'Don't call us snowflakes – life can be challenging'

It is a term now so common that it features in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Snowflake: an insult to describe someone who is overly sensitive or as feeling entitled to special treatment or consideration.

But Prof Peter Fonagy, the head of an independent review into mental health, ADHD and autism, said recently in an exclusive BBC interview that there had been a real rise in mental distress among children and young people, with anxiety, depression, self-harm and eating disorders the most common.

Now young people have told the BBC's Politics East programme they find being called snowflakes offensive, saying the term dismisses the very real problems they experience in the modern world.

Fonagy said accusations that the young are a snowflake generation are wrong.

He noted there had been a real rise in mental distress among children and young people, with anxiety, depression, self-harm and eating disorders the most common.

He said it was "harder to be young" now given the economic and employment uncertainty young people face, coupled with the challenges presented by social media.

This is a view echoed by Abbie, a second year studying childcare at Tresham College in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

She said: "Everybody goes through so much that is behind closed doors, I've gone through so much, and to be called a snowflake is appalling."

The 18-year-old added: "Technology is really scary, you can do anything at any fingertip.

"You can get a photo and make them something that is utterly disgusting and terrifying."

Jack is in his second year studying Art and Design and he said he is angry with the accusation he and his peers are snowflakes.

He said: "Most of my generation are not snowflakes we actually have a lot of problems we need fixing, and we worry about a lot of stuff.

"We've been through some of the worst things humanity has ever experienced like Covid-19."

The 17-year-old said, unlike his friends he did not use social media and he rarely got to see his friends face-to-face.

"We're always talking on a phone, so it can be quite lonely sometimes."

Mia, a second-year student, said "life can be challenging". As well as studying she is also working.

The 17-year-old said she had been called a snowflake a couple of times.

"We've been through so much as a generation, because we had lockdown all these crises and we've got the rise in climate change and how our earth isn't going to survive."

Speaking on Politics East, Patrick Spencer, Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, said everybody "gets down and we all feel anxious for the future".

He added: "I think some of the slightly more traditional principles of resilience have been lost somewhat in this debate.

"We all have our insecurities that we have to deal with and it takes time and a certain perspective you can develop and that is what growing up is all about: developing a sense of resilience and a sense of fortitude.

"And a sense of gratitude for what we do have, not just concern for what we don't have."

But he acknowledged that the younger generation do face new pressures.

"I think there are certainly some things that this generation faces that are more complicated - I mean social media is a good example," he said.

"As a father of two young sons I think about it a lot. How to regulate it? How to expose them to it? How to introduce them to it in a functional way?

"I don't worry about them becoming teenagers, that's a fact of life. I might worry about the pace in which it happens but not worried about it happening."

Tresham College in Kettering recently opened a new wellbeing space called The Haven to help support the demand for the service.

Maggie Evans, a Special Educational Needs Emotional Wellbeing Support Facilitator at the college, said: "If students feel safe, happy and included within our campus, they are more likely to achieve academically to their full potential.

"The Haven was created to give our most vulnerable students a safe, calming space where they can reset and regulate, enabling them to return to their academic classes.

"It consists of a low sensory stimulation space that is zoned to enable full accessibility."

Rosie Wrighting, Labour MP for Kettering is part of Generation Z, and one of the youngest female MPs at 29.

She said: "I think supporting the next generation to have the ability to contribute positively to the country and being part of building the future is the responsibility of everyone whether you have a seat at the table, like me, or you're in your home amongst families, teachers, in schools, in communities.

"One of the most beneficial things that I see to help this, is intergenerational conversations. I find you learn a lot from each other and having a forum in your community to do that can be a massive asset."

Fonagy's review was ordered nine months ago by Wes Streeting after the then-health secretary claimed in an interview that young people were over-diagnosed and "written off".

It is likely to feed into government policies on everything from NHS services and benefits to support for young people who are not in education, employment or training.

Some have also questioned whether society was now over-medicalising distress in people's lives – giving people diagnoses when what they are facing is temporary stress that they should learn to cope with.

Last year, the BBC found that many GPs had concerns about over-diagnosis and felt normal life stresses were being over-medicalised.

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BBC Politics East will be broadcast on Sunday 4 October at 10:00 GMT on BBC One in the East of England, and will be available after broadcast on BBC iPlayer.

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