“We’ve Lost Adult Authority” Headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh On Children Identifying As Cats

A row has erupted after a pupil at a Church of England school refused to accept her classmate could identify as a cat.
The 13-year-old student and her friend were reprimanded by their teacher at Rye College in East Sussex during a Year 8 Life Education class in which they rejected the idea people can change sex.
TalkTV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer is joined by headteacher and founder of the free school Michaela Katharine Birbalsingh to discuss the story.
She says parents and teachers “are indulging children too much”.
“We have lost adult authority in schools. Children are in charge, as opposed to the teachers."
#school #education #gender #debate #talktv #talkradio

[@Catherine-2008]

Amen, Katharine! Children need structure, stability and boundaries in order to thrive. Shame on all adults that won't say no!

[@run2cat4run]

What happened to let kids be kids?

[@Catherine-2008]

@@run2cat4run 100%!

[@vforwombat9915]

@@run2cat4run let kids be kid cats? let kids be kittens? really, i can get some teacher humoring some kid who's having a laugh by pretending to be a cat, and the teacher humors them to teach a lesson about tolerance. but overall that's not a good strategy, it gives the idiots who are transphobes ammunition.

[@run2cat4run]

@@vforwombat9915 so should we set rules on how kids should be and act like dictators

[@user-kf3pn2gm2s]

Wondering advocat 07

[@TheBluePuffin]

Katharine Birbalsingh speaks so much sense - there is hope for humanity!

[@slingertennischronicles]

This lady is correct. Let's not pretend this is a new phenomenon. Its been going on (but ignored by the government, by education authorities, and by OFSTED inspectors) for many, many years. The only reason the issue has been highlighted now is because two brave kids worked out the only way to protect themselves from the relentless indoctrination was to covertly record a 'lesson' in progress. As schools are now so reluctant to share lesson plans or teaching materials with parents, this is hardly surprising. It had to happen.

[@educational1651]

Ofsted supports this nonsense and gives school’s favourable reports if they implement it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@marydaniel3252]

Amazing parents are either ignorant about it or just not standing up to this nonsense!!

[@slingertennischronicles]

@@marydaniel3252 Not to worry. Now the UK's education system has yet again become a global laughing stock, it seems the government's brave and fearless Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, is going to put an end to all this toxic nonsense. If she can manage to summon up the courage...

[@slingertennischronicles]

For the benefit of all the people involved in this debacle, (including the government's Education Secretary) I think its worth taking a closer look at what the word 'despicable' actually means... DESPICABLE (adjective). 'contemptible, worthless and deserving to be despised.'

[@sasa-ix9yd]

far from being new its way older than religion...the kids are behaving as animists have done for hundreds of thousands of years...worshipping the spirit of the animal by dressing like it...using mantras (spells) and magical diagrams and doing rituals and ceremonies to gain the powers of the animal worshipped...don't worry about the kids many adults are animists...lots have mixed it with hinduism or buddhism...the phenomenon of the weretiger is all thru the ancient lore of thailand

[@daove1]

It's not just authority that has been lost in school. It is also the concept of what is normal and what is not. If someone genuinely believes he/she is a cat or anything else but a human being, this person needs psychiatric treatment, if he/she does it as a joke and disrupt the class, then he/she should be disciplined .

[@TheHondaman1975]

Well said.

[@lynetteledoux2845]

I suggest also that the parents are not assuming and owning up to their responsibility as parents and all that entails.

[@Mr.Goodkat]

so simply telling a joke that you are a cat should get you disciplined in the workplace? or is it okay to tell harmless jokes in that setting? but not okay in schools?

[@christinebakewell3475]

Why don’t we make these kids identifying as cats eat whiskers instead of school dinners?

[@2gointruth]

A young goat is a kid. A child is a human being. "The beginning of wisdom is the ability to call things by their proper names." - Confucius.

