Stefano Hatfield

London

English Teacher, VI Form Tutor, Head of Literacy. i Columnist. Ex editor-in-chief: the i, thelondonpaper, Metro US, Campaign.. among others. #ItaliansDoItBetter

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Articles

The Easter story still holds lessons for modern, secular Britain

1 week ago | inews.co.uk | Stefano Hatfield

On Palm Sunday in Palermo, you can’t ignore it. Walk through the piazzas or step into a bakery, and there they are: delicate braids of palm fronds displayed in windows, carried by children in scout uniforms, clutched by grandparents. The churches are full. The streets feel alive with a sense of occasion, a quiet reverence mingled with joy. Whatever your beliefs – and I no longer believe – you feel something meaningful happening.
Men's health is a crisis we can no longer afford to ignore

2 weeks ago | inews.co.uk | Stefano Hatfield

There’s something quietly radical in the Government’s latest consultation, launching this month, specifically focused on men’s health. This is a significant and necessary step towards addressing an under discussed health crisis: the fact that men are dying too young, too often. The statistics have been hiding in plain sight for years. According to the Office for National Statistics, men in the UK live, on average, nearly four years fewer than women (79.0 for males, 82.9 for females).
Justin Welby's vulnerability serves as deflection

3 weeks ago | anglican.ink | Stefano Hatfield

Justin Welby, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has said he failed to take action over sexual abuse allegations within the Church of England because he was too “overwhelmed” by the scale of them. It was his first interview since quitting in November, after an independent review found he should have done more to bring a former acquaintance and serial abuser within the Church, John Smyth, to justice.
Justin Welby's vulnerability serves as deflection

3 weeks ago | inews.co.uk | Stefano Hatfield

Justin Welby, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has said he failed to take action over sexual abuse allegations within the Church of England because he was too “overwhelmed” by the scale of them. It was his first interview since quitting in November, after an independent review found he should have done more to bring a former acquaintance and serial abuser within the Church, John Smyth, to justice.
I'm a teacher - Adolescence is making parents realise young men are in big trouble

1 month ago | inews.co.uk | Stefano Hatfield

There’s a moment towards the end of Adolescence, Netflix’s unflinching drama about a teenage child killer, that left my partner and I in bits. Stephen Graham, as a father struggling to reconcile what has happened to his son, tucks his teddy bear into his childhood bed, and cries “I’m sorry, son. I should have done more”. It was devastating. Not just because of Graham’s sublime acting ability, but because it captured what so many parents fear deep down: that they have somehow lost their sons.
I saw a shoplifter turn nasty - new laws can't come soon enough

1 month ago | inews.co.uk | Stefano Hatfield

As I walked into my little local Boots for a prescription, it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. A dishevelled man was sitting on the floor with a big bag, shouting obscenities. Around the corner, two young, anxious female shop staff were staring fixedly at the CCTV screens. Tentatively, from the relative safety of the prescription counter, they shouted: “Are you going to pay for all that?”Cue more swearing and, with a clattering of falling products, an angry exit.
Gene Hackman and an uncomfortable truth about community

1 month ago | inews.co.uk | Stefano Hatfield

Who among us did not find it heart-breaking that the Hollywood legend Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their Santa Fe home after days – perhaps weeks – of solitude, with Hackman living with his wife’s body for a week? It is not his celebrity that makes this so poignant; it is the haunting reflection of a society that has allowed its elderly to become ghosts in their own lives.
I get strange looks for wearing a suit and tie, but how we dress at work matters

1 month ago | inews.co.uk | Stefano Hatfield

I often get funny looks in the street as I travel to and from work. In the age of athleisure, tech-bro hoodies and the erosion of workplace formality, wearing a suit and tie at 7am or 6pm makes me seem like a museum exhibit. But my formal workwear is neither affectation nor anachronism. It is a statement of intent. What we wear to work matters. As a teacher, I expect my pupils to wear a uniform.
I gave a woman 'the ick' - men have it too hard these days

2 months ago | inews.co.uk | Stefano Hatfield

It started as a joke: a light-hearted social media trend. A seemingly harmless list of things that send a shudder down a girl’s spine. He chases after a ping-pong ball, or says “woo” in a club as he dances awkwardly. He runs with a backpack, texts “hehe” instead of “haha”, or overuses emojis. Perhaps, he eats a banana the “wrong” way? Cue, the dreaded “ick”. For the uninitiated, the “ick” is that inexplicable moment when attraction flips to repulsion. Once it strikes, it’s irreversible.
Princess Kate's charity is right: we need to look at our children, not our phones

2 months ago | inews.co.uk | Stefano Hatfield

Our collective parenting is in a truly worrying place. Last week, the Kindred Squared early years charity delivered a chilling report that should be a wake-up call. The starkest of many troubling findings was that whereas 90 per cent of parents believe their children are ready for Reception class, only 33 per cent of teachers do. Early years teachers now help toilet train four-year-olds, show them how to dress themselves and model how to eat independently.