Home schooling is educational for print

Home schooling, for better or worse, has become the only way for youngsters to keep up with their education during the pandemic. It is the only way to ensure that they do not fall behind in maths, history, science and so on. Combined with parents who are having to work from home, however, something very interesting is starting to happen. Parents are learning from their kids as well as kids from their parents. The fuss last year about fronted adverbials, a phrase which was new to most adults, proves this.

What children are being taught via Zoom or Teams calls is being picked up by the parent, often working at the same kitchen table. Sitting with children to help them learn becomes an education in itself. Many, many work from home: designers, sales teams and print buyers will have absorbed lessons about the environment and our role in destroying it. Even the youngest schoolchildren learn about nature and the planet, rising to the teenagers who like Greta Thunberg are taking action.

When the youngsters ask what daddy or mummy are doing at work to protect the planet, parents are literally on the spot. It is home schooling as much as downward pressure from major brands which has ensured that sustainability is back on the post pandemic menu. Print buyers have stopped paying lip service and want to know about carbon impacts, the choice of printing process technology and what a supplier is doing to mitigate its impact. The kids are not the only ones being educated and asking the questions. Now they expect real answers when they ask What are you doing to save the planet, mummy?