[@lynnm6413]

@@2gointruth yeah, no….dude, get realistic, kid hasn‘t been a goat for as long as b‘tch hasn‘t been a dog

[@tonycrayford3893]

​@@2gointruthare you talking about Kǒng Qiū. How about you use the proper names for people.

[@2gointruth]

A young goat is a kid. A child is a human being. "The beginning of wisdom is the ability to call things by their proper names." - Confucius.

[@LH-kr4od]

That would've been a victorian solution.

[@DavidGetling]

As I'm certain Katharine will confirm, you only need one disruptive kid (and there are often more) in a class to totally destroy the lesson for everybody. When I taught in New Zealand I could instantly send a kid out of class to the referral room, where he would be kept for the rest of the day, or even more than one day. My head of maths actually encouraged this. In the UK we care far too much about the rights of the bad kids, and don't give a damn about the good ones who want to learn. This is one of the reasons why teaching in most UK schools is hell on earth.

[@educational1651]

This exactly. When I was at school our teacher stopped the whole damn lesson for everyone when someone was messing around talking. The kid messing around didn’t give a toss and laughed.

[@miriamfilocamo8025]

You are one hundred percent right. I left the profession because of this.

[@alisonwren3624]

Me too.Luckily I was old enough to retire when this started hitting in 2016. I cannot teach 'A' level Biology to girls who claim to be boys and pretend it's irrelevant.

[@matteoj226]

I couldn't agree more. The quieter, well behaved kids are always the ones who suffer. I've long thought the solution to this is to remove the disruptive kids, but then to give them MORE support, one-to-one tuition, away from the rest of the class. That way, their parents can't claim they're being left behind. But the bottom line is, they cannot be allowed to stay in there and drag everyone else down. It's a huge problem, that's nobody seems to have the balls to tackle as we watch standards in this country slip further and further down the toilet.

[@DavidGetling]

​@@matteoj226 The trouble is that one-on-one tuition is very expensive. Why should bad behaviour be rewarded by more expensive and maybe better teaching than the good kids get? What we need for these kids is boot camps (or even borstals) run by hard as nails sergeant majors.

[@montanacreed5826]

Far too many of our alleged adults behave as if they were children, allowing, even encouraging, these perversions.

[@vforwombat9915]

pretending to be a cat is not perverted,you silly, silly person.

[@sasa-ix9yd]

far from being new its way older than religion...the kids are behaving as animists have done for hundreds of thousands of years...worshipping the spirit of the animal by dressing like it...using mantras (spells) and magical diagrams and doing rituals and ceremonies to gain the powers of the animal worshipped...don't worry about the kids many adults are animists...lots have mixed it with hinduism or buddhism...the phenomenon of the weretiger is all thru the ancient lore of thailand

[@colinrumford2265]

The school replied with the usual nonsense about encouraging discussion. That teacher called that child despicable and told her to change school just because she wanted a level headed debate. SACK HER.

[@mm5478]

Those two women are a breath of fresh air. We need more of them STAT!!!

[@user-hu1yi8ox9z]

Kathryn is, but the interviewer is a jeramy.

[@adriansolomon6805]

When I was a kid I was never pampered or given a choice in anything in the 60's. I brought my kids up in the same way. 😊

[@user-dz6ly9nw2k]

My Neighbour is a headteacher and she was saying that on a daily basis she is swore at by pupils. In my day swearing at the Headteacher meant being excluded from school and being is serious trouble with your parents. I'm hoping this everntually goes full circle and we get back to normal.

[@Mr.Goodkat]

If your bosses treated you the way teachers treat student's, you'd swear at them too.

[@catwoman7462]

If children identify as animals or other non-humans, their parents should be told to come and collect them as schools are only for humans.

[@BardhokNdoji]

Never heard of anything more ridiculous! The world has truly gone mad!

[@markyp1965]

Authority and respect starts at home and is reinforced in school.

