Kathryn Downs, a high school teacher from Leeds, proposed the proposal at NASUWT’s annual conference in Birmingham, after a survey of members revealed that 72% had fallen victim to homosexuality at their school. Incel, an abbreviation of “involuntary celibacy”, refers to an online subculture that includes men who feel unable to have sex or find love and express extreme dissatisfaction with women. The movement was linked to the killing of five people by gunman Jake Davidson in Plymouth last year. Ms Downs told the conference: “Over the past year we have seen cases such as the murders of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and the shooting of five innocent people in Plymouth by a member of the incel community.” He cited a study from October 2021 that showed that there was a 6% chance someone would suggest an incel video on YouTube in five steps from an unrelated video. “Given the time our young people spend on social media, this is 6.3% too much,” he told the conference. “This clearly shows the dangers of failing to support and improve boys’ mental well-being in schools.” In the survey of 1,500 teachers, 59% of those who had experienced misogyny at school said it came from a student. One said a student had asked “Is it the time of month you are missing?”, While others reported sexual comments about their appearance. Another respondent said students had been exposed to or made sexual noises or gestures during class. “On a daily basis I feel that the boys do not respect me as a teacher,” said one person. “I constantly hear sexist comments from students, I see boys grabbing girls and saying sexist comments. “The girls are just used to it and brush it.” The teachers also said that some male students believed that feminism was a “desire to kill men” and that one was labeled a “feminist” because it raised the issue. One teacher wrote: “A student looked me in the eye dead and asked me if I had ever been raped.” Half of the teachers who had experienced sexist comments or behaviors at work did not report it and of those who did, 45% said no action was taken. Only 19% of respondents said they believed their school had done enough to deal with misogyny and 41% said they felt it meant they were being ignored for promotion. Female staff who were pregnant also reported negative comments from fellow teachers. Ms Downs’s proposal calls on NASUWT to put pressure on the government to make misogyny a hate crime and to provide further mental health support to boys in schools. A similar vote was rejected by MPs last year.
