‘Masculinity crisis’ brewing in schools, teaching union warns

There is a “masculinity crisis” brewing in schools, a teaching union has warned, as the percentage of female teachers reporting they have faced misogyny from pupils rises for the fourth year in a row.

Almost one in four (23.4%) female teachers surveyed by teachers’ union NASUWT said they have been subject to misogyny from a pupil in the past year.

This is up from 22.2% last year, and up from less than one in five (17.4%) in 2023.

One teacher responding to the survey said a student had made naked images using artificial intelligence (AI) of her and others, while others reported being called misogynistic names regularly and being meowed at by male students.

NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack said teachers need mandatory training that helps them identify, challenge and safely de-escalate behaviour rooted in online radicalisation, sexism and hate.

He said: “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.

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

More than one in five of more than 5,000 teachers surveyed by the NASUWT said they have been subject to sexist, racist or homophobic language from a pupil in the past year.

Many female teachers reported that pupils say misogynistic things to them after they attempt to address concerns about their behaviour, the NASUWT said, and some say male pupils do not listen to them because they are female.

Other survey respondents recounted experiences of being called a “f****** slag” by students, sexual noises and gestures being made at them, and being asked if they were on their period.

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

“Have had boys joke about raping girls in front of me and laughed about it when challenged,” the teacher said.

“Parents have told me if I can’t handle teenage boys then I need to ‘work in a f****** nursery’.”

Mr Wrack 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 time bomb 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.”

He said social media and artificial intelligence companies must be held responsible for misinformation spreading on their platforms, and face sanctions if they do not.

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

It comes as the Government considers measures to limit the social media use of under-16s, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised to “fight” social media firms over addictive content.

Teachers in the National Education Union have also warned that pupils are being influenced by racist and misogynistic extreme social media content.

Anna Edmundson, director of policy and social change at the NSPCC, said it is “disheartening to hear from teachers that misogyny is becoming more commonplace in schools”.

She added that as well as girls being affected, boys are telling NSPCC “they don’t want to express these views but feel pressure from peers to do so and that they need guidance and help from safe adults at home, in the community and in their school”.

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 RSHE 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, including through the Educate Against Hate programme.

“We are strengthening our mobile phones in schools guidance to make it even clearer that schools need to be mobile phone-free environments and launching a consultation to seek views from experts, parents and young people to make sure children have a healthy relationship with phones and social media.”

Published: 04/04/2026 by Radio NewsHub