this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2025
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Summary

Social media influencers are fuelling a rise in misogyny and sexism in the UK's classrooms, according to teachers.

More than 5,800 teachers were polled... and nearly three in five (59%) said they believe social media use has contributed to a deterioration in pupils' behaviour.

One teacher said she'd had 10-year-old boys "refuse to speak to [her]...because [she is] a woman". Another said "the Andrew Tate phenomena had a huge impact on how [pupils] interacted with females and males they did not see as 'masculine'".

"There is an urgent need for concerted action... to safeguard all children and young people from the dangerous influence of far-right populists and extremists."

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[–] Carmakazi@lemmy.world 339 points 1 week ago (38 children)

Every teacher I hear from (US) these days basically says the newest generation coming up is completely screwed. Unreal levels of behavioral issues that are not being addressed at home. Complete lack of engagement with the lesson plan, unfinished assignments all over. They need to curve grades left and right just to get the majority of the class to pass. The parents are more emboldened than ever to make the teachers' lives hell over things they know nothing about and refuse to take responsibility for.

It's easy to brush it off as the standard generational nose-thumbing...but this seems different. Something is really breaking down and I think social media is at the center of it.

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 231 points 1 week ago (3 children)

It’s a shame teachers are pressured to “curve grade” rather than just flunk these people and hold them back a grade.

[–] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 125 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Even when I went to elementary school over 15 years ago in Canada, kids weren't allowed to be held back without written permission from their parents. I thought it was really fucking weird because we literally had a kid whose mom did all of his homework (everyone knew; he had horrible writing and she didn't) and yet refused to put him in a remedial class or have him repeat a year.

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[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 81 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Schools now lose funding when kids don't pass, so admins press teachers to move them along.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 102 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] Carmakazi@lemmy.world 55 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Many if not all school districts in the States have their funding tied to their performance, so there is a negative incentive to make grades look good. My elementary school tried to place me in their Special Ed program because my grades would have brought the average up there.

Plus, holding back 60, 70, 80% of an entire class just isn't logistically feasible in most cases.

[–] PunkRockSportsFan@fanaticus.social 38 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Neither is passing a kid who doesn’t understand the material.

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[–] Ep1cFac3pa1m@lemmy.world 102 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Something is really breaking down and I think social media is at the center of it.

I feel like you could apply this to almost every societal crisis we’re facing. It’s like social media took every little crack in the foundation and turned it into a chasm.

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[–] uienia@lemmy.world 41 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

It is different, because never in human history has it been easier to influence people. We are literally addicted, as in the brain is literally addicted, to our little disinformation device, the output of which is largely controlled by malicious powerful entities. Now add impressionable young brains to the mix.

It is a pretty terrible scenario with no obvious solution.

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 33 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I retired from the job 5 years ago. Your description rings true from my experience then (and was a big part of me retiring), and the colleagues I've stayed in touch with say it's very noticeably worse now. I'm glad I got out when I did.

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[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 144 points 6 days ago (23 children)

In my opinion the huge difference between this generation and all previous ones is that content is no longer vetted by anyone. It used to be that to put something in front of kids it had to approved by some sane adult. If a TV station marketed to children something that most parents would not approve they would face protests or maybe even legal action. On social media any asshole can post literally anything and millions of kids will consume it without any supervision.

[–] Blinsane@reddthat.com 66 points 6 days ago (6 children)

That's the whole point of screaming about "liberal" or "leftist" media for all this time even when most media outlets are owned by for profit orgs. They usually have to comply with laws. On social media you've been able to lie as much as you want without consequence or being called out. Corporations mostly use this to market to children and get them addicted to gambling.

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[–] blueamigafan@lemmy.world 128 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Have you ever had a creepy guy who hangs around the school desperately trying to impress little kids? Yeah he's the online version.

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[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 117 points 6 days ago (13 children)

I don't think it is social media. It is much more simple: people can't spend time with each other. Employers keep reducing the wages, while maintaining or increasing the amount of work their employees have to do. This means that workers can't invest time into friends or family, which in turn deprives children of healthy role models.

Jackasses like Tate get to influence the children, because there is a void that has been left empty - Tate has enough wealth and time to fill in for society. Work culture is a ravenous beast, forever chasing workers. If you pause, you lose everything. So you might as well sacrifice the time you could spend with family, since you would lose them anyway if you shirk being a breadwinner.

Optimization for the sake of line going up, inevitably destroys everything that surrounds the pillar that society is forced to worship.

[–] Master167@lemmy.world 56 points 6 days ago

I would also include the death of the “third place”. Because even if you work enough to survive, where do you spend your time outside of the home with other people in your community without spending money? Even worse options if you want kids allowed.

One of the only places I know of is the library. But I’d be very surprised by an 8-10 year old boy spending their time at the library.

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[–] Etterra@discuss.online 83 points 1 week ago

When I was a kid in the 80s & 90s that's when the parents get brought in.

[–] el_bhm@lemm.ee 83 points 6 days ago (2 children)
[–] nialv7@lemmy.world 45 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (16 children)

The problem isn't that we need to get rid of Tate. They are like flies and there will always be more like him.

