A ‘tsunami’ of British boys are turning to misogyny amid an increasing ‘pool of rage’ seething among young male teens, education experts have disturbingly claimed.
In a bleak assessment of the nation’s youth, educators say classes are increasingly being threatened by boys with ‘toxic’ views on women, sex and relationships.
So insidious is the so-called ‘manosphere’ culture, male children – some as young as 10 – are openly rebelling against female teachers in classes, it has been claimed.
While others as young as eight are regularly watching hardcore porn that teaches them to ‘dehumanise women’ and normalises performing degrading sex acts on them.
‘I worked with a boy who said to me “Sir, do you really have to choke a woman for sex?”… It makes my blood run cold,’ one former teacher last night told MailOnline.
The news comes in the wake of the gripping Netflix drama Adolescence, in which a 13-year-old boy stabs his female classmate to death for not liking him after viewing such harmful misogynistic content online.
The four-part series, starring Stephen Graham and Ashley Walters, has now sparked a fierce debate on whether enough is being done to tackle the ‘lethal’ online content children are being exposed to.
‘What we have seen in Adolescence isn’t fiction, it’s a reality,’ said education expert Michael Conroy, who is the founder and director of Men At Work. ‘The risk of lethality is already there.’
‘Netflix’s Adolescence isn’t fiction, it’s reality’, education experts have warned. Pictured is Erin Doherty as Briony Ariston as she is confronted by troubled teen Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper)
Adolescence stars Stephen Graham (left) as the father of troubled teen Jamie who is accused of murdering a 13-year-old girl in an attack inspired by the misogynistic ‘manosphere’
Mr Conroy, whose firm trains childcare professionals how to combat sexism in boys, said teachers were increasingly facing ‘horrifying’ misogynistic abuse at the hands of young male pupils.
The 57-year-old, who was previously a teacher for 16 years, said children were being inadvertently sucked into the online ‘manosphere’ culture while on social media.
Manosphere is a term for websites, social media influencers and blogs that promote masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism, with supporters of the movement insisting women are to blame for all the challenges faced by men.
He said he had come across ‘dozens of experiences’ of female teachers being told by boys as young as 11 ‘your opinion doesn’t matter because you’re a woman’ or storming out of lessons yelling ‘I don’t need to listen to you, you’re a woman!’.
‘The manosphere tells boys they’re under the attack,’ Mr Conroy said, adding: ‘I heard very recently from a very posh school where there was an evidence of a pool of rage among their older boys.
‘Teachers there said if they tried to raise topics about better behaviour with girls, they get such an instant reaction – the boys just kick off.’
Two of Britain’s biggest education unions agreed, and have warned the problem was ‘increasing’ and had become so severe, it was now ‘jeopardising’ schools.
Laying the blame on ‘toxic’ social media influencers like self-confessed misogynist Andrew Tate, Dr Patrick Roach of teaching union NASUWT told MailOnline: ‘Children’s safety, and the safety and wellbeing of teachers, is being jeopardised by the actions of misogynist online influencers.’
Owen Cooper has won plaudits for his portrayal of the the troubled teen at the heart of the Netflix’s hit drama, Adolescence
Thomas Michael, a safeguarding officer at a West Midlands secondary school, said teachers were now struggling to cope with the rise in gender-based hate by pupils, some as young as 11 or 12.
‘Things are getting worse,’ the 36-year-old said. ‘It was never perfect or a utopia where male behaviour was impeccable… [but] we had been making headway recently with the outlook to feminism and me-too movement.
‘We have now taken a nose-dive with the likes of Andrew Tate – who is the tip of the iceberg of the problem.
‘It’s got to the stage were female staff are now being intimidated and threatened by boys. Some secondary school lads are big – you might have a Year 8 who is already 6ft and if they’re willing to get in your face, it’s scary and jarring for female staff.’
The father-of-three has helped run courses for some 60 schools across the UK in an effort to combat the rise of sexist students.
