Female teachers are more likely to suffer verbal abuse than their male counterparts, with more than one in four saying they experience such abuse several times a week.
A further 14.3 per cent of female teachers reported suffering verbal abuse daily, compared with 9.8 per cent of male teachers, according to a survey by the NASUWT teaching union. Some 20.4 per cent of male teachers said they were verbally abused several times a week.
The findings from the Behaviour in Schools Survey, released on the second day of the union’s annual conference in Liverpool, show that 59 per cent of teachers believe that social media has negatively impacted pupil behaviour.
Among the more than 5,800 responses to the survey from across the UK, one regular concern raised by teachers was the impact of misogynistic social media influencer Andrew Tate (pictured) on the behaviour of male pupils. Tate’s popularity has been linked to the increase in misogynistic abuse of female staff and pupils in schools.
The rise of misogyny in schools
One teacher in the survey said: “In a secondary English class last year, a group of boys opted, despite discouragement, to write a persuasive essay on why Andrew Tate is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) which included praise of his view that women are a man’s property…all of the parents were contacted and were appalled.”
Another teacher who responded to the survey said: “We had some incidents in school with derogatory language towards female staff (e.g., boys barking at female staff and blocking doorways so they couldn’t leave the classroom) as a direct result of Andrew Tate videos.”
The poll raises further concerns about the treatment of teachers from Black, Caribbean or African backgrounds, with 29.6 per cent of these staff reporting physical abuse several times a week, in contrast to 15.9 per cent of white teachers.
Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said there is an “urgent need for concerted action” across the education sector to “ensure that our schools and colleges are safe places for learners and for staff”.
He urged the government to spearhead a national effort to keep children safe online.
Mr Roach added that “teachers cannot be left alone to deal with these problems. We need a multi-agency response to improve social media literacy and critical thinking skills, and to expose disinformation and false narratives”.
At the union’s annual conference, members are expected to call for further action to tackle far-right efforts to recruit young people and for schools to have access to initiatives that combat misogyny, racism, classism and xenophobia.
For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter
