Generation Snowflake - Wikipedia

Writer Claire Fox reported that "In November 2015, a short video went viral that showed a confrontation between a Yale faculty head, Nicholas Christakis, and a screaming, almost hysterical mob of students. The video generated such a backlash towards the students' behaviour that they were soon labelled with the disparaging moniker 'Generation Snowflake'."[5] The situation had arisen after a request for students not to wear Halloween costumes that might offend minority groups had been responded to.[5]

The term "snowflake generation" was one of Collins Dictionary's 2016 words of the year.[6][7]

Generation Snowflake members "are genuinely distressed by ideas that run contrary to their worldview"; they are more likely than previous generations of students to report that they have mental health problems.[4] A UK Higher Education Policy Institute survey of university students in 2016 "found that 76% would ban speakers who had views that offended them, while half (48%) wanted universities to be declared safe spaces where debate can only take place within strict rules."[3] This is coupled with a strong sense of entitlement.[2][4]

Fox argues that Generation Snowflake was created by over-protecting people when they were children.[4] In the UK, Tom Bennett was recruited by the government to address behaviour in schools.[8] He commented that Generation Snowflake children at school can be over-protected from reality, leading to problems when they progress to university and are confronted with real-world truths.[8] They can react with intolerance towards people and things that they believe may offend someone.[8]

The negative connotations of the term Generation Snowflake have been criticised for having been applied too widely: Bennett also commented that "It's true that our children have never had it so good, and some have never known anything but a status quo of swimming in surplus. It's true that, for some of these children, losing fast wi-fi is a crisis and being offended on the internet is a disaster. [...] But then I remember the other ones, and I reckon they all balance each other out."[9]

Generation Snowflake characteristics have been discussed in relation to the skills required by entrepreneurs.[10]

1. ^ abHalls, Eleanor (12 May 2016). "Millennials. Stop being offended by, like, literally everything". GQ. Retrieved 9 July 2016. 
2. ^ abcGordon, Bryrony (8 April 2016). "I feel sorry for the poor ickle millennials". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 July 2016. 
3. ^ abMeredith, Fionola (27 May 2016) "Precious little snowflakes we call students are taught to be weaklings from a very early age". Belfast Telegraph.
4. ^ abcdFox, Claire (4 June 2016) "Generation Snowflake: how we train our kids to be censorious cry-babies". The Spectator.
5. ^ abFox, Claire (2016) I find that offensive. Biteback.
6. ^"Top 10 Collins Words of the Year 2016" (3 November 2016). collinsdictionary.com.
7. ^"Do You Know What Jomo Is?" (3 November 2016). BBC.
8. ^ abcEspinoza, Javier (19 February 2016) "Expose children to extremist views early on to prepare them for university, says expert". The Daily Telegraph.
9. ^Bennett, Tom (20 November 2015) "For every flaky child we have one with real guts". TES.
10. ^Brazier, Colin (25 July 2016) "The economic risks of raising Generation Snowflake". CapX.