In 2024, the mayor of London wrote to primary schools in the capital about the importance of tackling misogyny among students.
His letter referenced the “pernicious influence” of online creators like Andrew Tate on young boys. At the time, people were worried about the influence of sexist content on children as young as nine years old.
And a 2017 poll found that 64% of UK secondary school teachers said they heard sexist language at least once a week in their workplace.
So, HuffPost UK spoke to educator Rebecca Leigh about the changes she’s noticed in her work ― and asked psychologist and founder of Raising Remarkable Teens Angela Cook and psychologist Dr Cynthia Edwards-Hawver about what we can do about it.
Is misogyny on the rise among students?
Educator Rebecca Leigh told us: “I’ve definitely noticed a rise in misogyny among students and honestly, it’s worrying. I’m seeing it in boys as young as 11 or 12.”
She’s not alone in her observations. According to a report by Unison, the UK’s largest union, a major issue currently affecting schools is the rise in sexist behaviour and language, and sexual harassment.
The report suggests this has been fuelled by explicit content online, as well as on mobile phones.
Leigh said the troubling trend can take the form of “casually dismissing girls’ opinions, making ‘jokes’ that are more like thinly veiled insults, and even pushing back against lessons on gender equality”.
The educator claimed this level and form of sexism is different to what she has experienced before, too.
“It feels different from a few years ago, like they’re more confident in saying these things out loud,” she said.
“And when you dig a little it’s clear a lot of it comes from social media and certain influencers.”
The teacher continued that “some of them grow out of it as they get older, especially if they’re exposed to different perspectives”.
“But others double down. If no one challenges these ideas at home, online or in school, they stick. And that’s the part that’s scary. It’s not just ‘boys being boys.’ It’s shaping how they see and treat women for years to come,” she added.
So... what can be done about it?
Both Angela Cook and Dr Cynthia Edwards-Hawver agree that a lot of it is out of teachers’ ― and sometimes even parents’ ― control.
“It all comes down to what children are learning at home and unfortunately parents can teach their children whatever they want,” Dr Edwards-Haver said.
But lessons in the home may not even be equally matched. “My female clients are struggling with their husbands more than ever and fear for the impact it has on their children,” she continued.
That said, there are things parents can be doing to change the tide.
Speaking to Internet Matters, father and teacher James Coomber suggested: discussing difficult topics in the car, inviting children and teens to consider how they’d feel if comments they made against women were aimed at them, and for men in particular to model the behaviour and respect towards women that they expect their sons to use.
The professionals agree that modelling good behaviour is also crucial in the classroom. “There’s a saying that our actions speak so loud our children can’t hear what we are saying,” Cook said.
She sticks by the “three M’s”, these are modelling, mentoring and motivating. This means living by what we ask or expect of children, sharing attitudes and ideas of what we expect of them, and telling children when they’re doing well.
Still, Dr Edwards-Hawver told us, teachers can only do so much. “I don’t think there is much that can be done other than having policies in place in the school,” she added.