[@sacha6530]

Leo Kearse reminded us of a famous quote, “Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” -Voltaire

[@ericbrown7297]

Teachers should be telling pupils that they cannot change genders nor can they change species. Those pupils, who identify as cats, should be told that they cannot use the school’s bathrooms and use the litter trays provided on the sports field. As soon as it rains they will cease to identify as cats. Teachers must remember that they are the adult in the room. You are correct Julia, facts trump feelings every time. Well said Katherine, you are absolutely correct. The Dept of Education needs to be completely cleared out and people with sense employed.

[@nigelpigeon968]

We need to seek mental help for the teachers.

[@evieblessed]

A child identifying as a cat is no more absurd than a man claiming he's a woman - sorry. It was indeed a slippery slope.

[@steverocky7215]

The child identifying as a cat never happened - it was a joke...!

[@evieblessed]

@@steverocky7215 , perhaps that particular one was a joke but, sadly, there are many young people who are into the furry scene or otherkin scene. It isn't a joke.

[@steverocky7215]

@@evieblessed It's just a fad - all kids go through stages of sillyness - all part of growing up. You should worry more about the people trying to control them into conforming.

[@jonsmum5552]

We had a couple of kids that were a bit odd in school. Absolutely nothing on this scale. Parents have a big part to play in this.

[@ThomasKing19933]

The country is in the bin.

[@Grenbestyie]

Unfortunately, it is not just the children who are being silly.

[@gillcawthorn7572]

Those of us who grew up long ago and also had reared our own families said that it would be bad for everyone if the much vaunted `no smacking` rules were established .We didn`t want children to be beaten or punished to any extreme but knew that some retribution that the children recognised was due, after they had gone too far. Is it OK now to say we told you so?

[@wownewstome6123]

Did you know....The more children are spanked, the more likely they are to defy their parents and to experience *increased anti-social behavior, aggression, mental health problems and cognitive difficulties,* according to a new meta-analysis of *50 years of research on spanking* by experts at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan.

[@pigdestr0yer1973]

I´m 49, and man, if I had been a kid today, I would have identified as a gorilla in school, insisting on the pronouns gorilla/gorilla-self, and demanding respect for my gorillaish behavior. Loud, violent outbursts, climbing the drapes and so forth. Would have been great.

[@cliffmgrungi]

Bull, I’d be a bull. My friends would have followed and snail,slug and maggot would have been snapped up very quickly as their identity’s

[@rushshukla4636]

Gorillas are far from violent. Only when threatened. That is a stereotype that has been handed down from King Kong movies. Gorillas are highly intelligent articulate animals whose behaviour is predominantly of nurturing and protecting their environment for their survival. They do a far better job at rearing their offspring than humans do.

[@trevorwilliams6404]

The day the kids stopped standing when an adult walked in the class, is the day when kids took power.

[@lindark28]

Good on this headteacher Katherine, standing ovation for her,👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 COMMON SENSE AT LAST

[@twttt19]

Katharine Birbalsingh should be the Education secretary. She is spot on

[@davidcowley]

More teachers should be like Kathrine Birdalsingh. We need to get back to basics with our children. It is scary and no exaggeration to say if this continues, I can see a breakdown and collapse of civilised society.

[@formulaic78]

I used to read and believe the Guardian. When they reported on this woman they spoke of a strict authoritarian who imposed Victorian rules on children. Turns out her school is in an inner city area and over the last decade or so, while being slandered by media like the guardian, they've delivered among the best results in the country with some of the most deprived students by following traditional conservative values.

[@steverocky7215]

When you want to teach children to think, you begin by treating them seriously when they are little, giving them responsibilities, talking to them candidly, providing privacy and solitude for them, and making them readers and thinkers of significant thoughts from the beginning. That’s if you want to teach them to think.~ Bertrand Russell If you don't then give them a strict teacher and set their boundaries for them and limit their experience to what the teacher demands and end up with good, obedient, unimaginative no-hopers.

[@Gu1tar1st]

If you don’t acknowledge these children as cats, would it hurt their felines?

