Thread by @suzannezeedyk

"Hungry childrn should complain to their parents, not the government"
That's t blog title I woke w/ ths morn. Now writng as fast as I can. Britain's industrial past ws *founded in* childhood suffering,in ACES. What will our future be? That's what ths row asks. #FeedOurChildren

2. Let me say that again: Britain's sense of itself as a nation, as an industrial power, as an empire, is *founded on* childhood suffering. Jane Humphries has said it. independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…

3. Author Carol Craig @craig_carol has said it. "I had an epiphany: childhood suffering is the key to Scotland’s ill health." @UpstartScot postcardsfromscotland.co.uk/shop/ols/produ…

4. Social campaigner James Robertson said it with his films in the 1950s. No one could bear to *see* the children suffering. The adults stayed *defended* against that pain. They could not bear to think their policies *caused* suffering.

5. Fiona Millar's @schooltruth article this month in @guardian is a bang-up-to-date illustration of this 200+ year old cultural blindness we have to childhood suffering. “Many headteachers are pressured to prioritise results over pupil wellbeing." theguardian.com/education/2020…

6. The current row over feeding children is part of a long history of ignoring-denying-being-irritated-with children's suffering. If we can see this historic context, it makes more sense & we get better at creating solutions. Until adults can do that, *children keep suffering*.

7/end. Yes, it is a hard truth: Our culture, our professions, do all sorts of cruel things to children.
It doesn't feel cruel. It just feels....normal.
The more we find the courage to face this, the more we understand how denial works, t better a chance we hv of...everything.