There is a contemporary phenomenon that severely impacts young people known as cringe avoidance. Our young people are the generation that are the most exposed to persistent media and social media messaging in human history. This occurs in both formal and informal settings and networks. Unfortunately, the nature of much of the discourse in these environments is entrenched in a tone of cynicism, cruelty and bullying.

Whether it is on reality television shows, comments sections or message boards, the propensity to cut others down with a biting comment, emoji or star rating has created a generation who are extremely vigilant about opening themselves up to potential criticism.

As such, participation in the creative arts is decreasing and young people are missing out on the enormous opportunities for growth that only come in the risk-taking moments of putting oneself out there.

Contemporary social commentator, Yuval Noah Harari, writes about the damage wrought by the supposed democratisation of peer review processes in his influential book Nexus. He asserts that in shifting the power for reviews of services from experts to peers, we have established a culture where a consumer has the power to inflict disproportionate damage on a supplier without necessarily having due cause. Additionally, the algorithmic prioritization of engagement over accuracy means that the internet is more likely to promote negative content even when its accuracy is in question.

Another phenomenon is the social media world’s propensity to capture someone’s worst moment and to make this their defining popular identity. This leads to a culture of cancellation and public shaming.

In a zeitgeist where such high stakes “tests” dominate, it is no wonder that young people are wary about doing anything that might make them stand out from the crowd.

At King David we champion a culture where students are valued for their individual contributions. My proudest moments are when I hear our students reflect that ”at KDS it is ok to be me”. For this reason, it is so pleasing to see the moments when our students take risks to express themselves creatively.

This culture is born in our Junior School Creative Assemblies where students are celebrated for whatever unique contribution they make - whether it’s Prep students violently wriggling on the floor as they breakdance to the classic dance hit Freestyler, Year 2s doing a complex magic trick or Yr 5s belting out a Taylor Swift song.

This culture is evident in our soirees, in our talent shows at The King’s Carnival and at our special Kochav Nolad (a star is born) concert on Yom Haatzmaut. Next week it will be present in spades as a huge cast participates in our Year 6 - 12 Musical, Beauty and the Beast.    

This show, with students from 11 - 18 years old, demonstrates the true power of peer support, communal safety and belonging that is powerful in countering cringe avoidant tendencies. This allows our students to push themselves to take risks, to find out more about themselves and to gain the unique sense of pride and fulfilment that comes from succeeding where you were not sure that you could.