Teachers need new forms of behaviour management training to deal with the impact of the ‘manosphere’ in schools, delegates will say at the Annual Conference of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union today (Saturday). 

Teachers are increasingly concerned with the continuing rise of the far right and populist views, the growing influence of the ‘manosphere,’ the normalisation of misogyny online, and the role of social media and AI in spreading harmful narratives.

As NASUWT revealed at last year’s Annual Conference, these factors are contributing to increased levels of aggression, disrespect towards women and girls, and extremist attitudes being expressed by pupils. 59% of teachers believe that social media plays a role, negatively impacting pupil behaviour through the influence of right wing online personas like Andrew Tate and Donald Trump.

Now new evidence has been gathered in a 2026 NASUWT survey of over 5,000 teachers, which suggests that:

• Misogyny from pupils has risen for four years running, with almost a quarter (23.4%) of female teachers reporting that they have been subject to misogyny from a pupil in the last year (up from 22.2% in 2025, 19.5% in 2024 and 17.4% in 2023);
• More than a fifth of all teachers (21.95%) report being subject to discriminatory language from a pupil in the last year, including sexist, racist and homophobic language;
• Teachers are often subject to misogynistic comments from pupils after attempting to address behaviour concerns, with some reporting that they are ignored by male pupils because they are female;
• Teachers increasingly report that misogyny and discriminatory language from pupils is not taken seriously enough by school leaders;
• One teacher describes misogyny from pupils as, “traumatising,” with others expressing that classroom misogyny leaves them feeling, “humiliated,” “violated,” “demeaned,” and “disempowered.”

Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, 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 policy makers. We need mandatory professional development packages to help teachers identify, challenge, and safely de-escalate behaviour rooted in online radicalisation, sexism, and hate.

“It is clear from our new data that the Online Safety Act does not go far enough. If we are to properly tackle the rapid growth of misogyny in schools, social media and AI companies must be held responsible for their continued platforming and spreading of misinformation. That means full accountability for companies like Meta, X, TikTok, Snapchat, and OpenAI, and swiftly applied sanctions for breaches of our laws. 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.

“Over 70% of the teaching profession is female. 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.”