Fighting for Education and Autonomy - May and June's Newsletter
Welcome to May and June’s instalment of the NME newsletter.
This month we had the pleasure of launching our Fight For Education Roadshow! Below there will be a special message from the organisers about the launch and details about where the next event will be. Thank you to everyone that made it and we look forward to visiting your city soon!
This has also been a particularly uncertain month in the world of politics, with Keir Starmer’s proposed social media ban and subsequent resignation. Read our article further down about what it is, why it’s happening and how it will impact young people across the country.
In Solidarity,
No More Exclusions
This Month in NME
On the 12th, NME had our very own after school stall in collaboration with North Kensington Library in Ladbroke Grove to commemorate nine years since the Grenfell Tower fire, while there is still no justice. We invited people to explore the archives and discover the history of resistance in West London alongside NME’s organising efforts to abolish school exclusions. We also had the chance to feature on Portobello Radio to spread the word about our work! Thank you to everyone that attended and tuned into the radio, we had an amazing time!
Our regular monthly stall, this time in collaboration with Focus E15, was a blast on the 20th in Stratford! We had some very brave young people on the mic and were able to show that children and young people are at the heart of it all, whether it’s education or housing issues. Thank you to everyone involved and we hope to see you at our next stall!
Our very own Jay Yambuya appeared as a guest on the Runnymede Trust’s “Unpacked” podcast to share the words about how harmful carceral practices in schools contribute to the violence that doesn’t make the headlines. Have a listen here!
Fighting For Education - The Roadshow Begins!
The Fight for Education Roadshow officially launched on Saturday the 27th of June at the warm and welcoming The Pavilion Sports & Café, Bruce Castle Park, bringing together young people, educators, parents, carers and community members.
The day featured an inspiring youth panel, where two young girls shared honest reflections on their experiences of education and what meaningful change should look like. We also heard a powerful talk from an ESN survivor, whose lived experience brought to life the intergenerational impact of educational exclusion right before our eyes, reminding us why this work is so important. There were several resources available, alongside books by Noel Gordon who was also an ESN survivor and appeared in Steve McQueen’s BBC “Subnormal” series.
The day was filled with inspiration, insight, meaningful conversations,learning and the harsh realities of why we must continue to fight for education.
NME are incredibly grateful to everyone who attended, shared their experiences, and contributed to such an important launch. A special thank you to our collaborators, Revive Congo, also.
This is just the beginning…
The Fight for Education Roadshow will continue its journey to Bristol and Leeds and more, with our next stop in Glasgow on the 7th of August at Kinning Park, as we continue building a movement for an education system that is inclusive, non-punitive, and rooted in the voices and lived experiences of children, young people and our communities.
(Written by NME member and organiser Elaine)
In the News
As we know this has been a heavy month of political uncertainty that has rocked the nation. Have a look at some of the most pressing headlines about education below. Let us know your thoughts!
Managed moves could be ‘consigned to the history books’ - Schools Week
‘I found my SEND son sobbing’: Inside the damaging school isolation rooms - iNews
Children as young as four locked away for hours in school ‘seclusion rooms’ - iPaper
Using your phone in school is now banned - BBC News
Children at Liverpool school put in isolation for wearing PE kits amid heatwave - The Liverpool Echo
The Social Media Ban - Isolating the Youth Even More
For as long as children and young people have had access to it, there has been a moral panic surrounding social media usage. It has been used as an argument to explain the increasing isolation that has been impacting children and young people and has been blanketed as a space for bullying, grooming and harassment. So when Keir Starmer announced the sweeping ban of social media for young people under the age of 16, and an 8pm curfew for 16 to 17 year olds, this was seemingly the rationale behind it.
However, this reasoning is glaringly flawed. Young people’s retreat from reality to online spaces did not come out of nowhere. Instead, the generation of young people affected by this have not known life without social media. For many social media has been a space of communication, education, connection and entertainment that has been slowly and purposefully removed from society. Many of the responses of adults to this ban in the media have been flippant at best and mocking at worst. This is due to a failure to recognise why young people have become so attached to social media in the first place.
Today, the presence of social programmes and spaces for young people to thrive are woefully scarce. The cries for youth club funding have gone unheard; parks are inaccessible and teenagers are often criminalised for hanging out in public; the cost of living has priced out the average young person from purchasing anything and libraries continue to close down across the country. Now, what is seemingly one of the last places of refuge for young people is soon to be criminalised in favour of Starmer’s political legacy as Prime Minister.
For many young people, social media has been a space for them to freely express themselves without restraint. They have been able to find community on Discord, role models on Instagram and revise for their exams on Youtube. In recent years, social media has been key in the political education of thousands of young people, with a large percentage getting their news from apps like TikTok and Instagram. With all the conversation surrounding lowering the voting age, it seems counterintuitive to force young people out of online educational spaces.
This ban thrusts an already disenfranchised youth deeper into isolation. Rather than combatting the real issues with social media platforms such as grooming and bullying, this ban leaves young people untethered with no clear plans to support them. Moreover, what this ban doesn’t account for is how tech savvy the average young person actually is. By criminalising the use of social media in this age group and VPN usage as a whole, many will still find ways to access their accounts through unsafe and unregulated means. This leaves them vulnerable to a wider group of predators online with no regulation or safeguarding in place to prevent it.
With all this in mind, the ban is said to take effect in early 2027. What are your thoughts on this? How do you think we can combat this issue and create safe online communities for young people without pushing them further into isolation?
(This article was written with the support of NME member, artist and youth worker Francesca)
NME Supports
Please take the time to sign this campaign for emotionally healthy schools. Every child deserves to learn in environments that are safe and conducive to support mental and emotional wellbeing.
Please support and sign this petition to bring national attention to the disproportionate placement of Black British children in ESN (Educationally Sub-Normal) schools.
ICARS is gathering evidence for their United Nations Evidence Survey regarding the use of restraint on children and young people. Fill the form here.
Sign this open letter to pressure Islington Council to hold Peabody to account for the stalled progress on the Holloway Park women’s centre.
Parents for Palestine are calling for the government to drop their “independent review on antisemitism in schools.” Here’s the guidelines on how to respond. It only takes five minutes.
Recommended Reading
Prevent Watch, Amnesty International and l.IBERTY have released their “Safeguarding not Securitisation” resource. Please have a read and become more informed on Prevent and how to debunk the myths: https://preventwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Education-Resource_Safeguarding-not-Securitisation.pdf?fbclid=PAVERFWASp9ulleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAafNWGi5A5rJ5EJUB05nBVYT-aNzsmwHgoK4pL8aPHo90I3SK645qOC03VtDKA_aem_3kvKSxbknUr_wnCtZsI-Iw
Defend Digital Me has put out a comprehensive briefing about the social media ban including questions for journalists to ask, how age verification will work and what happens next. Have a read: https://defenddigitalme.org/the-uk-under-16s-social-media-ban-questions-answers-faq/
Coming Up in July
On the 11th of July, Hajar Press will be hosting their Rage Teaches: Lessons in Rage day long teach out with us! Please sign up here. We’d love to see you there!
Also on the 11th, Stop School Cuts is holding a “Summer Day of Action” to push for the government to support education needs across the country. If you would like to take part, sign up here.
Fight For Education is coming to Glasgow! Keep your eyes open for dates and locations on our Instagram!