Safeguarding and conspiracy theorists to report?

[Scottsmumof3]

This is a difficult one. I have name changed because my previous posts might out where I work.

I work in a secondary school supporting Y7. One of the other support staff says he is a ‘conspiracy theorist’. He talks about this stuff openly. His Facebook which is public is all about this stuff. He puts forward his views to the students in lessons with them. Any news events he interprets in the framework of ‘new world order’ etc. Often this isn’t in hearing of the class teachers.

Sometimes he wears a t shit that says ‘I identify as a conspiracy theorist, my pronouns are ‘told’ ‘you’ ‘so’.

I get it that we should encourage free speech and debate, but if it was one of the kids coming out with the things he says I would be thinking that they needed support.

if I said anything it would be very obvious. Do any of you know if a member of staff bringing these beliefs in to work is a safeguard matter or will I just look like someone who isn’t in to free speech?

In a school yes in other workplaces probably not

Thank you

Yes it's a safeguarding matter. You need to report to DSL. Conspiracies can be damaging for children with limited understanding or life experience.

At the very least he's probably breaking the school's E-Policy with a public Facebook account?

Can you be more specific about what he's saying? Nothing you said indicates any safeguarding issues

What is he saying?

My cousin was one of these people. She is a very vulnerable adult (adoptee with significant trauma) and fully believes an elite child eating cabal runs the earth, and in chem trails, and that Bill Gates wants to chip us all. She got sucked into it online. Imo it's a form of radicalisation and should be treated as such. It preys on people who are vulnerable due to things like poor education, trauma, feeling they don't have a place in society, and so on. You don't want this crap around impressionable young children.

It should be a safeguarding issue, but idk if it's covered in the legal framework. Otherwise the best thing you'll do is teach children what actually constitutes as 'evidence' and how to critically appraise information. And just wait for complaints from parents to roll in.

Read your policies - I’d assume concern about a member of staff is reported to the head but it could be DSL.

Or low level allegations policy - again I’d expect referral to head or hr

When I told my mum that sexual abuse in Hollywood is strife etc with Pdiddy, JayZ etc years ago I got called a conspiracy theorist.

Funny when the Pdiddy thing came out, how I was in fact correct

Why is her opinion wrong? Why isn't yours?

It's been known for many years that Hollywood producers, singers, actors, etc abuse the people they work with. It's been brushed under the carpet, accepted as the price of rising through the ranks, etc. That was never a conspiracy theory just something that was tolerated.

Report to DSL.

Your Code of Conduct should definitely have a section on social media and likely something about sharing political or religious views.

Teachers can't come out with this stuff so support shouldn't either.

If it was one of my pupils I'd be making a Prevent referral.

Usually concern about a member of staff should be reported to the head. It is much better to report and there be to nothing in it than to stay quiet. You don’t have to go in all guns blazing but an email or conversation laying out your concerns similar to hope you have here.

What sort of things is he actually saying OP? Remember that ‘Covid comes from a lab in China’ was a conspiracy theory once, and mention of it on some platforms was banned until it was proven to be true.

I find CTs interesting. I do not believe them all, in fact you never can know if they are true or not so I don’t ever pick a hill to die on, I just find it interesting to discuss alternatives or ‘what ifs’
In fact, I think it’s stranger not to believe ANY CT’s… do you really think that everything we have ever been told and will ever be told is true?? I find that hard to believe.

Anyway, without any context about what he is actually saying I would say YABU. Better to teach people to think critically rather than silence speech in most instances

That t shirt wouldn’t be allowed in my school. This person is completely unprofessional, and I think it would be good for you to tell someone that the way they speak to the children can be inappropriate and it makes you uncomfortable.

I don't think the vast majority would dispute that Hollywood (which has lots of men with significant power) exploit and abuse young people and cover it up with their wealth, and that there are lots of bystanders to this? Men do this all the time (look at Giselle Pelicot), it's just on a larger scale in Hollywood. We've all seen what has happened to young female Disney stars over the years. It's hardly a conspiracy to recognise that men (and especially wealthy men) commit horrible crimes.

But, that does not mean celebrities are wearing clothes and making symbols hinting that there are part of the Illuminati. It does not mean there is a child eating cabal who drink Adrenochrome to stay young. That is Christian propaganda. We do not live in a Dan Brown novel where people litter hints about a secret Satanic society.

And some things aren't opinions. It is a fact that the MMR vaccine has saved millions of people and prevents the spread of disease. The reason my 'opinion' is correct (as opposed to someone who believes this vaccine is somehow dangerous) is because there are numerous peer reviewed journals backing this up. Joe Bloggs ranting about vaccines on a YouTube video is not evidence. People who watch these have not 'done their research', despite what they say.

Some things are backed up by statistical evidence and numerous studies.

I doubt he is telling them things they don't know. Also I think their ( the kids ) own browsing history is much wilder than his

Am curious - if he was speaking about religious beliefs would you be as concerned?

I do think some conspiracy theories are probably not far from the truth and the majority are miles from the truth. I think the problem comes when it becomes an obsession but I would say the same about any belief e.g. religion etc.....

This is a very good point, to a devout atheist religion seems like a conspiracy theory…

Of course children shouldn’t be taught conspiracy theories at school, can’t believe that’s something worth a debate

Report it to the head of department or headteacher OP, he shouldn’t be teaching children his views like that.

Is he discussing CT in order to get kids thinking critically about what they see on the news - not everything reported turns out to be true, so that type of discussion wouldn’t necessarily be a concern.

If he is pushing CT as fact, in a way that could be harmful to children, then that would be something I would report.

And this is why the OP needs to give context