Concerns about the influence of far-right and populist movements on pupils will be raised at a Scottish teaching union’s annual conference today.
Some schools have become a “battleground of blame and violence” as a result, the incoming president of NASUWT Scotland, David Anderson, will say.
Racist, misogynistic and anti-immigrant rhetoric is a growing problem in schools, he fears. It is being fuelled by social media and leading to incidents of harassment, threats and violence, the computing specialist from East Ayrshire will tell the conference, which begins today in Glasgow.
Tackling hate speech in primary schools
A motion on tackling the far right is due to be debated, calling for pupils to be educated about the dangers of hate speech from primary school onwards in order to challenge the spread of prejudice-based abuse.
Mr Anderson will say: “Abusive rhetoric by politicians is trickling down and facilitating increasingly abusive and hateful speech in social media, which in turn seems to be spurring rapid increases in the frequency of bias-motivated incidents of harassment, threats and violence, including rampant surges in hate crimes.
“Schools and classrooms, in some cases, have become a battleground of blame and violence.”
Nearly two-thirds of the 476 teachers in Scotland who responded to the union’s recent behaviour in schools survey feel that social media negatively impacts pupil behaviour.
Some 5 per cent of female teachers in the survey reported experiencing sexual abuse from pupils, compared with 2 per cent of male teachers.
Nine in 10 teachers reported receiving verbal abuse, including being sworn at; threatened with serious violence, including threats of being shot; and targeted with racial or sexist insults.
Some 90 per cent of respondents said that the number of pupils verbally abusing staff members had increased in the previous 12 months.
‘Education perceived as threat by extreme right’
Mr Anderson will also say: “Education is often perceived as a threat by the extreme right. Internationally, we see the closure of departments of education and the removal of programmes to promote equality within society.
“In the US, it’s called DEI (diversity, equality, inclusion) - that’s in the NASUWT DNA. We must protect and call out any attempt to water down or attack these principles.”
He will add: “Education remains the best tool we have to counter racist narratives, to address prejudice against refugees and to tackle intolerance in our communities.”
For the latest in Scottish education delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for Tes’ The Week in Scotland newsletter
