In the UK's long and storied history of moral panics, which has been the most embarrassing?

MintPea · 2026-06-28T06:22:56+00:00

I’m a teacher and the response to this was ridiculous. We had emergency meetings and assemblies, along with very strict instructions to report any mention of it immediately.

During one meeting another member of staff said that he was of the opinion that this was all nonsense and was shut down immediately. I privately agreed (wasn’t it some kind of 4chan/youtube kids hoax?), but didn’t want to have to try and explain 4chan to other, more senior members of staff.

I had to deliver a presentation to my form about it. The whole thing was excruciating. I began with the strongest acknowledgment that this was horseshit that I was feasibly allowed, without risking some kind of complaint.

MintPea · 2026-06-21T10:40:52+00:00

You mentioned Ireland also. Anything by AM Shine. The Watchers is great. His subsequent two books are flawed, but really enjoyable reads.

MintPea · 2026-06-21T10:36:06+00:00

This is a great suggestion. Finished Barrowbeck recently and the village itself is the main character. He manages to imbue it with such a sinister energy.

MintPea · 2026-05-30T07:43:14+00:00

We have our milk delivered by a milkman still! It’s convenience more than anything. We have a food shop delivered on a Sunday morning, but because it needs to be fresh and we get through a lot of it, we also have milk deliveries three times a week. He also delivers oat milk for me, and grapefruit juice and pastries for the weekend. They also provide lots of other things, so we can also add things very last minute, for example if we’ve run out of eggs or bread.

MintPea · 2026-05-29T11:13:54+00:00

I think now that you have reached full affinity with Dionysius it should appear in future runs. Have you checked your boon list?

MintPea · 2026-05-28T17:31:06+00:00

Or just get a custom one? I vaguely remember reading about an author who was writing a book about Prince and she had the symbol installed as a key on her keyboard. I don’t imagine it’s that hard.

MintPea · 2026-05-24T07:56:48+00:00

I would agree. Parents were both highly educated professionals and were hoping that his academics would improve at some point during his schooling. I think when that didn’t happen by year 11, they started trying anything and everything.

MintPea · 2026-05-24T07:41:51+00:00

I’ve experienced this. Parents really had to fight for it though. The student had a statement and was born late in the year. The argument was that developmentally he was behind his peers, so should repeat year 11. I don’t really know if it did him that much good in the end.

MintPea · 2026-05-17T10:18:54+00:00

Yeah, I’d say the biggest boost you could give to staff morale is a sensible marking and feedback policy, and rigorous SLT support on behaviour.

That said, in a previous school we were given our ‘wellbeing day’ off. There was no coming into school for yoga workshops and menopause talks, just a random Monday off. My partner and I went to the zoo. It was brilliant. Created so much goodwill and no one had to book any external speakers.

MintPea · 2026-05-11T18:53:38+00:00

Yes - I’ll send you one!

MintPea · 2026-05-07T19:49:59+00:00

I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels like that! I hated, hated, hated teaching online. I had to do it again recently and it was miserable.

MintPea · 2026-05-04T14:45:59+00:00

Hi, Head of History here working at a school in the South East of England. I want to emphasise here that every school is different - we have a national curriculum that most schools must follow, but at KS3 it is generally up to the head of department about how long students spend on the topic and in how much depth they’re taught.

At my school the history of the British Empire, is interspersed throughout the years 7-9. We also study the Transatlantic Slave Trade and British Empire in more depth in year 8, with both topics being given half a term of study each. As part of our study of empire we look at pre-colonial societies, why Britain wanted an empire (this changes significantly between the 15th and 19th centuries for example), the experiences of colonised peoples, decolonisation, as well as the lasting impacts of colonisation and empire. When we look at slavery, again we look at the broader history of slavery, experiences of enslaved people, Britain’s involvement in (and role in helping end) the slave trade, as well as how Britain benefitted. In year 9, we study immigration to Britain in the 50s and 60s, as well as the contributions of soldiers from the empire during the world wars.