[@gjs321]

Katharine is orobably the only sensible teacher left in the UK

[@therealtruth4898]

Don’t allow pets and animals in the class room. Put them in a separate cage with a litter tray

[@ExpressoMechanicTV]

"It's been slow. Over decades". Yep. It's called social engineering and it's 100% by design.

[@oldguy2976]

We need to stop the madness … parents need to grow a pair of balls and tell the kids they do as they are told .

[@rayalbion9637]

Are there teachers out there that are ashamed of this whole scenorio?

[@alanfrith-on5dp]

If these kids want to identify as a cat then when it comes to them wanting to go to the toilet then make them go in a cat litter in the corner of the classroom, job sorted 👍👍👍

[@Manc-fh5we]

This is a very simple issue to resolve. Animals ARN’T ALLOWED in schools. So as soon as you utter your first meow, grunt or whatever. You should be removed from that school. Only to return once you have returned to being a human being.

[@stephenpike3147]

Yes absolutely correct. Following up with an absence report to the parents and a fine if it persists. Kids deliberately and selfishly disrupting the classroom, holding back the rest of the class which is wasting precious tax payers money. What a mess, no discipline or principles, weak heads - this could easily and swiftly have been resolved by the school - including disciplining that teacher. Full marks to the pupil exposing these shenanigans.

[@imspyingonyou2243]

Just take it all the way. You say you're a Cat. You eat fish and use a litter tray and as you say you dont go to school. Maybe the schools could set up some kind of petting Zoo where they weirdo kids go to learn the art of catching mice.

[@unclem7816]

Doesnt happen in Indian households. Kids get a sharp physical reminder of who's in charge. You reckon Muslim mums and dads tolerate this rubbish? Time for a reset in attitudes towards parenting.

[@imbonkers3629]

White parents want to be their kids best friends instead of parents, I can guarantee it doesn’t happen in black families either

[@leighparr7961]

Most people don't tolerate this, Muslims bring their own problems and have no place in England.

[@uniquevideosUk]

Shame happened in my household! It's nothing to do with culture, its to do with weak laws, that allow this to go on, it's become to left that's the problem, it wasn't this way for me as a child & I was able to parent how I was taught, which obviously made my Child gain the same values as me! My sons work & are very respectful to anyone who is to them, I taught respect is earned, you go further in life aswell.

[@topquark6919]

I left secondary education, after teaching for more than 25 years. Schools today are a 'minefield' of political correctness, 'woke' culture, and the 'snowflake' generation. The students claimed to 'know their rights' as though part of a schools fictitious 'judicial system'. Students would berated staff, swear at them, and threatened them with the sack! Being labelled 'racist' on a daily basis, and bullying/aggressive parents threatening physical harm. I completely agree with the sentiment, 'We've lost adult authority'. The pupils run the school, and they damn well knew it.

[@williambarnes3868]

When the only punishment is to be told not to come to school, the last place they want to be, then it is no surpris ethat classrooms are out of control.

[@jackieknight5804]

These kids are just taking the mickey seeing how ludicrous they can be.

[@bernardrandles8013]

Spare the rod ruin the child and in my experience of 71 years it's true,they are absolutely horrible creatures just like there parents.

[@KeytarArgonian]

My kid is in a small school, 1 class per year. In her class there are 3 kids that identify as cats, or call themselves ‘furries’. That is 10% of her year group. They will crawl on all fours at play time, they all went for a play date round one of the other kids houses, and were doing it there too. One left the house on all fours to go home. The parent who hosted the party was mortified, and told my wife she’s so glad our daughter isn’t a part of this nonsense.

[@mrs.conscious]

at this point, this is purely INSANE. I can not stop laughing.. IF they are cats, they can hunt for their own food and live out on the streets, if u gonna play, lets play 4 real

[@helenmather2277]

Not scared here. 'Parent' is both a noun AND a verb in my house 😂

[@HBTeamaker]

I like it 😂🤣

[@notjustfootballhd2203]

Just retired after nearly 40 years teaching in secondary schools, I can vouch for everything Katherine is saying. Adult authority is receding in schools.

