Teachers told to spot ‘toxic’ incel culture in class to prevent attacks
Education secretary warns that ‘poisonous influencers’ posed a serious risk to teenage boys
www.thetimes.com
Teachers have been told to look out for signs of “incel culture” in the classroom, as the education secretary warns that “manosphere” influencers are radicalising teenage boys into “hating women”.
Guidance was issued by the government this week telling teachers of pupils aged over 14 that they needed to be on the lookout for signs that boys were being drawn into aggressive misogyny that could lead to violence, suicide and sexual abuse.
Class teachers need to be aware of when teenagers should be referred to the anti-terror Prevent programme because of they risk being drawn into “extreme right-wing ideologies” linked to hatred of women, the guidance says.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, warned that female teachers were at risk of sexual abuse in class as a result of “the misogyny increasingly gripping our schools”. She is understood to believe it is vital to get on top of the problem while boys are young to prevent them becoming violent sexual abusers as adults.
She is worried about the growing appeal of “poisonous” influencers like Andrew Tate, the self-proclaimed sexist who has millions of social media followers and is now facing charges or rape and human trafficking in Romania, which he denies.
Phillipson said: “With the proliferation of technology and the rise of terrifying influencers we are witnessing first hand the radicalisation of young boys in what is a growing crisis, and one of the biggest and most urgent challenges facing education.
“As dangerous misogynists on the internet are teaching boys to view women and girls in an offensive and derogatory way, we can teach something better.”
Saying she was “committed to tackling this problem head on”, Phillipson said: “We are providing resources to support our hard-working teachers to recognise the signs of incel ideologies so we can intervene effectively, and swiftly. We will not tolerate a culture that excuses harm or dismisses the experiences of women.”
Now her department has issued guidance to teachers, urging them to be aware of online incel culture and its “highly specialised language”.
Incels are “involuntary celibate” men and boys who believe that they will never have sex with women because of their own looks and social expectations. A mainly online subculture holds that such men are victims of female autonomy, because they no longer need men for physical and financial security, leaving them free to choose attractive partners.
In 2021 Jake Davison, 22, who had expressed strongly misogynist views and a fascination with incel culture, shot dead five people in Plymouth before turning the gun on himself.
The government’s new guide says teachers need to be aware of “potential harms of engaging with incel subculture(s) including suicide, self-harm and violent extremism”, saying that “some incels express intense hatred for women, believing that they are entitled to sexual and romantic attention, and perceive women as denying them this need”.
Teachers are urged to be aware of terms commonly used by incels, such as “chad”, a sexually attractive man, and “Stacey” an attractive woman who has their choice of partners. The guide says that some incels feel they are owed sex by “Beckys”, less attractive women seen as inferior to Staceys.
While the guide says such terms have since become more widely used as internet memes, teachers are told that use of them may be a red flag requiring further investigation. In the most serious cases, teachers are told to refer those drawn into incel culture to the Prevent deradicalisation programme. Figures this week showed 54 boys were referred to the programme in 2023-24 because of “incel” views.
The guide adds, however, that as such boys often have low self-esteem and believe themselves inferior. The most commons risk was self-harm, including suicidal thoughts “and actions”. Sex and relationship education and lessons on British values are recommended to build boys’ “resilience” against the lure of incel culture.
Phillipson this week hit out at “vile pick-up artists and misogynists masquerading as self-help gurus”, as she said that the internet had allowed a “vicious form of misogyny” to take root in school.
She wrote in Glamour magazine: “Like a virus, this insidious hatred has made its way into our schools, and I know I’m not alone in my concern about how the internet can radicalise some young boys into hating women.”
Matt Pinkett, a teacher who has written about boys and masculinity, including a book Boys Do Cry, welcomed Phillipson’s intervention. “I’m further gladdened that she is acknowledging not only that students are victims of sexual harassment, but teachers — mostly female — are too. I’d like to see something in writing and embedded into policy that better protects teachers from child initiated sexual assault and harassment,” he said.
He stressed that the risk of incel violence was “relatively minor”, saying: “The reality is that there are also many incels who have significant mental health problems and are dealing with loneliness. So, as well as being hardline on dealing with incel-related incidents that harm women, we must also think about how we can make young boys feel valued in such a way, that they don’t feel the need to turn to inceldom.”
Margaret Mulholland, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that some schools were “reporting difficulties in recruiting and retaining female staff, as a result of the growth in misogynistic attitudes and behaviours in the student population. Tougher regulation is needed to hold social media companies accountable as well as greater investment in digital literacy education across the curriculum.”
