Over recent articles I have highlighted how difficult teachers’ jobs were becoming, partly due to the ever increasing demands imposed by successive governments, and more so because of the very challenging behaviour problems exhibited by increasing numbers of students. This is a worrying reflection of our society’s intolerances, and of the influences of very negative and destructive social media.
This has impacted on schools, especially secondary schools where students have more access to social media. The linked article published by The Press newspaper makes for graphic reading. Unfortunately it is behind the paywall, but I will highlight significant sections for those of you who can’t access it.
‘Trump boys’ in NZ classrooms: Teachers warn of rising student extremism
“Secondary school teachers in New Zealand are witnessing an alarming rise in extremism among students, with young men particularly susceptible to misogynistic ideologies promoted by figures like Andrew Tate.
Whether it’s young students strutting around as the “Trump boys”, or submitting social science assignments with ‘trad-wife’ (traditional wife) ideologies, secondary school teacher Paul Stevens said the issue has reached “a tipping point” in the past two years.
Teachers now regularly encounter students who have been radicalised through algorithm-driven social media platforms – and some are leaving the profession because of it.”
Teenagers, as those who’ve experienced them will know, are hard enough to manage at the best of times, but this has taken things to a new level. Their lack of maturity, experience, and as result, lack of wisdom, makes them very vulnerable to influences, sadly often negative ones.
Over the past week the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) – secondary teachers union – held their annual conference in Christchurch.
A report entitled “Responding to Extremism in the Classroom: Online Lies and Real World Harm”, was presented at the conference.
“The recommendations in the report call on the Ministry of Education to support urgent action due to the rise of misinformation, disinformation, and xenophobia found in a “toxic online culture of masculinity”, posing an “escalating threat” to society, educators and students in Aotearoa.
When students use language or terms that are “dog whistles” from the “manosphere” – “this is misogyny, this is hate speech – and it shouldn’t be acceptable in our schools without being challenged,” Stevens said.
The manosphere is a term designating a variety of websites, blogs, and online forums that promote toxic masculinity, misogyny and opposition to feminism.”
This is serious stuff. I would also argue that there are significant adults in public positions in our country that are also contributing to this. I’m sure you can think of some names.
I would hope the Ministry of Education responds to this report; however if their past behaviours are any guide they will shift the problem on to Boards of Trustees and require them to develop policies to manage this situation. As PPTA member Paul Stevens said when presenting the report, establishing requirements for schools to teach media literacy would be a step in the right direction.
“A PPTA member spoke at the conference on Tuesday about how young men at her school identified themselves as “Trump boys”.
Alongside students making arguments that even a few years ago “society would’ve utterly rejected” Stevens said they were all part of a broader movement which pushes back on feminism.
Some female students had also embraced ‘trad-wife’ ideologies that promoted limiting women’s roles to homemaking and child-rearing, Stevens said.
These ideologies appeared predominantly in year 9 students, which meant it was ”bound to get worse”, he said.”
Having not worked in secondary schools, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for all school staff to deal with this situation.
“The ongoing battle with misogyny faced by the predominantly female profession added another layer of pressure driving teachers away. Classroom experiences such as students using coded language from online subcultures or openly dismissing female teachers were “sometimes disguised, but increasingly undisguised”, Stevens said.
Some teachers are leaving the profession partly due to these challenges, following patterns seen in Australia and the UK, he said.”
If schools aren’t assisted in meaningful ways, other than the usual ‘toss the problem back to the schools’ approach of the Ministry of Education, the situation can only get worse.
However given Erica Stanford’s single minded focus on academic subjects in the proposed revamp of NCEA, I’m not hopeful.
Notably, unlike nearly all of her predecessors as Minister of Education, Stanford declined the invitation to speak at the conference.
This seems to be the norm for this government. Are we back on track yet?
Disturbing that we would have students identifying with a known pedophile and almost-certain American.
This is not about counting wars. It is about schools being empowered and supported to develop and address modern discourse n the classroom.