What we need to figure out is what made him so persuasive to young boys - that's the real problem. We need to know why young boys are willing to listen to bullshit like his, and we must figure out what we can do to correct that.

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[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 78 points 6 days ago (19 children)

"In a secondary English class last year, a group of boys opted, despite discouragement, to write a persuasive essay on why Andrew Tate is the GOAT (greatest of all time) which included praise of his view that women are a man's property... all of the parents were contacted and were appalled."

When I worked in a middle school a couple years back, I heard the Tate shit there. Had a student who would name their Kahoot something like “[female students name] has a nice ass” and administration would refuse to allow me to impose consequences.

If you are around teen boys, please talk to them about Tate. He’s not someone who should be walking free, and he’s not someone children should be listening to.

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[–] Matriks404@lemmy.world 73 points 6 days ago (16 children)

When I was 10, or 13 there were literally no issues like this at all. Well, I didn't even think about girls that much at that age, let alone in overly sexual way, lol.

What the actual fuck is happening with society recently? Is everybody going insane because of social media?

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 37 points 6 days ago (7 children)

I was a rotten kid growing up with distant parents and a hostile sister.

If I'd had access to porn and comics without leaving the house, I'd have become one of these people.

This is why the tech bros don't want their kids growing up looking at screens.

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[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 73 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (4 children)

Gotta remember... This is sky news. Probably fake. Especially since the "survey" doesn't even match the headline.

More than 5,800 teachers were polled… and nearly three in five (59%) said they believe social media use has contributed to a deterioration in pupils’ behaviour.

Wow it seems like everyone here is completely credulous and happy to have their bias confirmed.

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[–] Red_October@lemmy.world 61 points 6 days ago

Well the solution to that one 10 year old is pretty clear. Actions have consequences, if he wants to be a little shit he can repeat the grade next year after hard failing this one.

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 60 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

Andrew Tate should just put on the Taliban turban and be done with this charade. His entire schtick is Sharia for Americans.

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[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 44 points 6 days ago (20 children)

Yall didn’t see this coming with the red pill derived slang that kids have been using? They’re obsessed with their value. It’s terrifying and capitalism loves it.

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[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 44 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Stories like this are what I think of every time the topic of regulating social media comes up.

We know it's programmed to create rage machines. We do, and then people act surprised when social media works as designed.

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[–] Kurious84@eviltoast.org 41 points 6 days ago (3 children)

I truly thought that this Tate guy was a complete character like Borat. I'm floored realizing this is a real "person"? How does anyone care about helping this guy. Oh wait.

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[–] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 40 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (5 children)

This is totally a diffusion of social media issue. Twenty years ago, the media that kids had available for consumption was age rated. We had agreed as a society that certain things should not be visible to children until they grow up. It was possible to do because it was centralized (TV, movies, radio, print) and it was accountable to regulatory bodies and the rest of society. If a TV channel showed something as shitty as Tate style propaganda, there was institutional pushback, there were letters to the editor, there was someone specific to be targeted for accountability.

With social media being dominated by US style "freedom of speech" algorithms and US style acceptance of the impossibility (or even undesirability) of regulation and with completely unaccountable megacorps running them while giving very minimal if non-existent attention to who is watching what, we have a complete lack of age rating. We have given up on the idea of protecting childhood it seems.

Coupled with every fucking other issue being brought up in this thread, from COVID, to economic issues, to cultural misogyny, there is a perfect storm...

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[–] EuropeanPrimate@lemm.ee 40 points 5 days ago (10 children)

Parents need to raise their children and stop letting social media do it.

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[–] pyre@lemmy.world 36 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (4 children)
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[–] selkiesidhe@lemm.ee 35 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Fail em. It'll be hilarious to the next group of kids who see someone his age in their class. And then the next

[–] Whelks_chance@lemmy.world 33 points 1 week ago (2 children)

That's not how it works in the UK. Everyone progresses through school regardless of how you perform.

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[–] ECEC@lemmy.world 33 points 5 days ago
[–] dick_fineman@discuss.online 33 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Fine, just fail them. This is a problem for the parents to address. And if the parents refuse, then they can enjoy having a child who lives off of benefits and aspires to be an "influencer". Lol.

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[–] Luminocta@lemm.ee 32 points 6 days ago (6 children)

Watch the series Adolescence (Netflix)

Next to the fact that every. Hour long. Episode. Is a one-take, it shows that this phenomenon is real. It is based on a true story and I won't spoil anything, but it gets dark from the second it starts.

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[–] WhatSay@slrpnk.net 32 points 1 week ago (3 children)

They can all fail and become bitter incels together

[–] Shou@lemmy.world 38 points 1 week ago (11 children)

And harm other people in society while they are at it

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[–] sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works 31 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Some of you need more empathy. These are children whose insecurities are being exploited for profit. Be mad at their parents, and be mad at figures like Andrew Tate. But these are children and they deserve more grace than that.

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[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 30 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Those little shits should be slapped by their mom's when they get home from school. Suburban trash.

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[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 29 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Just proves he attracts the immature mind

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