Far-right movements 'fuelling epidemic of violence' in Scots schools

Daily Record

02-05-2025

Racist, misogynistic and anti-immigration rhetoric is trickling into classrooms and is fuelling an epidemic of violence in schools, according to a teaching union.
Far-right movements are fuelling an epidemic of violence in Scottish schools, a teaching union has argued.
NASUWT says racist, misogynistic and anti-immigrant rhetoric is trickling into classrooms across the country due to the influence of the far-right and populism on youngsters. It has caused education settings for young people to become a "battleground of blame and violence" fuelled by the use of social media.
‌
David Anderson, the incoming president for the union, says its influence has led to members facing incidents of harassment, threats and violence. A motion on tackling the far-right is due to be debated at the union's Scotland annual conference, which begins in Glasgow today.
‌
It will call 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 said: '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.'
It comes amid the Record's renowned youth violence campaign, Our Kids ... Our Future, which opened up the conversation about the issue in schools. Our Kids ... Our Future was launched over two years ago in response to a worrying level of attacks on teachers and pupils across the country.
‌
Since its launch, it has helped to s ecure two Holyrood summits on the matter.
In May, we told how a far-right group was condemned for targeting young men online after one of its teenage activists uploaded hateful racist and sexist content on social media. The boy – who we could not name – was a card-carrying member of the Homeland Party and was spotted campaigning in Scotland.
In a sickening clip, the 16-year-old youth said he has 'always been disgusted by mixed race couples and race mixing in general' and claimed white women's attraction to black or Asian men is 'wrong for them and stems from porn addiction and promiscuity'.
‌
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of teachers in Scotland who responded to the Union's recent behaviour in schools survey feel that social media negatively impacts pupil behaviour.
Five per cent of female teachers reported experiencing sexual abuse from pupils - compared to just 2% of male teachers. Female respondents reported sexism and misogyny as among the types of abuse they receive from pupils.
‌
Mr Anderson said: ' 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 USA 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.
'Education remains the best tool we have to counter racist narratives, to address prejudice against refugees and to tackle intolerance in our communities.'
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: "Schools should be safe and consistent learning environments for all. Violent and abusive behaviour towards pupils or staff is unacceptable. The Scottish Government is providing support and direction at a national level, including the publication of the National Behaviour Action Plan. Local authorities are expected to implement this guidance to meet particular needs at a local level.
'We are also supporting new initiatives in schools such as the Digital Discourse Initiative, which provides teachers with practical strategies and curriculum tools to support staff to counter the effects of online hate and disinformation on children and young people.'