‘Masculinity crisis’ in schools is a ticking time bomb, union says

A “masculinity crisis” is brewing in schools across the UK after almost a quarter of female teachers surveyed said they had suffered misogynistic abuse from a pupil in the past year, a teaching union has warned.

For the fourth year in a row, teachers’ union NASUWT has investigated an increase in teachers reporting misogyny from students; This rate increased from 17.4 percent to 23.4 percent in 2023.

One teacher said she was called a “f*cking asshole” by a student, while others said they were made sexual noises and gestures, called misogynistic names and meowed at by male students.

Another teacher responding to the survey said a student used artificial intelligence (AI) to take nude photos of herself and others.

“There is a masculinity crisis looming in our schools,” said NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack.

“Teachers need more support to deal with this new frontier of behavior management, which affects the wellbeing of everyone in the classroom.

“This generation of teachers faces an unprecedented task that requires urgent action from policymakers.”

The latest survey of more than 5,000 teachers focuses on female staff rather than students. It has been revealed that more than one in five teachers say they have been subjected to sexist, racist or homophobic language from a student in the past year.

Female teachers described being ignored and mocked by their students, called it “love” and told to “calm down”.

NASUWT reported that many female teachers said misogynistic things to them after they tried to address their students’ concerns about their behaviour, with some saying male students did not listen to them because they were women.

One teacher said she encountered misogyny on a daily basis, including abusive language.

“I’ve seen boys joke about raping girls in front of me and laugh about it when challenged,” the teacher said.

“My parents told me that if I couldn’t handle young boys I should ‘work in a nursery’.”

Mr Wrack said: “If female teachers are reporting that they cannot control gender-based aggression in their classrooms – and that is exactly what they are telling the NASUWT – then we have a ticking bomb on our hands.

“These students are the same boys and young men who will become husbands, fathers and colleagues in the workplace.

“They can eventually develop influence in the public sphere.

“We must help them and their victims (including teachers) before it is too late.”

He said social media and artificial intelligence companies should be held responsible for misinformation spread on their platforms or face sanctions.

Mr Wrack added: “Our young people are being exploited to feed the endless appetites for profit and power of tech billionaires and our education system is under attack as a result.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “Misogynistic views are learned, not innate, and we are determined to use every tool possible to achieve our mission to halve violence against women and girls.

“Our updated RSHE guidance is designed to ensure all young people can identify positive role models and we provide resources to support teachers to recognize the signs of incel ideologies so we can intervene effectively, including through the Education Against Hate programme.

“To make it even clearer that schools should be mobile-free environments, we are reinforcing mobile phones in school guides and launching a consultation to seek the views of experts, parents and young people to ensure children have a healthy relationship with phones and social media.”