Rise in extremist views and conspiracy theories among students, research shows

NEW research has revealed that extremist views and conspiracy theories are rising among England’s pupils, reported The Guardian.

Teachers, who were interviewed by researchers at UCL’s Institute of Education, have warned that this will grow unless schools equip them with training and resources to tackle dangerous thinking and ideologies, the report added.

According to the study, more than half of the teachers interviewed by researchers had heard pupils express far-right views in their classrooms.

The study said that the government’s approach to tackling extremism is too focused on identifying and reporting pupils thought to be at risk of radicalisation, rather than teaching pupils how to reject and discuss hateful views and ideologies.

Researchers said that teaching of extremism in UK schools was “highly variable” and the role of a teacher is that of a “babysitter”. They added that the approach now is insufficient to tackle the rise in pupils looking at disinformation and hateful content online, the newspaper report said.

Kamal Hanif, an expert on preventing violent extremism in schools and a trustee of Since 9/11, which commissioned the research, has said that every pupil should be taught how to reject extremist beliefs and ideologies.

Hanif told The Guardian: "We must use the power of education to fight back and help young people stand up and reject extremism and violence. We need far more clarity from the government about the need to have time in the curriculum for frank and open discussions about extremism.”

The researchers interviewed 96 teachers in schools in England for the study. Around three-quarters had heard misogynistic or Islamophobic opinions, and nearly all had heard racist language.

Almost 90 per cent had heard conspiracy theories such as Bill Gates “controlled people via microchips in Covid vaccines”, the report said.

The research also revealed that a fifth of the teachers didn’t feel confident dealing with conspiracy theories and far-right extremism.

The UCL researchers recommended that schools strengthen their anti-discrimination policies and promote opportunities for pupils to openly discuss controversial viewpoints.

Recent reports revealed a worrying rise in the number of children being radicalised by far-right groups, with 13 per cent of terrorism arrests in the last financial year of youths under 18, compared with five per cent the year before.

Young people under the age of 24 accounted for nearly 60 per cent of extreme rightwing terror arrests, reports said.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, called on the government to work with schools to provide the time, training and resources teachers need to tackle the rise in extremist views.

Responding to the report, a department for education spokesperson said: “The new Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum requires secondary age pupils to be aware of laws relating to terrorism and hate crime, and the Educate Against Hate website features over 150 free resources to help pupils, teachers and parents tackle radicalisation in all its forms.”