Broadley speaking...

Back in year 10, we used petri dishes in science – little shallow dishes full of jelly, to which you add different bacteria, stand back for a bit and see what happens. Results varied each time – sometimes nothing, sometimes something interesting, and sometimes something dangerous. The petri dish analogy is one that can be used not only in school, but to describe it in its entirety, replacing bacterial colonies with those of humans, and the petri dish with a school.   I’m sure that everybody who has, at some point, attended a public school in this country will have encountered these clichés before, for there are very specific groups that form within a school environment, filled with specific individuals.   Beginning at what they like to think is the top of the food chain, we have the ‘popular’ ones – a niche, very select group of individuals, who don’t do homework, swear a lot, and wear round sunglasses and suits with no socks to prom. They believe themselves to be above th...

I’ve noticed an increase in people comparing our current situation with that of the second world war. And I get their point, that idea of communal determination and country-wide resolve to get through this together. But I also think that the concept is flawed in a number of ways, not only because the enemy of the world is not, this time, an unstable German fascist, but an undercooked Wuhanese bat. The main issue is that 99% of us didn’t live through the war, especially not the millennial generation, who make up the majority of the young-ish population of our country. And the upcoming Gen Z populace, who haven’t been alive long enough to experience the spice girls, let alone the war. I know I’ve never been even close to armed conflict, so I’ve been thinking back, trying to pinpoint the closest I’ve personally come to warfare. And I think I’ve got it. Changing rooms. Specifically, school changing rooms frequented by teenage boys, a collective that should rarely be left alone in grou...

During these difficult times I feel like we need to work out what it takes to make ourselves feel good again. Unfortunately, almost all of these things require other people. It’s only while I’ve been isolated that I’ve realised how many people I used to see on a daily basis, because now I get excited to see people like the postman, and I jump at the chance to speak to someone, literally anyone, about anything. I even tried texting HM_Gov back the other day, but nobody replied. I suppose they’re all quite busy. It’s not just basic interactions that make us feel good though. Generally, it’s things that really don’t matter that give us the biggest boost. Like those little charity boxes you sometimes find next to tills, and that bit where you pack your bag in supermarkets. When you get change that totals roughly 12p and you spy the box, you decide that this shall be your good deed for the day, locking eyes with the cashier as you pop it in the slot just so they know how good a person yo...