Pavel isn’t his real name but he is no less a real student at my school. Engaging, bright, full of fun and carrying the confidence and contentment of a child who is loved by his family. On Friday morning as he searched for his PE kit – mum having had a go at him for leaving it in school the night before –  he asked me a simple and sobering question: Sir, will they send me home? Still bleary eyed from my 4 am alarm clock and still reeling from the tsunami of political metaphor crashing onto the beaches of the nation’s collective consciousness – ‘Seismic Shift’,  ‘Game Changer’, ‘New Britain’- it took me a few moments to reclothe myself in the self-assured garb of the Headmaster. ‘Of course not, Pavel. No one would dare do that to you!’ He smiled, less than convinced, and continued his search.That Pavel could ask this is the product of one of two things: perhaps it is naivety resulting from his age and lack of political sophistication. After all, isn’t the UK decent, honourable, welcoming, fair and tolerant? Or perhaps his question was motivated by his awareness of the deficit of kindness and the relentless creation of bogeymen [migrants, political elites, bankers] which has, for the last few months, characterised our political debate and infused our media. [Anyone who works with children know two things to be true: they have a phenomenal sense of fairness and an intuitive sense of whether someone likesthem or not].

Bogeymen are, of course, traditionally designed to scare children and we will do well during the coming weeks of uncertainty to remember the potential fall-out, the unintended consequences of this referendum and what led to it. As our history has taught us the quickest way to dehumanise the other is to ‘other’ them – to emphasise their difference. To dis-entitle them.

It is surely incumbent on all people of good faith – whatever their politics – to ensure we drive out any xenophobia from our democratic decision. But let us particularly remember the young – those who trust us to act in good faith.

After a bruising period of often aggressive electioneering and a deeply divisive result, let us hope at least that we don’t allow a deficit of kindness to ossify our debate and lead to a sclerotic and toxic culture. The world is watching. Our children are watching. Pavel is watching.