We need to make space in the school day for students to simply talk

If you want to know what young people really think about politics, social media, school and the state of society, start by reading the report Inside the Mind of a 16-Year-Old by Shuab Gamote and Peter Hyman.

Inside the Mind of A 16 year Old

They travelled across the UK running workshops with 16–18-year-olds to find out what they really think.

There’s no shortage of adults writing about Gen Z, many with valuable insights, but as the authors point out, “Gen Z” can mean anyone aged 15 to 28. That’s a vast range of life experience. It’s refreshing (and overdue) to hear directly from the young people living through 2025 rather than from those observing them from a distance, often through the lens of school systems built decades ago.

The essay is rich and full of insight, and I’m not going to attempt to summarise it here.
Instead, I want to focus on the final chapter:

“Why discussion has been cancelled in schools — and what to do about it.”

Gamote and Hyman open with a powerful statement :

“Schools are closing down space for debate and discussion.”

And they end with a reminder that should make every educator pause for thought:

“School is the one hope we have left of a less polarised world… Government needs to make sure it does not make compliance so oppressive or the exam pressure so overwhelming that no time and space is left for every child to find out who they are and what they believe — and to have robust debates about the complex world in which they live.”

If we want young people to understand democracy, agency, and responsibility then they need more than a lessons they need the experience.

In democratic schools I’ve helped lead, students take part in real elections, run their own meetings, and make decisions that genuinely shape their community. They manage conflict through peer-run justice systems that prioritise restoration over punishment. It isn’t always easy, but it’s authentic, meaningful learning.

Take one example: phones in schools. My last school was no different from anywhere else in that opinions were strong, the topic was messy, and everyone had a view. Instead of rushing to impose a rule, we created a Tech Committee made up of students and staff. We met regularly, shared our concerns, and talked honestly about the reality of social media, online behaviour, and the addictive pull of the digital world.

Through discussion, and lively debate, we co-designed our approach to phones. There was a shared acknowledgement that technology isn’t going away, and because young people were genuinely involved in shaping the policy, the rules evolved into something that felt fair, workable and understood by everyone.

Most importantly, students’ voices weren’t just heard they influenced the final decision.

In the end, it came down to trust. Trust that young people are capable of contributing, shaping culture, and making responsible choices when we give them the space to do it.

You don’t need to transform a school into a fully democratic model to benefit from this thinking. Every school, large, small, state, independent, can create space for structured conversation, debate, and listening. The scale and design will vary, but the principle will stay the same.

To do this, we need courage and creativity in how we use time. At the moment, timetables are crammed, transitions are rushed, and exam pressure dominates the culture. Young people are rarely given time to pause, think, or engage deeply with each other and yet we expect them to emerge as articulate, empathetic, collaborative citizens.

Skills like self-management, social intelligence, listening, negotiation, critical thinking and innovation aren’t learnt by being told about them they’re learnt through practice, through interaction, through conversation. We need to make space in the school day for students to talk not just as add ons which are sometimes squeezed into lessons, but as a core part of their learning. That way young people and staff can sit together, share ideas, disagree, reflect and listen to each other.

Changes like this requires leaders and policymakers willing to step outside the comfort of efficiency and control and work with students, teachers, parents ( the whole comminty ) to make change. If we want young people to speak up in the world, we must first give them space to speak in school.

I have helped schools across different systems rethink how time, culture and communication work, placing student voice and wellbeing at the centre of learning.

If your school is exploring how to create more space for meaningful dialogue and agency, I can help you design a practical way forward that fits your context.

Ben Kestner