Recommendations for arguments against the monarchy for secondary schools

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Hi
Question for anyone but for secondary school teachers in particular. There will undoubtedly be time devoted in schools to the platinum jubilee. As the media reporting on the monarchy tends to be mostly positive and non analytical, I would be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of any materials out there for secondary school kids ( we have a 15 and 11 year old) exploring arguments against the monarchy. Looking for kids to think about questions such as -Why does this country have an unelected head of state?; In a hereditary constitutional monarchy, what dangers could occur
If someone totally unsuited to public office becomes king/ queen given that the powers the monarch have are real and not just ceremonial ?
( article 1 year ago- The Queen has more power over British law than we ever thought, 2021 Adam Tucker, The Guardian)
I have googled and can’t find anything aimed at secondary kids so grateful for advice. Many thanks

I would personally keep away from the Adam Tucker article. It is based on "revelations" in the Guardian concerning Queen's Consent which are provably untrue. Most of the claimed modifications to Acts of Parliament don't exist. The nearest they come is with a modification to a Scottish Act which the Guardian claims prevents the compulsory purchase of Crown land for heat networks, but it actually has the opposite effect - the clause in question enables compulsory purchase.

There is plenty of good stuff out there on why we shouldn't have a monarchy without spreading misinformation. Unfortunately, both sides on this debate tend to spread misinformation.

They’ll be very little in the national press.

Ds is a journalist. The Royals are the most popular subject in the U.K. They sell more papers than anything else. He’s always doing stories on them. He hates doing the Royals though,

I'm not sure I've seen any precise figures published anywhere but it's IMO instructive to consider the list of newly formed countries over the past say 25/50/100/whatever years, and how many chose to go with a monarchy as their chosen form of government. Statistics of this sort probably would tell you a lot about the overall merits of the model.

www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/09/16/the-9-newest-countries-in-the-world/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_date_of_formation

puffyisgood - thanks I’m going to find that Washington post article interesting! The only thing I found aimed directly at kids was a Canadian interview by a teenager of 1 person who was pro and another who was against the monarchy and that was the sort of thing I was looking for - to show our dc some debate on the subject.
I think their school is largely excellent at encouraging them to look at different aspects of historical/ political issues so I may ask them. I have a feeling though that the platinum coverage is likely to be very pro monarchy.

Sounds like a really good question for an EPQ! Maybe your 15 year old can do that in sixth form!

If someone totally unsuited to public office becomes king/ queen given that the powers the monarch have are real and not just ceremonial ?

If it comes to that, though, what when someone totally unsuited to public office gets elected PM or US President?

Back to your point, though, what about reading some history? See what happens when a monarch is unpopular: Charles I and the Civil War; James II and the 'Glorious Revolution'. Or the background to the French or Russian Revolutions.

Ellmau - thanks. Re - "If it comes to that, though, what when someone totally unsuited to public office gets elected PM or US President?" - that's why I've been thinking about how the school is going to focus on our hereditary constitutional monarchy and not being able to vote out someone unsuited to public office. At least with Trump, they were able to vote him out ! (Not sure what will happen with Johnson though!).

I've asked eldest what they've covered from your suggestions and they have covered the french revolution and definitely helpful in thinking about these questions.

I have found some youtube videos from the group republic although think they may be a too radical from the school's perspective so will ask the school. Am getting quite into this now so have also looked at those who have declined OBEs - Michael Rosen, Benjamin Zephaniah - and will see if I can find any interviews with them as I know my eldest particularly gets more interested in topics when he sees lively debates rather than reading about them.

Any further pointers still appreciated.

Possibly some of the recent coverage of Barbados becoming a republic, or going back a bit further from the 1999 Australian referendum.

You won’t find much aimed specifically at secondary age though. They’re expected to start accessing adult journalism, with support.