[@TheBigThinker944]

Liar. Nobody identifying as cats Authority is gone but nobody thinks they a cat

[@mujeah4803]

Child identifies as a ‘bird’, is indulged and later proceeds to jumps off the roof top, who’s fault is this if we had indulged this behaviour!?

[@catwoman7462]

One of my children pretended to be a bird, and two pretended to be cats - but they were only toddlers at the time, it was intermittent, and they grew out of it. Unfortunately it appears that childish behaviour is being encouraged.

[@chrisburton8079]

This Madness has to stop its so damaging to young minds I despair

[@vict0rtayl0r]

My daughter has grown up to become a well balanced, kind and thoughtful woman, who has a clear idea of who/what she is. This was helped in no small way by my ability to tell her 'No' as a child. No Mollycoddling neither - for example, when she fell over as a toddler, I'd let her pick herself up and dust herself off. Pretty basic stuff I think, if you want your child to develop independence and strength of character.

[@michellegordon456]

me too and a few years ago she thanked me for it, what made it even more moving is that she is my stepdaughter

[@lw1zfog]

if you met the headteacher of the school, the ‘lack of adult authority’ would become instantly apparent.

[@MJ-tg7wv]

I am glad I grew up in a time when you did not call your teachers by their Christian names and they were not there to be mates. They had authority, and you may not have liked it, but you respected it. Our teachers were friendly but you knew that they were in charge. And funnily enough, when we looked back, it was those teachers that were more strict that we actually remembered with fondness as we learnt more with them. The problem is that children are not being told no at an early age - and they demand respect and shout - but if anyone raises a voice or speaks more sternly, they throw a hissy fit.

[@giftedsmith1511]

they also don't learn anything

[@michellegordon456]

I loved my teachers at Gawthorpe County High, they enforced discipline in a fantastic, fair and explanatory way, treating us with an authoritative, guiding and respectful manner they were ace, you all know who you are, and I thank you, as children growing into young adults we were taught boundaries, but were able to question they were true teachers and educators

[@freepress3788]

Lost authority?? You don't have any authority to dictate to a child who does not belong to you!

[@imbonkers3629]

Serve the cats mice 🐁 at school dinner time , say you can’t have it both ways if your a cat here’s your dinner 🙈

[@lynnm6413]

Perfect, just do it at home because cats don‘t go to school

[@jona826]

and give them a litter tray to squat on in the corner of the classroom.

[@desi4227]

May common sense overtake us all!!❤️☮️🇺🇸

[@billytetlow]

If my classmates of seventy years ago were in school under current thinking I and think of at least half a dozen of them who would go along with this, not that they believed it but but because it would draw attention to themselves or wind up the teacher. My guess is that is the same with the current situation in schools, and the more publicity it gets the more it will occur, it is time that the schools realized that they are the teach not to pander to this madness.

[@carolinekelly3415]

Very interesting dialogue. Thanks for sharing.

[@raynarks]

Parents shouldn’t be sending a cat to school. It could have fleas. That could be a health risk to children.

[@DanyalSaleem-vt8ux]

💯💯💯💯💯👍👍👍👍👍

[@catch22again]

The sense of entitlement that this next generation have is staggering. I blame the unfettered access to the internet they have had and parents inability to understand the dangers of allowing this access. Instead of playing outside they are watching a computer screen and getting a warped idea of what the world is really like.

[@elizabeth2416]

Back in the day, when I taught Primary school, I used to ask a question as an easy way to find out who was going to be a pain in the a** all year. "Put your hand up if Dad's the boss at home?" A few hands. "Put your hand up if Mum's the boss at home?" Most hands. "Put your hands up if you're the boss at home?" Always 2-4 kids would put their hands up and I'd found them. Slowly over the last 2 parenting generations, people became afraid(?) weary(?) guilty(?) of disciplining their kids. Too many "child" psychologists with differing opinions made people feel inadequate, afraid that they were going to do irrevocable damage to their children through discipline. Now we've reached a point where the parents have lost control, where the institutions who should be educating them and protecting them are now grooming them, and encouraging them to identify as the opposite sex or animals and all the while hiding these insane ideas from the parents. Obviously this is a culture in steep decline.

