Boys as young as 11 are drawing swastikas and spreading conspiracy theories, according to teacher reports
Far-right extremism in schools has “intensified” since the Southport riots, with boys as young as 11 drawing swastikas and spreading online conspiracy theories, teachers have warned.
The murders of three girls at a children’s dance class in Southport on 29 July sparked riots in England and Northern Ireland, with the unrest fuelled by misinformation on social media that the suspect was an illegal migrant
NASUWT teachers’ union General Secretary, Patrick Roach, said racism and far-right extremism are now an “everyday experience” in primary and secondary schools across the country since the violent disorder last summer.
He also warned “sexist hatred and misogyny” is rampant among young people, blaming the “extremely dangerous” impact of social media influencers.
Mr Roach has joined calls for a ban on smartphones in schools after NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede said Labour should ban the devices to stop children accessing hardcore pornography.
“I think that a ban on smartphones could very well make a difference in terms of banning those in the classroom, but the reality is that schools are already responding to those issues,” he told The i Paper.
Wendy Exton, a NASUWT National Executive member and secondary teacher, said school children are accessing extreme porn, far-right views and methods of execution on the dark web, an encrypted internet browser that requires special software to access.
It comes after one of Brianna Ghey’s killers, Scarlett Jenkinson, watched videos of torture and murder on the dark web, aged just 15, before murdering the transgender teenager.
“We’ve had incidents where children have been accessing the dark web because parents are not monitoring what children are accessing,” she said.
Ms Exton backed Keir Starmer’s plan to show the hit Netflix series Adolescence in schools, which centres on a 13-year-old boy accused of fatally stabbing a female classmate after she rejects him.
The impact of Adolescence
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which guided the new Online Safety Act into law, said it would take into account the public response to Adolescence.
A Government spokesperson said: “The themes explored in this drama are incredibly troubling but vital. This Government is committed to keeping young people safe online.”
DSIT said that, from this summer, platforms including Instagram and Snapchat will “have to ensure children have an age-appropriate experience online preventing them from seeing dangerous content which includes abusive and hateful misogyny and violence”.
Further action could follow and “nothing is off the table,” the department indicated.
Ministers are not ready to follow the Australian example though. “There are no current plans to implement a smartphone or social media ban for children,” DSIT said.
Ofcom said that next month it would publish its new codes on protecting children from harm online, which will come into force in July. These codes will “require tech firms to protect children from content harmful to them – including porn, self-harm and violent content”.
Iona Silverman, partner at Freeths law firm, which takes online safety cases, said: “In the same way that it took Mr Bates to bring the harms committed against the Post Office subpostmasters to the public conscience, it has taken the shocking new Netflix drama, Adolescence, to make us truly understand the horrors that access to extreme content can have on young people.
“Adolescence will ensure enforcement of the Online Safety Act is carried out under the steady gaze of the public eye, meaning Ofcom will need to take action and show the public that it is taking all necessary steps to keep children safe online.”
She said some school-age boys have responded to the TV series by saying the character was “within his rights” to stab his classmate after she turned him down.
“You’ve got two opposing views,” she said. “You’ve got those who see it for what it is and are appalled by it, but also those who think he was entitled to do that because she turned him down.”
NASUWT’s top priority at its annual conference next week is a motion on behaviour and school safety, with the agenda citing problems caused by the Southport riots.
“Conference notes with profound concern the violent disturbances over the summer of 2024, instigated by far-right extremists, which brought distress and concern in towns and cities across the country,” it states.
“Conference is clear that the impact of these disturbances continues to impact
school and college communities and places at risk the safety and security to which they are entitled,” it adds.
Hundreds of children, some as young as 11, were caught up in the riots last summer, with at least 147 children arrested and 84 charged so far, according to the Children’s Commissioner.
“We are seeing across the piece, whether it’s in primary schools or in secondary schools, the evidence of racism and elements of what can only be deemed as far right extremist attitudes being played out in our schools,” Roach said.
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He said these issues have “intensified to the point at which this has become the number one issue for debate” at the union conference.
Exton, who is seconding the motion, said teachers have seen a “massive increase” in misogynistic, racist and extremist behaviour, which has become “basically the norm” in primary and secondary schools.
She cited one report of an 11-year-old boy in Bristol who “drew swastikas on everything” and another 11-year-old boy who spread anti-semitic conspiracy theories denying the Holocaust.
She said children increasingly use racist slurs and have become “obsessed” with immigrants coming to the UK via small boats.
“It’s not just limited to one pocket,” she said. “My district is in the South West. Even we are seeing this behavior, and have done for the past year or so.”
“Before, we dealt with racist incidents rarely. Now it’s become a daily thing,” she said, adding that the situation has got “really bad” over the last year.
“It seems like we’ve gone back 30 years,” she added.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are concerned about the spread of extremist views in our schools and the harmful impact on young people’s wellbeing and learning. Schools should be safe spaces where all students feel welcome and protected.
“We know navigating these issues can be challenging, which is why we provide a range of resources to support teachers in protecting children from radicalisation and building their resilience to extremism.
“More widely, our independent, expert-led curriculum review will look at the knowledge and skills children need to thrive in a fast-changing online world, and we are also bringing in much wider protection for children with the Online Safety Act, to ensure children have an age-appropriate experience online.”
