In this episode, with bestselling parenting author, Sarah Ockwell-Smith, we talk about childism.

What is childism? Sarah shares that childism is the “unconscious discrimination of children in our world" – and why it impacts everybody.

Why are we childist as a society? Why do we not take care of our children especially in terms of discipline and sleep regimes?

Sarah talks about her new book, “Because I Said So!” about the history of childism and .

She also shares her thoughts about boarding school. Is boarding school childist?

A really fascinating discussion.

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Sarah Ockwell-Smith is a well known parenting expert and a highly regarded popular childcare author who writes about the psychology and science of parenting.

Sarah specialises in ‘gentle parenting’ (she is often credited as being the founder of the movement) and childism (the unconscious discrimination of children in society today).

Sarah has authored 14 parenting books, translated into over 30 languages, which have sold over half a million copies.

1. I would love for you to share some of your journey. How did you get into the work you now do?
2. Could you please explain the core principle behind your new book, “Because I Said So!”? What is the book about? What's the main message?
3. Chapter 2: P.30: Historically, how have we treated children in the UK?
4. Chapter 3-4: Has this changed now? If not, what is still happening especially regarding discipline and sleep?
5. P.153: Cognitive dissonance: Why do people dismiss the idea of childism and get angry about it?
6. Boarding schools: On one of your Twitter posts you wrote (talking about facing up to denial around childhood distress: “This is very needed and you’re so right; the pain of finding out something you’ve done to your child may have hurt them in some way means the default setting is denial , dismissal and constant ad hominem attacks on the messenger. I would love to see the end of boarding schools.” Do you feel that boarding schools are childist?
7. P.88: “Politicians, ultimately, have control over almost every element of a child’s life.” Could it be that the reason our leaders are childist is due to their upbringings in these boarding school institutions? Many of our leaders received abuse, bullying and neglect in these schools e.g. David Cameron lost a stone in weight age 7 or 8, there was sexual abuse going on when Boris Johnson was at prep school.
   P152: “People raised on love see things differently than those raised on survival.” Joy Marino, Author. Nick Duffell: “Every single child when they arrive in a boarding institution - they have to survive. And they have to survive without their parents.”
8. Could you please talk about the UNCRC (UN Convention on the Rights of Children)? Why does there seem to be such a divide between children's and adults rights?
9. Why is our eduction system not fit for purpose?
10. What is the solution? How do we become a cycle breaker?

To connect to Sarah's website please visit:https://sarahockwell-smith.com/

To connect to her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheBabyExpert

For her latest book, Because I Said So!: https://sarahockwell-smith.com/because-i-said-so/

To purchase her books: https://sarahockwell-smith.com/sarahs-books/