[@bobwishart8780]

Ah! Whose boss?…what a clever ruse!…. Wish you were in control of the Covid Inquiry!

[@_Archambaud]

Where is the government on this .its 13' years conservative ffs

[@trevgoodwin7900]

Katharine, it's so refreshing to hear commonsense.

[@Mod-rw9cw]

The problem is nobody grows up anymore. Just look around you. So no wonder this is the situation in schools now. Teachers coming to school on skateboards or scooters.

[@clairetomkyns175]

The government is looking for teachers from overseas. They are even prepared to pay the relocation fees for them. Shows that UK teachers must be leaving the profession in droves.

[@franzjohnston]

This fantastic lady has my vote!! This is so out of hand and utterly ridiculous ..... We need strong leadership to reverse this insane trend... And it starts in the schools.... This began in the 70's and its just got so much worse!

[@giftedsmith1511]

it starts at home

[@franzjohnston]

@@giftedsmith1511 ...absolutely!....and then at school!

[@user-ns1mv3ib3v]

I stand by headteacher Katherine.

[@marydaniel3252]

All the good teachers are leaving like at my granddaughters school, because they can’t do their jobs properly anymore!!

[@DrawnInk1]

It’s also going on in the states. These people should be fired.

[@StudentDad-mc3pu]

I work in schools and have never seen a student come into school dress as any kind of animal (except a Y11 student which is a kind of animal in its own right).

[@susanwilcox3403]

all these persons identifying as animals should be made to live as one to in every way

[@janepearson5802]

Just attention seekers

[@andersdottir1111]

Put the curriculum online and send the troublemakers home. Their parents made them, they can deal with them.

[@joanneesposito3295]

Parents who want to be their child's friend instead of a parent, and teachers who have created woke classrooms are the cause of this. You reap what you sow.

[@peterward3965]

I identify as a stallion, so I've been told many a time 😊 seriously I think this is absolutely disgusting. At play kids can play at whatever at school they are there to learn reading writing and arithmetic plus other subjects of course, sports history, geography etc etc, so can we get back to the old fashion methods that worked please.

[@user-om4bw3kk7y]

Not a strict teacher, but a mentally strictly limited teacher in the wide world!!! Who are u to tell them what to do in their life?

[@LH-kr4od]

She's been a government adviser all this time!! Surely she could've had a word with the government years ago when all this madness started?

[@robdavtay]

The rot set in when the government stopped parents and teachers punsihing kids! Bring back smacking and the cane!

[@user-hj3ov6ov8w]

Sadly this is a natural progression of political correctness over the last 30-40 years. Not being able to joke about something means that anything considered strange behavior must be accepted otherwise you would cause offence.

[@sasa-ix9yd]

far from being new its way older than religion...the kids are behaving as animists have done for hundreds of thousands of years...worshipping the spirit of the animal by dressing like it...using mantras (spells) and magical diagrams and doing rituals and ceremonies to gain the powers of the animal worshipped...don't worry about the kids many adults are animists...lots have mixed it with hinduism or buddhism...the phenomenon of the weretiger is all thru the ancient lore of thailand

[@Milpup]

Working in this field. A lot of these cases are related to identity disturbances related with neuro diversity and or significant adversities and maladaptive attachments with their careproviders

[@coldbreeze6344]

That teacher who abused those kids must be getting well paid for abusing her position she needs removing same with all these teachers and investigated

[@AnthonyPurvis-bq5wp]

If I was 9 again I would identify as the secretary of state for education and sack my teacher on the spot 😂

[@peter7624]

The disappearance of physical punishment throughout our society and the elevation of children is the cause. We were brought up with "Children should be seen and not heard" and the adults had the last word, because lets face it children are immature kids who know very little. Unfortunately many parents now depend on their children for making choices and decisions, which is totally wrong.

