First we had “the lost generation” and now a “generation lacking discipline and order”. The former from the media is unfortunate but not surprising, but we have to expect better from a govt minister. There is no evidence whatsoever to support this statement

It flies in the face of what most teachers, school leaders and parents have seen. This is NOT a lost generation or generation lacking discipline. This is a generation of resilient young people who have got through the most challenging year imaginable.

When did they lack discipline? When they observed lockdown rules to the letter when many high profile figures didn’t bother? When they got up and studied for five hours every day in the most difficult conditions?

When they sat tight while politicians messed up their exams? Or forgot to produce a Plan B? Or order enough laptops for schools? When they listened to adults whinge about not going to the pub while they were cut off from their own friends for best part of a year?

When they came back to school ready to work and have behaved brilliantly? When they put sticks in their own throats and noses twice a week to help manage the spread of the virus and they could keep going to school.

I have no idea who this “generation lacking discipline” is. It’s not the young people I know or work with. It’s not my daughter and her best friend who walked outdoors, 2 metres apart, in the freezing cold, clutching coffee cups for warmth, every Sunday for 3 months

It’s not her and her friends who set out to run 10k each, every week for 5 weeks and raised £4,000 for Young Minds. I am proud to work with this generation of young people, the most resilient, long-suffering, open-minded, tolerant and decent generation this country could wish for