'Trump boys' in NZ classrooms: Teachers warn of rising student extremism

Thursday, 25 September 2025

Paul Stevens, art teacher and PPTA Auckland regional chairperson, presents a report on rising online extremism in classrooms at the union's annual conference in Christchurch.

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.

The New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) conference opened in Christchurch on Tuesday amid industrial action and massive upheavals in the sector.

A report titled Responding to Extremism in the Classroom: Online Lies and Real World Harm, was presented at the conference on Wednesday by Stevens, who is also the PPTA Auckland regional chairperson.

PPTA delegates gather in Christchurch for the union's annual conference, where teachers are discussing rising extremism in classrooms alongside pay disputes and curriculum changes.

“A spirit of inhumanity has arrived in our classrooms on a scale we haven't seen in our lifetimes,” Stevens said in his opening line.

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.

‘Young men in our classrooms who see someone like Andrew Tate as a hero’

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.

Art teacher Paul Stevens warns that algorithm-driven social media platforms are radicalising students, with some year 9 pupils submitting assignments promoting 'trad-wife' ideologies.

“Our classrooms are not ideological battlegrounds - they are spaces for learning, empathy, and growth,” the report states.

The recent Netflix series Adolescence was likely the first exposure for many people as to how extremism is playing out with teenagers and in schools, it says.

But for the teachers of Aotearoa, “the writing has been on the (white)board for some time”.

Stevens said the ministry’s recent step to make financial literacy compulsory was a “welcome and pragmatic step” towards equipping young people with tools for the so-called real world.

“But in the same spirit, it’s vital we treat media literacy with equal urgency.”

Year 9 students particularly affected

The PPTA report warns young women are increasingly expressing views that their primary role should be in the home, part of online 'trad-wife' culture that promotes regressive gender roles.

A young student might submit an assignment, make a strong argument they probably see as coherent, presented in a persuasive manner to meet an assignment’s criteria, Stevens said.

“But the argument is effectively about a traditional wife, arguing that a woman's role is meant to be in the household raising children.”

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.

The report cites UK data showing 53% of referrals to counter-radicalisation programmes were for children aged 11-17, with 89% being male.

Stevens said while parents might believe children are safer at home on devices, 'there's every possibility it's actually the most dangerous place for them to be if you don't know what they are viewing“.

Union calls for Government action

Education minister Erica Stanford’s no-show at the conference came on top of a long list of issues facing secondary school teachers, including the overhaul of the curriculum and teacher shortages as many eyed offshore opportunities.

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.

Stevens proposed calling for urgent government research and action to equip both educators and students in navigating digital culture as safely as possible.

The paper proposes the PPTA asks for a mandatory cross-curricular approach to digital citizenship and critical media literacy in all schools.

Stevens also emphasised the “desperate need” for quality professional development, “so teachers can recognise and respond to harmful online content reflected in the classrooms”.

A crucial component of their proposal would be to implement a digital harm reduction lead at every secondary school, he said.

Delegates would vote on Thursday on whether to make addressing online extremism official PPTA policy, enabling the union to formally lobby government for action.