One flavour of discounting first-hand voices: A theory that our ethics and scepticism are being misconstrued/misrepresented as selfish blinkered naïveté.

On the discounting of first-hand voices in favour of external “experts”. This is an obstacle to determining ethical and effective courses of action. Featuring quotes from Marcus Riggs and Charlotte Cooper, and references to the Children, Schools and Families Bill.

Following on from the metaphor of “gearing up”, here are some “example gears”, and some more things I thought about it as I experimented.

There’s a saying that “knowledge is power”. But sometimes ignorance has advantages too.
Featuring a quote from Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and a couple of extracts from the Children, Schools and Families Bill Committee.

Some good writing by other people: Allie’s article on the Ticky Boxy world, Dani’s presentation on Government lies, Rosemary’s submission to the Bill Committee and a Times commentary on the Govt’s mistrustfulness.

Here I quote something Louisa wrote on children’s self-sovereignty, the non-neutral role of the state, and an ethical point of reference for the shape of our activism. This arose out of a discussion about how compulsory school can be used to protect children from being made to work (in the economic/ money-earning/ survival sense).