Needed! A Healthy Debate

The challenges of modern childhood are many and complex, but if schools are to be part of the solution, policy makers need to get their act together, says Mick Waters...

“Young people today…” Since September I’ve been keeping a list of education headlines that start with words like this. A national politician (or an Ofsted report or an Education Parliamentary Select Committee) wishes to draw attention to a failing with our children’s upbringing and the statistics turn it into news. Needless to say, it’s a long list.

September began with Sir Michael Wilshaw complaining that too many of today’s school leavers were ill-prepared for working life. They are apparently slovenly in dress, timekeeping and manner. This led for calls for more ‘grit’ and ‘character education’ in the curriculum, beginning in primary schools.

Children’s dental health and the enormous costs being born through treatment on the NHS led to calls from Nicky Morgan for primary schools to begin tooth brushing sessions – though what children should do in August was unclear.

Through the autumn and winter, the extent of grooming and child abuse in places such as Rotherham and Oxford became clearer, and our growing understanding of radicalisation has only made anxiety over children’s vulnerability more pronounced.

Even in the last month there has been a report on children’s mental health that highlights the prevalence of conditions such as depression and anorexia, and another on the growth of gang culture among children as young as nine. In less than half a year the true state of childhood in England is being uncovered and, for many, it is not a pretty picture.

The resolve to ‘do something about it’ runs through every one of these reports and the response is routine: a recommendation or demand that teaching about these risks to childhood should begin as early as primary school. Whether it’s British values, teeth, finance, sexting or personal discipline, it seems we cannot start too young.

Now all this has a pragmatism and sense about it. Where can the nation reach its children? In its schools. There are, though, some serious things to consider.

First, the role of politicians. The Education Select Committee in February demanded that primary children be taught specifically about sexuality and Nicky Morgan announced on World Women’s Day that she was allocating resources for pupils to be taught the difference between consent and non-consent. These might or might not be sensible proposals. What does not seem right is that these demands come from the same politicians who helped approve the new national curriculum, which does not include statutory provision for PHSE. This seems at least contradictory, but when we then consider that several of the same committee were also in Parliament in 2010 – when the self-same proposals were rejected in a bill to introduce an updated version of sex and relationships education – it appears to be laziness or ineptitude.

Second, the disputed function of the curriculum. Gove’s drive towards a so-called academic curriculum and the prevalent accountability framework, which is based entirely upon a narrow range of tests and examinations, has trimmed away any external demand for PHSE.

Third, the role of inspection. Given that Ofsted itself reported in 2012 that PHSE was provided poorly in 40 per cent of all schools, it seems negligent the inspectorate did not have more influence over the curriculum set before Parliament in 2013, which made PHSE non-statutory

Whatever the failings to date, we need to be more certain about how to move forward and ensure schools contribute proportionally to childhood. There is a balance to be struck between expecting schools to help and expecting schools to take on the responsibilities of parents. After the election, the winners will decide. Conservatives would probably be reluctant to reintroduce anything that resembles Every Child Matters, which they removed within days of taking office. And Labour would probably be reluctant to reinstate it as they would be seen to be going backwards. There needs to be a better debate and agreement about ‘where next?’, with fewer switchback policies.

Schools need the confidence to do what is needed for their pupils. Teachers spend so much effort helping children to believe they can cross thresholds and enjoy what lies beyond. Yet there are some boundaries we should teach them not to cross. Drink, debt, drugs, smoking, sex, diet, poor exercise, weaponry and the perils of the internet are all areas of life they should approach with caution.

Whatever we do, we should try to stop politicians meddling so much and move schooling to a more consensus-driven ideal. Surely nothing can matter more than a joyous childhood for every child?

About the author

Mick Waters is Professor of Education at Wolverhampton University and these matters are discussed further in his book ‘Thinking allowed on Schooling’