With this topic being discussed more and more in the news and on social media, what are teachers actually seeing in classrooms?

With serious concerns from parents and teachers alike about children and young people being exposed to misogynist content online, the BBC commissioned Teacher Tapp to survey ‘6,000 secondary school teachers about their experiences of misogyny in the classroom.’  1 Misogyny has been discussed more and more recently in the news and on social media because of Netflix’s mini series ‘Adolescence’ and it being made available to all secondary schools across the UK.

However, children and young people being exposed to harmful online content and the detrimental impact it can have is nothing new; it’s one of the many reasons why the Online safety Act is so important (although we can certainly question if this goes far enough in protecting children and young people).

What did the survey results show?

  • Over a third of secondary school teachers reported misogynistic behaviour from pupils.
  • Around 40% of teachers felt ‘ill-equipped’ to tackle the behaviour.
  • 39% of teachers were aware of at least one misogynistic behaviour incident in the last week.
  • 1 in 10 were aware of more than 3 in the last week.
  • 61% of teachers who have taught for 5 years or more reported a rise in misogynistic behaviour since they started their careers.
  • 45% want more government guidance to tackle misogyny with 40% unaware of the current government guidance on it. 1

 

What are your thoughts?

The BBC shares that, “teachers say wider guidance on misogyny is needed in relationships, health and sex education (RHSE)” 1 and that the RSHE curriculum is currently under review with the government. What do you think schools need to tackle this issue? What are you doing in your school that you could share with others? Let us know on social media.

References

  1. McGough, K and Dunklet E, (2025) ‘A third of teachers reported misogyny among pupils last week, survey suggests’. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yr0zw65lro (Accessed: 10 April 2025)
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Author

  • Kat Cauchi

    Kat is the former editor of R.I.S.E. Magazine. She is the chair of the BESA Women’s Educational Suppliers Network, a Global Equality Collective member, InnovateHer ambassador and TechUpWomen Mentor. She is a also a 2023 #TechWomen100 award winner and 2022 Nexus Education award winner.

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