A Dilemma for Education — The Problem of Labels in an Age of Political Identities

A case study presents a student labelled as _Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder_ (ADHD), in a world of political identity movements encouraging this personal tag. Instead of leading to social justice, identity activists produce conflicts and dangerous practices, like cancelling (_dismissing_) people if their views differ to the ones championed. If things are to change we have to pursue “_Insurgent Universality_” (Tomba, 2021),_ defending repressed, exploited and ignored persons, _as no one should be abused for their characteristics or dismissed for their views. This demands taking a hard look at society, which in Britain has adopted an “anything goes” approach to accommodate the many different citizen groups. We must pursue core values of kindness and forgiveness for liberty and happiness to be reality. This has to respect differences and understand the needs and desires of people. In Britain, such tolerance comes from a Christian tradition, but is collapsing as the many faiths now existing wish to differ, so will this survive? Equality must be a common objective, with humility from elites, who often dominate rather than listen and lead, chasing their own interests at the expense of the majority. The case study shows how a label limits perception, to the detriment of learning opportunities and increase of mental anguish. How negative influences can be minimised is explored at both micro and macro levels.