“I have been whistled at whilst trying to teach, and in one extreme case, a boy pushed his crotch up against my back to intimidate me.”
This is just one of the real testimonies of the misogyny increasingly gripping our schools, from female teachers whose job is hard enough without dealing with the appalling behaviour of some of the boys in their classes.
“Female teachers have been sexually assaulted by male pupils in corridors and classrooms”, said another teacher. “Often when there’s a crowd so that they’re more likely to get away with it.”
Misogyny, of course, is not a new problem, but there is a new vector which has allowed a vicious form of misogyny to spread: the internet, and the vile pick-up artists and misogynists masquerading as self-help gurus who use it to ply their trade.
Wiktor Szymanowicz/Getty Images
Teachers report that the poisonous influence of influencers like Andrew Tate is now deeply embedded among boys. One said recently that when she challenges Tate’s views, boys in her class defend him, “like he was their mate”.
Like a virus, this insidious hatred has made its way into our schools, and I know I’m not alone in my concern about how the internet can radicalise some young boys into hating women.
This is becoming a latent problem for society in the future: if boys with troubling views about women are not properly challenged and educated, they can take these views into adulthood, potentially storing up problems in their relationships, which in some cases can lead to violence. We need to break this appalling cycle.
We know that violence and abuse doesn’t come from nowhere. It’s not innate, it is taught. And that means that we can teach something else, something better. That is why, although the theme for this years’ 16 days is “it starts with men”, this government’s approach is that it must start with boys. Just as I want to protect our girls from violence, I want to protect our boys from these vicious influences. All children deserve better than this.
In opposition, we committed to tackling misogyny in our schools and in wider society. That’s why, alongside the work we are doing to strengthen the Online Safety Act, my department has published a new guide to equip teachers with the knowledge to understand incel culture and extreme misogyny. It explores the associated harms, and what to do when they have concerns about the young people they teach.