He claimed children were being forced into ‘brain-rot’ content by social media algorithms, which ‘rapidly force horrendous, misogynistic content’ upon them.
‘Kids should be banned from social media,’ he added. ‘Growing up we were always warned of stranger danger and to be wary.
‘Now we have gone completely the other way now… Parents will let their children stay in their rooms with their devices, which have access to the world and every single dangerous stranger who wants to speak to them.’
Teachers fear young boys and male teens are becoming increasingly more threatening and sexists towards female teaching staff. Pictured is Owen Cooper as his character Jamie explodes with rage at his psychologist, Erin Doherty (Briony Ariston) on Netflix’s Adolescence
Education experts are worried that the content some young boys see on social media is fuelling a rise in violent sexism in Britain’s youth (pictured is a scene from Netflix’s Adolescence)
There are reports that youngsters are increasingly being radicalised by the ‘toxic’ views of online influencers like Andrew Tate.
Tate, who was recently freed from home arrest in Romania before amid sex trafficking claims – which he denies – has an army of followers, with many fans being young men or teenage boys.
The 38-year-old former professional kickboxer, who grew up in Luton as a boy and is now living in America with his brother Tristan, came to public attention when he was booted off the reality show Big Brother in 2016.
He likes to pose with a cigar in front of flash cars and private jets, and often dispenses dubious advice to young men.
But it is Tate’s extreme misogyny which has gained him notoriety, prompting fears that boys and young men are being radicalised by his views.
Tate has previously said women are partly responsible for being raped and that they ‘belong’ to men.
And his influence is increasingly being felt in schools, with boys reportedly being more sexually aggressive, pinning girls to the walls to kiss them or taking their girlfriend’s phones to control them.
‘There seems to be an increased need for boys to control girls,’ Lisa McCall, deputy headteacher at Wales high school in Rotherham told the Guardian.
Controversial influencer Andrew Tate (left) is a self-confessed misogynistic. Teachers and education unions have warned his content online is watched by many young boys and teens
Owner Cooper playing 13-year-old Jamie Miller (right), glares at his psychologist in episode three of Netflix’s thought-provoking drama, Adolescence
‘There’s an expectation from boys that girls are going to do what they tell them to do.’
While Mr Michael added staff could ‘pinpoint’ the increase in shocking behaviour among children to the ‘rise in popularity in the likes of Andrew Tate and others that have led to the change in behaviours’.
It’s a problem that has already been noticed overseas.
Teachers said they had been threatened with rape, asked for nude photos, physically intimidated, and having their classes disturbed by young male students moaning sexually during class – even in primary school, a survey of Australian teachers found.
Australian researchers added that ‘while sexual harassment in schools isn’t a new problem… teachers are now describing something different: an escalating culture not only of sexual harassment, but of language and behaviours expressing belief in male superiority and other misogynistic views’.
In the UK, dozens of children have already been referred to the anti-terror scheme, Prevent.
Between March 2023 and 2024, at least 162 children were referred to the programme over ‘school massacre’ concerns.
While 54 were sent to it for expressing support for the incel movement, a term for men who are involuntary celibate, and who blame women for this.
Among those referred to the Prevent included Southport serial killer, Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three young girls and tried to kill eight other children last summer.
Evil loner Rudakubana went on a knife rampage after bursting into a children’s dance party in July when he was 17.
He was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January for the carnage, which claimed the lives of Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.
Rudakubana had been referred three times between 2019 and 2021 over his violent views, but was deemed unsuitable for intervention.
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana (pictured) was jailed for a minimum of 52 years for the murder of three young girls and attempted murder of eight other children and two other adults
Bebe King, six, (pictured) was one of the three girls murdered in the Southport attacks last July
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, (pictured) was also one of the girls killed by Axel Rudakubana
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, (pictured) was the third murder victim of Rudakubana killing spree
Earlier this month, prosecutors warned violent misogyny promoted by the likes of Andrew Tate had fuelled a former soldier’s rape of his ex-girlfriend and murder of her along with her mother and sister.