[@musiconair]

All kids should record their teachers pushing this ridiculous ideology!

[@lisabeeke7162]

We have litter boxes in some of our public schools!

[@Baldnesz]

Can we get some Educational Psychologists on. Every Local Authority has a team of Ed Psychs - my Dad was one. Unlike teachers they are the mental health experts here.

[@MassiveLib]

In 1991 I was taking a visiting school trip of 6th formers from a local comp into the nature reserve. They fked about endlessly. I asked the teacher to control them. He looked at me and said, oh you can't do that anymore..... Their parents would be up to the school!!

[@elainewhitelock5347]

Thank God someone is talking sense. Let's get back to some normality. And speak up.

[@chrisardern4594]

Teacher authority has been eroded year by year until now. They have practically non what so ever students will play on this and push the issue as kids do. And seeing children are our future i dont see it being a long future.

[@keegan773]

It all went wrong when adults wanted to be friends and not teachers. It’s a total lack of discipline.

[@karenthomas5358]

The government brought in laws interfering in how parents can parent and discipline and set boundaries

[@jean-pascalheynemand3271]

The politicisation of education has reached peak lunacy. Let’s replace bureaucrats by pedagogues and developmental/cognitive psychologist.

[@manners-84]

Ban any teacher who goes along with this crap and keep them well away from children.

[@aileenwarren5916]

Excellent points we must stop.pandering to children and these whims we must let adults and parents take authority not children being allowed to dictate

[@colinmccarthy7921]

I have all believed that I am an Alien. I am 73 years old.I am Weird,Wonderful,Whacky and Warpy. I have studied Psychology and Philosophy. There is a saying:-.”The Alpha is the Omega”.(Never forget that). ❤️👽❤️.

[@janebarrett5873]

I believe it schools are out of control … my sons CofE primary school do not allow a group of 10 year olds to play tick in the playground they say it’s to dangerous!!! It’s like a cancer sweeping though schools ..

[@alanadams-ni7uk]

Teachers are to blame for this insanity !

[@giftedsmith1511]

no parents are to blame

[@Mr.Goodkat]

Adult authority? isn't that the thing which lead to the beatings of kids with weapons in schools, various forms of public humiliations, increase in youth suicide and mental heath crisis, genital mutilation, cruel isolation practises which demand more from the recipient than "the hole" in prisons do from criminals? this is of course a woefully incomplete list but it's more than enough, let's hope that if students do have the "authority" now they forget how they were treated when they didn't. PS. they're still today successfully forced every day to go there and successfully forced to follow many rules adults would fail to meet and do tons of work for zero pay plus homework in addition plus hours of study, I don't see them as authoritative figures now. When they're that subordinate.

[@PancakeRights]

💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@colinu9209]

It started by giving kids medals for taking part instead of winning !

[@laurenireland710]

Exactly Katharine!

[@barbaramarkland5759]

This is a very smart Headmistress.

[@flinpin1567]

Katharine Birbalsingh is a great head teacher and would find away of dealing with this thing that’s going on but in the school that this happened in from what that teacher said would never be sorted if the child hadn’t recorded what was said it’s time all school went back to just teaching if a child came into school saying I’m a cat then nip it in the bud there and then by saying it’s not play time it’s lesson you pretend in play time in class your back to being you if any parent comes in to complain say the same thing and add cats don’t go to school and then report that parent to so they understand the difference between play time and school

[@lindacadogan6616]

I agree that children seem to be in charge. It is madness

[@richardeggett392]

it all started when smacking was banned, we got the slipper ,the cane the board rubber, we understood that if we did something wrong we would be punished, now kids know that if they do anything wrong there are no consequences. they know what they are doing parents should get a grip. i know my parents would have given me a smack if i behaved the way kids do these days