First question I'd have to the son or daughter, I'd say, 'Do you want me to hire your mother or you? What's she doing here?' That résumé goes right into the garbage. It happened to me on a Zoom call, and I just said, this isn't going to work. Your mom is not gonna be part of this discussion.
It is, officially, just a small part of wider guidance for schools and colleges, titled Keeping Children Safe in Education, which covers everything from the basics of safeguarding, checks on staff and dealing with harassment. The section on students who might question their gender covers about five of the document's 201 pages, guiding institutions about what they should do in such circumstances. Unlike the previous guidance it is statutory it must be followed. It is currently being consulted on, and so will not come into force until September. The DfE says it will then be reviewed annually.
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I'm a parent myself. I have three college-age girls. We all want the absolute best for our kids, and I recognize the job market is tough. But it blows my mind how many parents think it's appropriate for them to reach out to me on LinkedIn or by email and say, Hey, if you could talk to my child, you'd be able to inspire them to apply.
'No Child Left Behind' poisoned us, and it's okay to accept when a child doesn't have the aptitude. I'm a freshman composition professor, and the number of students I get who are functionally illiterate is shockingly high. 'Special education has become a dumping ground for behavioral problems, and the kids who truly need it are being neglected.' 'Class sizes are too big.
I never loved reading growing up. Compared to my peers and siblings - who, admittedly, were a very academically rigorous circle - I struggled to read. I lacked confidence, and reading was always a source of some stress for me. After college, I started teaching kindergarteners in Houston through Teach for America. That's when I really saw what a difference early reading makes for kids: not just academically but also in their overall confidence and the joy they find in books.