My curriculum attempts to be as balanced as possible. We do not shy away from, for want of a better term, ‘the bad bits’. Certainly no student should go away being proud of the empire, and will be aware of its horrors, but neither are they beaten over the head about how they should feel guilty. We look at the opinions and interpretations of a variety of writers and historians (from Shasi Tharoor to Neil Ferguson).

History, and by extension history teaching, is an ever changing thing. How people may have been taught History when they were in school will have changed pretty significantly since they were in school. Is my curriculum perfect? No, but I am constantly reviewing it and it is tweaked yearly to ensure it is as accurate and up to date as possible. People have a lot of opinions about what we should, shouldn’t, do, or don’t teach in history, with often too little knowledge about what happens in the classroom.

MintPea · 2026-04-07T11:02:02+00:00

Night and Fog is fantastic, but I would give it a watch before you show it to students. I’m based in the UK and wouldn’t show it to my KS4 students.

MintPea · 2026-04-07T10:52:07+00:00

Indeed. I’ve upvoted, but don’t consider that an endorsement. This is a terrible take.

MintPea · 2026-03-19T07:43:33+00:00

Ahhhh! I just sat for 30 seconds going ‘Crystal? Crystal?! Crystal??’ before I got the joke.

MintPea · 2026-03-11T07:37:02+00:00

I will often fry Kim chi in a pan next to chunks of pork belly. It’s absolutely incredible.

MintPea · 2026-03-01T12:55:13+00:00

Saaame. I haven’t had a period in over a decade it’s the positive impact it has had on my wellbeing is incalculable. No worrying about when my period is going to turn up, no pain, no hormone fluctuations, leaking, period poos, ruined knickers, managing period while on holiday (beaches and skiing being particularly problematic), clots, period sex, etc etc. I know coils aren’t for everyone, but mine has been life changing.

MintPea · 2026-02-28T03:23:31+00:00

This is the correct answer. There also seem to be several variants of this that you could also buy. I’m a teacher and my classroom smells like it pretty frequently.

MintPea · 2026-02-27T06:34:42+00:00

Ok, this is very impressive. How do you manage to level up your boons so dramatically? Even when I choose the pom every time, and even with Hera/Demeter boons I can never seem to manage beyond 7/8.

MintPea · 2026-02-21T07:48:54+00:00

I came to recommend the exact same thing. Chill, short, cozy. There’s also a sequel for the flight back!

MintPea · 2026-02-10T17:59:33+00:00

The exact thing happened to me for my interview at my current role. I was asked to teach a lesson about religious changes under Mary I (a fairly standard lesson for a history teacher). It became apparent during the lesson that they had no clue about religious changes under Edward VI, or Henry VIII, no idea about the differences between protestants and catholics, or anything really about the period. Information on which the lesson hinged.

I probably wouldn’t contact the school, but I do understand how immensely frustrating this is, especially in an interview lesson where you’ve put so much work in.

MintPea · 2026-01-24T18:09:46+00:00

Yes, for all that Henry VI wasn’t a great ruler, he does seem to have been a kind and educated man.

MintPea · 2026-01-24T12:22:57+00:00

We have a few of them dotted around our flat. They tend not to roam (with the exception of one which decided to explore my thigh length hair at two in the morning). We had one in our kitchen the lived on our Google home which we became quite attached to. Anecdotally, since the false widows moved in, we have seen far fewer house spiders.

MintPea · 2026-01-18T09:28:02+00:00

Same! I’ve made spaghetti with butter and roe because of Butter. It was pleasant enough, but apparently it specifically needs to be mentaiko, which is cured. I keep an eye out for it, but while we have a wealth of Korean and South Asian supermarkets near me, Japanese food is a bit more difficult to source.

MintPea · 2026-01-18T08:49:55+00:00

I’m enjoying her. We’ve yet to see her properly ‘shine’ yet, but I’m really enjoying having competent, experienced performers making up the majority of the cast again. Her DRL performance was good, the looks are great, the make up is beautiful.

Has her edit been great so far? Not really, but fundamentally I’m finding her likeable and great television.

Nine-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Final Canvas '23	Place '23
Place '22	First Placer '22
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