other hand, we’re also safeguarding too much. Whether it’s a school trip, or a child in care refused a sleepover, otherwise valuable experiences are too often getting tangled up in a backside-covering culture of compliance and consent forms. Growing up in communities Of course, there are some genuine safeguarding concerns – from schools removing items from young people who then accuse the school of assaulting them, to the reservations expressed by some parents regarding inappropriate lesson content being taught in schools. Indeed, the greatest damage done to our children in living memory occurred during the pandemic. While the virus itself posed little threat to the young, the impact of closing down schools was profound. As numerous reports have since shown – and as teachers have seen for themselves close up – the social, emotional and academic consequences have been all too real. By contrast, we can’t seem to cease worrying over kids and their devices. In February, the government issued guidance backing school bans on smartphones, and is now reportedly considering banning their sale to under 16s. You can understand their reasoning. Today, most of us are glued to our phones and living lives often embedded as much in social media as what we used to call the ‘real world’. It follows that this can’t be good for kids. Jonathan Haidt, a psychology professor at NewYork University’s Stern School of Business, was right when he was quoted in The Spectator as saying “ You cannot grow up in networks. You have to grow up in communities. ” (see bit.ly/ts134-TP1) Making lives easier But our communities have changed beyond recognition. Both parents now often have to work, and many can’t afford the considerable expense of childcare. Is it any wonder, given these circumstances, that kids are increasingly babysat by devices and accessing stuff they probably shouldn’t be? A government genuinely set on ‘ Making the UK the safest place to be a child online ’ might have tried to make parents’ lives a little easier, over introducing the draconian Online Safety Act. We have responsibilities too. We’re encouraged by authorities to disengage, to not take matters into our own hands – but this unwillingness to intervene can result in bad behaviour going unchecked, and leave vulnerable kids unprotected. If we want our schools and communities to be safe and secure places in which our young people can thrive, then we’re going to have to look up from our policies, procedures, laptops and phones – and start actually talking to each other. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dave Clements is a local government policy advisor and associate of the Education Forum at the Academy of Ideas IN BRIEF What’s the issue? The process of safeguarding children has become an increasingly administrative exercise, with official guidance and record-keeping taking precedence over the cultivation of positive community relations. What’s being said? Certain groups have sought to raise awareness of issues hitherto not classed as pressing safeguarding challenges (smartphones, FGM, trafficking), in the belief that ever more comprehensive safeguarding policies are necessary to guard against modern threats to children’s livelihoods. What’s really happening? A curious ‘safeguarding hierarchy’ has started to emerge, whereby certain active threats and harms (such as vandalism at schools linked to controversial policies regarding secularism) are given less priority than others (such as adolescent media consumption and the right to protest). The takeaway Statutory guidance has its place, but the distancing effect produced by the bureaucracy surrounding safeguarding risks putting up barriers between schools and the local communities that they need to be talking and listening to. 13 teachwire.net/secondary H O T TO P I C