My View: Stephanie Smith

It happened in my day, and it probably happened in my parents’ and grandparents’ day too, but little dissuades the senior generations from their much-loved pastime of dismissing the achievements of the junior.

As today’s schoolchildren are the most tested and monitored ever, there’s oodles of statistical evidence to rip to shreds. So, ten per cent are getting A* s, eh? Not like it was in my day, they say, although, actually, it is, because for many exams taken in the olden days, the top ten per cent were awarded the top grade... but don’t let statistics ruin your argument.

Much as I would hate to dampen the fun of all this exam results carping, I would ask those who think passing GCSE Maths involves little more than ticking a few obvious multiple-choice boxes to get a past paper and have a go at it.

My daughter, who has been struggling with Maths, has taken the Foundation level, which means she can’t get any higher than a C. There are three papers and she has never achieved higher than a D, despite retakes. I try to help her.

I managed a surprising A in my O-level Maths, but I don’t find the past papers easy – and these are the Foundation ones, not the ones children can achieve B to A* with.

At Easter, my parents decided to try one of my daughter’s past papers. They didn’t get very far, as my Dad wittered on about a squaw on a hippopotamus being worth two squaws at the bottom. Or something. Anyway, it was not the walkover they had expected. When my daughter eventually passes her GCSE Maths, she will have been well schooled and tested in the subject, no matter what Carol Vorderman says.There’s much talk at the moment about respect, chiefly the perceived lack of respect by young people for older people.

But it’s the older generation’s lack of respect for the achievements of young people that is deeply disturbing, not least to young people themselves.

What are they supposed to do? Even they buckle down and work hard for their GCSE and A-levels, their diplomas and BTecs, all they hear is that they are not good enough, not up to the mark, inferior.

And most of this disrespectful dismissing comes from older generations of people who, in the main, have absolutely no idea whether or not today’s exams are any easier than they used to be.

Now, more than ever, we need to celebrate our teenagers’ achievements. So cut the carp and show them some respect.