Within The White Lines, by Ruth Fox @foxinthebox05

I just finished reading a book by a young woman I met last summer at a TeachMeet in Newcastle. Presenters at most TeachMeet are teachers (d’oh!), but at this one, Talk On The Tyne, the host Martin Bailey had threaded a theme of well-being and mental health thru the programme.

And so young Ruth Fox came to tell her story. I’ve written about my reaction, and that of the rest of those present, before. I think everyone there immediately became part of Ruth’s ‘Fox in the Box’ army.

Now I’ve read the book, it all comes back to me. This is a book for teachers and school managements to read, both scary and reassuring at the same time. Scary that such turmoil could so badly affect one so young, and reassuring to know that the kind ear of a teacher can do such good. This is Ruth’s story, but it could be about any student in any teacher’s class.