In Assembly this week Head of Sixth Form Richard Peters addressed pupils on the issue of the cancel culture…

 

In these febrile times, it is hard to know what are the government’s top areas of concern – is it war, the pandemic, the economic crisis, or NHS waiting times? Well maybe, but also the government is focusing its attention on imperial measures. Specifically, should businesses ditch metric measures and only sell goods by the yard or by the ounce, if that is what they want. The government opened a public consultation calling for views from consumers and businesses. People were encouraged to answer questions online. This was hosted on the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategies. I went online to fill out the consultation, and found the questions very strange indeed, and somewhat concerning. Here are some of the questions:

 

If you had a choice, would you want to purchase items:

Option 1) In imperial units

Option 2) In imperial units alongside a metric equivalent 

 

That’s it. There are no other choices. So what if I want to answer ‘In metric units alongside an imperial equivalent?’ Or even ‘Only in metric’? There was a box to add extra information, but no option for metric. 

 

Another question:

 

Do you foresee any costs or benefits to you from businesses being permitted to sell

1) Solely in imperial units

2) In imperial units alongside a less prominent metric equivalent?

 

Again no option for metric or metric alongside a less prominent imperial equivalent.

 

As a lover of statistics, I was flabbergasted. This is a very problematic way to conduct a survey. In fact, I became more and more enraged. Reading on Twitter, I could see I was not alone, many people were disgusted by this biased questioning. As I became more incensed, I thought seriously about boycotting any shop that only sold in imperial measures. It is outrageous. It is time for this imperial measure nonsense to be cancelled, we are living in the 21st century. 

 

Then I thought some more about it and took the questions to my Lower 6 Further Maths class. Thankfully they agreed that the questions were poor and this wouldn’t be a survey that we should trust. However, I asked them about using imperial measures. What about you – do you use metric or imperial, or a mixture of both? Do you measure the ingredients for a cake in grams or ounces?  I know, for example, that I am around 6 foot 4, and also that is approximately 1m 94 cm. When I run, I am happy measuring either miles or kilometres. In fact, I spend many a happy hour running, converting between the two, to see how far I have left to run!

 

Reflecting on my reactions to this, I have thought more and more about cancel culture in a wider sense. 

 

In doing so, I stumbled up this fantastic blog in which student Trina Mitra explains how to hold people accountable in a way that promotes real change.  https://assembly.malala.org/stories/we-can-do-better-than-cancel-culture So powerful is this writing, I really wanted to share it with you this morning. Trina says:

 

“We don’t often see powerful people face consequences for their problematic behaviour. Cancel culture promises to change that.

 

In theory, the social practice of cancellation is a way to hold prolific people accountable for the things they say and do. If a celebrity makes an offensive statement, their fans can choose to boycott or “cancel” them and their work in hopes of creating retribution for their actions, perhaps even ending their career. Many people believe it is an effective way to fight injustice because social media empowers people instead of institutions. You don’t need social capital, financial stability or industrial qualification to punish someone for their actions — anyone on the internet has the power to do it.

 

But I think cancel culture falls short of this ideal. Real, systemic change requires us to engage with the issues we care about and work to win over the other side — not eliminate it. By outlawing dialogue between people who disagree, cancel culture denies people their right to learn from their mistakes. If someone falters once, they’re out and there’s no coming back.

 

We tend to think that cancelling someone will make them reconsider their harmful actions, but this is false. Professor Brené Brown — who has spent two decades researching how people learn and make positive changes to their behaviour — says that shame is not constructive in this regard. “We think that shaming is a great moral compass, that we can shame people into being better, but that’s not true,” she explains. In fact, shame often makes people more resistant to change. To truly change someone, Brown says, we have to tap into their conscience by explaining where they went wrong and how their actions hurt others. 

 

As Barack Obama said “This idea of purity and you’re never compromised, you should get over that quickly. The world is messy, there are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff, have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids and share certain things with you. There is the view that the way for me to make change is to be as judgmental as possible about other people, and that’s enough. That’s not bringing about change. If all you are doing is casting stones, you are probably not going to get that far”. 

 

We all make mistakes, but in most cases, I don’t believe they should define us forever. My thoughts aren’t absolute, they are open to change because I am still learning. Let’s build a system of accountability that champions growth and leaves space for betterment.”

 

Food for thought no doubt – but would you measure that food in lbs or kilos??