We Need Snowflakes

Book excerpt: Is today's youth over sensitive, mollycoddled and intellectually pathetic? Does the scourge of political correctness threaten the very fabric of our nations? Yes, and yes! comes the cry of the incensed politician, columnist, comedian, disgruntled father, and baby boomer. Dubbed the 'snowflake generation', these hypersensitive cowards are up in arms about silly things like bathrooms smeared with faeces in the shape of Swastikas, climate change, and statues of colonisers being kept in their natural habitats of universities and town squares. They make obstinate requests like wondering if a vegan option might be available, or if you could (please) use their correct pronouns. In response to this outrage, writer and Washington Post pop culture host Hannah Jewell has decided to write a book to explain why being a snowflake might not be a bad thing. It might even make the world a better place. Subversive, provocative and very funny, Hannah explains how, shockingly, despising the generation that comes after your own isn't actually a new thing, and why it's good for students (and indeed the rest of us) to kick off. She shows how you can instill resilience in children without having to live through a war or be made to eat octopus; and provides a handy guide to how you - yes, you! - can also become a snowflake and help to make the world a kinder, more empathetic place.