A ‘masculinity crisis’ is brewing in UK schools, union says

Teachers’ leaders have said a “masculinity crisis” is fermenting in schools across the UK, with misogynistic abuse of female staff on the increase, leaving victims “traumatised”, “demeaned” and “humiliated”.Almost a quarter of female teachers who took part in a union survey said they have been the target of misogyny from a pupil over the past 12 months – the highest proportion in the last four years of surveys.One teacher said she was called a “fucking slag” by a pupil. Another said a student had made nude AI images of her, while other boys joked about raping girls, then laughed when challenged.The 5,000-strong poll by the NASUWT teachers’ union tracked a rising trend in misogyny directed at female teachers in recent years, from 17.4% in 2023, climbing to 19.5% in 2024, 22.2% in 2025, rising to 23.4% this year.Matt Wrack, NASUWT general secretary, warned of a ticking timebomb and called for better support and training to deal with the impact of the “manosphere” in schools.“Over 70% of the teaching profession is female,” he said. “If female teachers are reporting that they cannot contain gender-based aggression in their classrooms – and that is exactly what they are telling NASUWT – then we have a ticking timebomb on our hands.“These pupils are the same boys and young men who will go on to be husbands, fathers and colleagues in the workplace. They may eventually develop influence in the public sphere. We must help them and their victims – including teachers – before it is too late.”Earlier this week, misogyny was also high on the agenda at the annual conference of the NASUWT’s sister union, the National Education Union (NEU), which linked the increase in schools with extreme online content and personalities.Daniel Kebede, NEU general secretary, said: “Addictive social media algorithms are feeding our children harmful content on a daily basis. That content is having clear negative effects.”The problem of misogyny among boys and young men has also been brought to national attention in recent weeks by Louis Theroux’s documentary, Inside the Manosphere, and before that by the award-winning drama Adolescence.The latest poll focuses on female staff rather than students. Female teachers described being ignored, mocked and patronised by their pupils, including being referred to as “love”, told to “calm down” and belittled with comments like “must be that time of the month”.They complained about sexualised sounds and gestures, which are used to humiliate and demean, and not enough support from parents or school management. “Parents have told me if I can’t handle teenage boys then I need to ‘work in a fucking nursery’.”One said she was asked sexual or inappropriate questions, while another documented her experiences: “Told I’m a poor teacher. Asked why I don’t smile more. Meowed at by male student.”Another said: “It wears me down and angers me when it is not taken seriously enough by management (who are mostly male) who perhaps don’t appreciate the impact it has.”Wrack called for more staff training. “We have a masculinity crisis brewing in our schools. Teachers desperately need increased support to deal with this new frontier of behaviour management – it affects the wellbeing of everyone in the classroom.“We need mandatory professional development packages to help teachers identify, challenge and safely de-escalate behaviour rooted in online radicalisation, sexism and hate.”The issue will be debated by delegates at the NASUWT annual conference in Birmingham on Saturday. Polling on members’ experiences of misogyny in the classroom was first added to the NASUWT’s Big Question survey in 2023.Rebecca Hitchen, head of policy and campaigns at the End Violence Against Women Coalition, called for strong sanctions on tech companies failing to tackle the spread of misogyny online.“These findings once again show how schools – particularly female teachers and students – are bearing the brunt of the rise of misogyny fuelled by profit-seeking tech companies. This not only impacts girls’ rights to education and safety in the classroom, but has a chilling impact on equality across the whole of society.“Teachers, schools and specialist violence against women and girls services must be sustainably and adequately resourced to respond to these new challenges and ensure young people are equipped with the tools to have healthy romantic and sexual relationships into their adult lives.”A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Misogynistic views are not innate, they are learned, and we are committed to using every possible tool to achieve our mission of halving violence against women and girls.“Our updated relationships, sex and health education guidance is designed to make sure all young people can identify positive role models, and we are providing resources to support teachers to recognise the signs of “incel” ideologies so we can intervene effectively.”