No teacher should have to face extremism like this

One of the many things the pandemic taught us was this: teaching is hard. It’s hard to explain a grammatical rule or mathematical theorem to a child in clear terms; it’s impossibly hard to remain patient when that child does not understand, and you’re forced to explain it a second, third and fourth time. 

Now imagine trying to do that with 30 of them. Imagine the long hours of marking at the end of the day, the fractious parents and the low pay.

This may all be part of a teacher’s lot. But what no teacher should ever have to endure – and far too many have – is fearing for their own safety at work.

Rising extremism means that our educators have increasingly been harassed, intimidated and threatened online and offline, with much of this taking place during school-gate protests – once a rare sight; today, something we are used to seeing on the news. It beggars belief that until now, no discussion has taken place about the legality of these protests.

Now Dame Sara Khan, a government adviser, has called for the banning of protests within 150m (490ft) of schools. This comes after a review examined demonstrations like the ones held outside Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire in 2021, after a teacher there showed pupils a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed during a lesson.

Despite being cleared of ill intent, that teacher was hounded out, is still in hiding and a clear victim of what Dame Sara called “freedom-restricting harassment”. But it’s the larger issue of safety around schools that she doubled down on on Monday, saying: “The idea that people should be able to create that kind of environment outside of schools… is just unacceptable.”

We have long highlighted schools as sacred spaces, hence the many signs: “Slow down: children”, “20 is plenty”, “Children crossing”. But let’s now also consider the teachers , who need help safeguarding themselves together with our children. 

Because when, as a country, you’re forced to unveil a new definition of extremism, the threat is real.