As a teacher, I have long thought the curriculum has been restrictive and infantile Westernism. A stronger understanding of pluralist values, choice and life and death would have made for a more nuanced conversation and environment to deal with Covid – of course the classroom would have been too late to help the adult children that ponced around and persist with their Covid mania, at both ends of the spectrum.
The language and swearing in class has to be addressed in some way. It is not always an expression of disrespect, it is the way they talk, and making it a problem is a barrier to engaging some studies and creating an adversarial attitude. Same with all this Trumpism/anti- whatever. When adults act like infantile children – any white/black thinking, but the ossification of the establishment and its inevitable polar counter part are both problems in their way – the children are not to blame, and yet it becomes teachers jobs to fix/deal/get slammed by it.
As I said to a colleague, the public discourse is designed to create adult children, irresponsible and take nothing seriously. At the same time, school is the only place it is at all safe to be a rebel, whereas it is against power – government, the workplace and the capitalist powers that be – that need rebellion more than anything.
We have a shitstorm coming of our own making. Like in Ukraine, or Palestine, the refusal to listen and constant doubling and tripling down by neoliberal power because they can will lead to a point of implosion. Who knows what will come when we pick up the pieces.
But he has caused millions to die
So what happens when the ‘trad-wife’ ideologies that promoted limiting women’s roles to homemaking and child-rearing are from immigrant kids?
https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360835064/student-extremism-not-just-school-problem-principal-says
The classroom as ideological battleground?
https://youtu.be/4lNvMhTiVsw
Is it increasingly naughty children, or increasingly sensitive teachers? It would be helpful to have examples of the claimed extremism.
Try reading the article.
A “dog whistle” from the “manosphere”? “Coded language from online subcultures”? “Toxic masculinity, misogyny and opposition to feminism”?
I understand the tone being suggested, but do not see the actual offending language.
It’s not hard. Just look at their “heroes” and listen to what they have said. Kirk, Johnson, Tate, Fuentes, Ross and West, to name a few.
Apparently, it’s liberalism and women that made them into petulant cry babies. My pick is, they’re just grifting for likes and watches from immature minds via the hate algorithm
It’s not hard. Just look at their “heroes” and listen to what they have said. Kirk, Johnson, Tate, Fuentes, Ross and West, to name a few.
Apparently, it’s liberalism and women that made them into petulant cry babies. My pick is, they’re just grifting for likes and watches from immature minds via the hate algorithm
If the teachers think the boys liking a milquetoast GOP politician like Trump is horrific, wait until they realise that the boys are also into Hitler and the Nazis. Heads will explode!
I think it’s partially because the flaws and contradictions in post-60s progressive liberalism are now too pronounced to ignore and, closely related to this, having a “traditional” worldview and admiring the Nazis is the only truly subversive, anti-Establishment position a youth could adopt.
but it’s not about subversion – it’s about getting to the top to SUCK-CESS. It’s the incessant need for self gratification and making a “nut” to do it. They see “others” as the reason for holding them back. Social media is making a world of narcissitic “nut”-jobs.
We desperately need more male teachers.
A lot of boys don’t have male role models or figures in their lives and male teachers used to full that role but post Peter Ellison witch hunt most would rather lick a toilet than get into the education sector.
Education has become extremely female student focused and with no disrespect, the teachers are majority left wing and feminist.
When you have no male role models, a mainstream culture that has spent a decade demonizing masculinity, a one size fits all education system more designed for female students and a culture that hates men, you go searching for male role models elsewhere.
We need more male role models, not just on the left but in general.
That’s gotta start with making education work for boys and girls and getting more male teachers.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that young boys who have grown up during the metoo and for lack of a better term “woke” era of demonizing men and heteronormativity, are rebelling.
I mean this with no disrespect because I love feminists, teachers and i am left wing but the problem is not going to be sold by feminist left wing female teachers because they are part of the culture that fed this anti masculinity bullshit of the last ten years.