Crossbow killer Kyle Clifford was this month handed three whole life orders after slaughtering BBC star John Hunt’s wife and two daughters.
The 26-year-old thug subjected the three women to a terrifying five-hour ordeal last July, raping and murdering Louise Hunt, 25, with a crossbow at her family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
On the same day, he fatally stabbed her mother Carol, 61, eight times and shot dead her 28-year-old sister Hannah with the crossbow.
During his trial, prosecutors revealed Clifford had been searching YouTube for 38-year-old Tate’s podcast the day before he carried out his heinous attack on the Hunts.
He binged on up to 10 of the controversial influencer’s videos on the eve of the triple murder, and had previously watched one of Tate’s videos involving drugging animals ‘because it’s funny’, the court heard.
Prosecutors argued the ‘violent misogyny promoted by Tate’ was the same kind that ‘fuelled both the murders and the rape’, committed by Clifford.
John Hunt (left) is pictured with his family Carol (right), Amy (second left) and Louise (second right), who were murdered by former soldier Kyle Clifford (below)
Kyle Clifford (pictured left and right, in his police mugshot) raped and murdered his ex-girlfriend Louise, 25, and killed her mother, Carol, 61, and sister Hannah, 28
Alison Morgan KC told the court Clifford’s interest in the ‘widely known misogynist’ helped to explain why he became so ‘incandescent with rage’ after Louise ended the relationship.
The situation comes amid broader concerns about the number of young Britons accessing sickeningly violent material online, which has increased in recent years.
According to research by communication regulator Ofcom, nine per cent of internet users aged 13 to 17 had seen content depicting or encouraging violence or injury.
While in June 2024, 68 per cent of users aged 13 and over said they had encountered at least one potential harm in the past four weeks, the same proportion as reported in June 2023 and in January 2024.
Teachers in the UK have increasingly reported problems with misogynistic pupils and violent pupils, teacher’s union the NASUWT said.
Dr Patrick Roach, the union’s general secretary, told MailOnline: ‘We have received increasing reports of sexist and misogynist abuse and harassment in schools.
‘Children’s safety, and the safety and wellbeing of teachers, is being jeopardised by the actions of misogynist online influencers.
Louise (left), Hannah (centre) and Carol (right) were murdered in their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, last July
The knife packaging is pictured in a photo issued by police
‘It is wholly unacceptable that safety and dignity are being put at risk and lives blighted by sexist and misogynist abuse.’
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, added: ‘Teachers are witnessing an impact from the likes of Andrew Tate on both boys and girls which is harmful.
‘Children are influenced by their peers and what they see online, and content that is free to view and easily accessible has become increasingly violent and sexist.
‘This is having a noticeable negative impact on what is now regarded as acceptable behaviour towards girls and female teachers.
‘Social media companies need to be much better regulated and required to remove harmful content far faster.
‘There should also be the time in the school curriculum for a greater focus on social learning and developing positive attitudes. Children and young people need to able to think critically about the harm misogynistic content does to us all.’
The Government is already taking action to stamp out violence against girls and women and has issued guidance to educators on how to recognise and tackle signs of ‘incel ideology’ in young boys.
And the Online Safety Act is now forcing social media platforms to remove content where it is illegal, including violent material and content promoting stalking, extreme pornography, revenge porn, and controlling or coercive behaviour.
Speaking to MailOnline, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: ‘I’ve heard first-hand from teachers that the rise of dangerous influencers is prompting a crisis in the radicalisation of young boys – which is why our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade is so vital.
‘These vile, misogynistic views are not innate, they are learned, so through our review of the relationships, sex and health curriculum we’ll be taking robust action to better help young people understand healthy relationships, consent and misogyny, and have produced a new guide for teachers on recognising the signs and intervening early on incel ideologies.
‘But this behaviour is not limited to the classroom; the evidence is increasingly clear that we shouldn’t be allowing children unrestricted access to harmful content, which is why we are bringing in much wider protection for children with the Online Safety Act.’
