pearl
Well-known member
keep hearing this term, where's it come from?
Writer Claire Fox reported that "In November 2015, a short video went viral that showed a confrontation between a Yale faculty head, Nicholas Christakis, and a screaming, almost hysterical mob of students. The video generated such a backlash towards the students' behaviour that they were soon labelled with the disparaging moniker 'Generation Snowflake'." The situation had arisen after a request for students not to wear Halloween costumes that might offend minority groups had been responded to.
The term "snowflake generation" was one of Collins Dictionary's 2016 words of the year.
Characteristics
Generation Snowflake members "are genuinely distressed by ideas that run contrary to their worldview"; they are more likely than previous generations of students to report that they have mental health problems. A UK Higher Education Policy Institute survey of university students in 2016 "found that 76% would ban speakers who had views that offended them, while half (48%) wanted universities to be declared safe spaces where debate can only take place within strict rules." This is coupled with a strong sense of entitlement.
Fox argues that Generation Snowflake was created by over-protecting people when they were children. In the UK, Tom Bennett was recruited by the government to address behaviour in schools. He commented that Generation Snowflake children at school can be over-protected from reality, leading to problems when they progress to university and are confronted with real-world truths. They can react with intolerance towards people and things that they believe may offend someone.
The negative connotations of the term Generation Snowflake have been criticised for having been applied too widely: Bennett also commented that "It's true that our children have never had it so good, and some have never known anything but a status quo of swimming in surplus. It's true that, for some of these children, losing fast wi-fi is a crisis and being offended on the internet is a disaster. [...] But then I remember the other ones, and I reckon they all balance each other out."
Generation Snowflake characteristics have been discussed in relation to the skills required by entrepreneurs.
I think the internet had been a massive negative in the last twenty years in terms of contributing and fueling the shrill outrage if something occurs that's is out of step with a person's paradigm. It is difficult not to join the baying mob.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Snowflake ?
Generation Snowflake members "are genuinely distressed by ideas that run contrary to their worldview"
Personally think it's a bit unfair as recent months have shown it spreads across many age groups.
It sums up the generation who have been through the education system with the "No losers" Sports days.
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No idea where it came from but I quite like the expression.
It sums up the generation who have been through the education system with the "No losers" Sports days. Things don't go their way, like the Brexit Vote and Trump Victory, and as they have no concept of what losing actually feels like they cannot handle it.
Of course at this point Generation Snowflake takes to Twatter to inform they are "Literally shaking with fear/anger/frustration" rather than accepting the democratic process and getting the hell on with life.
Certainly have no loser sports days in south London. My kids sports day is a horrible soppy affair and If anything it frustrates the kids as much as anything else as they want to compete properly.Outside of the pages of the Daily Mail, has anyone ever actually witnessed such a thing? We used to hear a lot about these sports days - normally in some angry article about a left-wing local authority, like Lambeth or somewhere, but its basically bullshit, isn't it? A couple of isolated incidents, in schools led by misguided individuals - then extrapolated by foaming at the mouth crappy editorials, into a national malaise, that never existed.
No idea where it came from but I quite like the expression.
It sums up the generation who have been through the education system with the "No losers" Sports days. Things don't go their way, like the Brexit Vote and Trump Victory, and as they have no concept of what losing actually feels like they cannot handle it.
Of course at this point Generation Snowflake takes to Twatter to inform they are "Literally shaking with fear/anger/frustration" rather than accepting the democratic process and getting the hell on with life.
No, I've experienced it having worked in schools over the last twenty or so years in Liverpool and here in Sussex. Thankfully, the idea of a sports day where there are no winners or losers is dying a death.Outside of the pages of the Daily Mail, has anyone ever actually witnessed such a thing? We used to hear a lot about these sports days - normally in some angry article about a left-wing local authority, like Lambeth or somewhere, but its basically bullshit, isn't it? A couple of isolated incidents, in schools led by misguided individuals - then extrapolated by foaming at the mouth crappy editorials, into a national malaise, that never existed.
No, I've experienced it having worked in schools over the last twenty or so years in Liverpool and here in Sussex. Thankfully, the idea of a sports day where there are no winners or losers is dying a death.
Good. Still think the media massively overplayed that story though.
Outside of the pages of the Daily Mail, has anyone ever actually witnessed such a thing? We used to hear a lot about these sports days - normally in some angry article about a left-wing local authority, like Lambeth or somewhere, but its basically bullshit, isn't it? A couple of isolated incidents, in schools led by misguided individuals - then extrapolated by foaming at the mouth crappy editorials, into a national malaise, that never existed.
Surely it comes form the comparison to a snowflake and that each one is delicate and unique and beautiful and must be handled with extreme care, marvelled at as it flutters through life feeling adored?
Certainly there were/ are primary schools in Brighton that have no loser sports days. Shouldn't be a problem too much longer though as they have flogged off all the playing fields to build subterranean megacities for Islamic Martians and turned the five-a-side court into a shariah law discotheque for upset Mexicans.
Outside of the pages of the Daily Mail, has anyone ever actually witnessed such a thing? We used to hear a lot about these sports days - normally in some angry article about a left-wing local authority, like Lambeth or somewhere, but its basically bullshit, isn't it? A couple of isolated incidents, in schools led by misguided individuals - then extrapolated by foaming at the mouth crappy editorials, into a national malaise, that never existed.