As someone who works in an education setting, you should receive regular safeguarding training and updates. The world is not static and safeguarding risks change and evolve over time. A concern that continues to grow is the rise of incel culture, and the risks it poses to young people – in some cases, leading to radicalisation and acts of terrorism.
Top education training experts, High Speed Training highlight the key topics Netflix’s new show, Adolescence covers that every teacher or school staff member should know to effectively safeguard children and young people.
Dr. Richard Anderson, Head of Learning & Development said: “The recent series has sparked critical conversations around adolescent behaviour and the influences shaping today’s youth. We want to emphasise the importance for educators to understand and address the safeguarding issues highlighted in the show, including incel culture.”
What does incel mean?
Incel stands for ‘involuntary celebate’ and is a term adopted by individuals in the incel community to describe themselves. Incels believe that there is an inescapable hierarchy within society – based largely on physical attractiveness – and place themselves at the bottom of this.
Incel ideology centres around the notion that incels are denied sexual and romantic relationships, and that women are to blame for this. Women and girls are stereotyped, objectified and dehumanised within incel culture – they are seen as genetically inferior. At their most extreme, incels condone violence against women, and occasionally sexually-active men, as ‘punishment’ for denying the incels sexual relationships (to which they believe they are entitled).
Why should teachers be aware of incel culture?
Dr Anderson continues: “Incel culture promotes an extremist ideology and poses a risk of radicalisation. Vulnerable boys and young men who engage with this subculture may be drawn toward extremism and, in some cases, even acts of terrorism. It is therefore vital that educators recognise incel culture as part of their Prevent duty and broader safeguarding responsibilities.
“Additionally, given its links to self-harm and suicidal ideation, incel culture can present significant personal risks to those being radicalised. Schools and education staff must remain vigilant and educated to protect young people from these dangers.”
There has been a significant increase (DfE, 2022) in the number of Prevent referrals which fall into the category of mixed, unstable or unclear (MUU) ideologies. ‘Inceldom’ is included within that category. Latest Home Office statistics show that concerns rooted in MUU ideologies made up 30% of cases accepted by the Channel programme in 2019/2020. This was the second-largest group, behind extreme far-right radicalisation, and exceeding concerns related to Islamist radicalisation.
How to spot the signs
Indicators that might alert you to the possibility that a young person is being radicalised include (but are not limited to) them:
- Seeming withdrawn, isolated or excluded.
- Fixating on one new subject, such as injustices stemming from feminism.
- Adopting speech that sounds scripted, and using new phrases.
- Changing their friendship groups – in person and online.
- Signs of being influenced/controlled by a group or an individual.
- Struggling with mental health issues (signs of anger/stress).
- Lying to family or other trusted adults.
- Appearing to make less effort at school or a drop in academic attainment.
- Showing disregard for differing opinions, being closed to discussion and other views.
- Displaying low self-esteem and insecurity, especially with regards to their own looks or romantic status.
- Comparing themselves negatively to other men in terms of attractiveness.
- Speaking negatively about girls and women, their appearance and perceived sexual relationships.
Recognising incel slang
- Alpha – a confident, dominant, attractive male who is successful with women
- Beta – the opposite of an alpha; a submissive man who is afraid of confrontation.
- Simp – a man who is overly submissive to women, who does too much for a person they are interested in and gets nothing in return.
- Femcels – used as an insult by incels to describe women. (There are women who identify as incels but they are not welcomed on incel message boards and not accepted by the incel community.)
- Femoid or Foid (female humanoid) – dehumanising terms, portraying women as sub-human.
- Hitting the wall – women reaching their late twenties and ceasing to be sexually attractive.
- Red pill – a reference to the film The Matrix. To have ‘taken the red pill’ means to have realised the ‘truth’ about women and society.
- Blue pill – continuing the analogy, this refers to people who incels regard as being unaware of the ‘truth’.
- Black pill – an extreme, nihilistic expression of realising the ‘truth’. Incels who take the ‘black pill’ resign themselves to the fact that their position in society (and sexual success, or lack of) is predetermined and there’s nothing that they can do to alter it. At its most extreme, this can manifest in the decision to respond with aggression and violence – against themselves and/or others.
Protective Measures that schools can take
Regular safeguarding updates – It is a statutory requirement that members of staff are kept updated in terms of safeguarding issues. This could be through additional training, bulletins, staff meetings, emails, etc. Being aware of the risks means that you are more likely to be able to identify and respond to concerns.
Teaching and promoting online safety – By educating children, staff and parents about online safety, they will be better equipped to recognise and respond to online risk and potential harm. It is worth being aware of some of the common platforms used to promote incel ideology such as Reddit threads, extreme messaging boards such 4Chan and 8Chan, and groups within mainstream social networking sites.
Providing high-quality relationships education – If children are taught from a young age what a healthy, respectful relationship looks like, then the extremist view of relationships promoted by incel culture will hopefully seem less reasonable to vulnerable children and young people.
Prioritising mental health and wellbeing – Incel communities attract and exploit young people with low self-esteem, who are feeling isolated and rejected. By taking measures to generally support and promote students’ mental health and wellbeing, it is possible to lessen the additional vulnerability that mental ill-health presents.
Adopting a zero-tolerance approach to harmful sexual behaviour – If young men are in a school environment where this behaviour is normalised, then it is easy to see how they might be vulnerable to being drawn to the views aired within incel culture.
How to report your concerns
Your Local Authority website should be consulted for specific details, and you should be familiar with your organisation’s own safeguarding policy. As a general guide, if you have a concern, the process would include the following steps.
- Gather information.
- Speak with the child or young person.
- Speak with your safeguarding lead or a colleague.
- Share your concerns as appropriate with relevant professionals to get a contextualised picture.
- Speak with friends of the child (where appropriate).
- Keep a record of the concern.
- Report the concern through the most appropriate route.
For more information and in-depth guidance, visit High Speed Training Hub