Demonizing these boys is only going to push them further into these nutters webs, we need positive good bloke role models to counter this manosphere bullshit.
The world needs more real people like you Corey.
I completely concur.
Yet you are happy to support an insurrectionist, a sexual predator, a financial bankrupter and the most appalling human being on this planet keepcalm?
You are simply dreadful.
Teachers need to be higher on the wage scale so males are attracted to the job in greater numbers. Women deserve the same high pay but it needs to be higher enough to support a family .
Why am I feeling picked on?
Sigh ..
Nek minnit is kiwi slang for something changing quickly and unexpectedly. And Kirk isn’t going to be making you feel special anymore, so cope
At least I didn’t tell legions of dude-bro’s that black women are mentally inferior and stealing their jobs.
You fucking snowflake. You hypocritical sack of crap. Free speech etc .. blah blah…
And once again, you assume I’m on “the left”,nmaybe I’m a Russian bot stirring shit with fools like you.
The world needs more real people like you Cinder.
I completely concur.
After reading the comments here it is plain that the first thing we need to do in education is for people to think through what education is for, and then draw up a few plans on how to do it.
Teach the basics so people can manage their lives and jobs. Give them the hands-on that will enable them to carry on their own learning particularly from reading. Take notes and teach students about getting key words on paper while the deliberation continues, how to number points of importance, which can then be arranged in different sequence of criteria, and columnise so that ideas can be grouped. Knowing how to run meetings so that everyone has something useful and pithy to say and can back with sources. And state why it is important to all, and to that person. We must validate, test, and be lucid and clear.
Check every now and then that you are thinking about the main points of concern to you etc. Then you won’t get lost in a dust-storm of information and tech- involved confusion. Knowing how to use tech is essential, but being able to do basics yourself with paper and pencil also. And also learn how to look for biases, others and your own. And check that they are not stopping you from understanding the most practical and kind way of reaching a good conclusion.
It is obvious that people get to a stage where they can only think along one track and discussion for good outcomes becomes impossible. We have to learn how to be human without much tech and soon. It is going to be hard, we have built up such an artificial world of pretension, style, and fashion, and personal satisfaction as priority ie do all middle class men and their boys have to have mountain bikes? What is important to political parties? o they know how to prioritise? What have all these smarts at the top been learning while they were getting their expensive education? hy can’t we have a highly educated, thoughtful society after all these years of knowing how to read,rite,and do ‘rithmetic? Decide it’s too hard and turn it over to arcane machines and legal and money systems that enable ordinary men and women to amass enormous piles of credits (money) that are created artifacts, that act like drugs on the brain. Wanting more money and resources leads to war being seen as a business. The very opposite of how we used to think. Not good for society.! That is with our old education; it hasn’t had good outcomes. Time for change isn’t it, dunderheads!!!!
Secondary school in particular is always going to be a crunch point for the testing of societal norms and, and, as the first limb of state control most students experience, it’s going to receive a greater proportion of critiques of every kind.
It is not just online radicalism that will lead students to reject the norms that teachers, wishing to retain their jobs, are obliged to pretend to embrace. These include contentious matter like gender identity and treaty revisionism – but it is by no means limited to these fictions.
Our society though, doesn’t work. We have a group of corrupt and lying assholes running the show. They are bringing in unsustainable levels of migrants, spruiking a property bubble, slashing public services beyond the point of dysfunction. The academic path is no longer a path to respectability or moderate wealth.
Small wonder then, that the public facing professionals of those institutions are no longer respected.
You might consider the phenomenon of Jordan Peterson, who achieved great popularity among young men, chiefly by debunking the claptrap self-styled progressives are wont to feed them, mostly with research driven commentary long accepted in the field. His own conservative opinions were nothing special, it was only in an environment of outrageous lies that his modest insights were valuable, and when he went beyond them he tended to come unstuck.
I don’t teach in NZ – NCEA is trash, and if students won’t study there’s no satisfaction to be found in it.
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