Stop calling kids the snowflake generation – they’re more resilient than we ever were’ 

  • Date: 05-Mar-2021
  • Source: The Telegraph
  • Sector:Education
  • Country:Middle East
  • Who else needs to know?

Stop calling kids the snowflake generation – they’re more resilient than we ever were’ 

Generation Snowflake. Now there's a cohort that provokes a reaction. One the one hand, they're an easily-offended bunch of coddled children who rage at “passive aggressive” punctuation, old statues and TV shows like America's Next Top Model, while banging on about the benefits of a vegan diet.

On the other hand, they're Generation Screwed, the most disadvantaged age group in history: wondering how they're going to get a mortgage, a well-paid job, or, as they'll gladly tell you, a break from relentless criticism. 

The Collins English Dictionary defines "snowflakes" as"the young adults of the 2010s", but as far as anyone over 40 is concerned, the term arguably extends to all under-25s, children included. The perception is that the whole lot of them have been raised to believe they are unique and special, and they are frustratingly fragile, and have never experienced the hardships that their elders lived through. 

Yet as the Telegraph's Celia Walden wrote recently: "If the old family friend who was fond of saying ‘what that generation needs is a war' were still alive today, she would agree that Covid-19 has invalidated the snowflake slur." They've certainly had their war. 

So where does that leave the snowflake debate? Tim Firth has been the headteacher at