Teachers triage the schoolyard effects of online misogyny

Online spaces currently leave a lot to be desired in terms of safeguarding. Of particular note, the past few years have seen a surge in misogynistic content, and the normalisation of harmful views about women. The rise in popularity and notoriety of netizens such as Andrew Tate has played no small role in this. To date, though, the ways that exposure to self-described 'alpha male' influencers and their satellites has influenced the behaviour and experiences of kids in the Britain has remained relatively unexplored in the literature. 

That is, until now. New work by Harriet Over and team at the University of York, published this month in PLOS ONE, sheds light on the influence of online misogyny in both secondary and primary schools, and suggests there we already have the beginnings of paths towards stamping out its effects.

For their study, the team surveyed 200 teachers from around Britain via Prolific; 100 of whom worked in secondary schools, and a further 100, primary schools. (Pre-screening procedures verified that they were actually school staff.) When asked if they were concerned about the influence of online misogyny in their schools, an unfortunate 76% and 60% of these teachers, respectively, reported that they were. Typical conversations about misogyny in youth focus on teenagers – this finding would suggest that we need to more regularly consider younger age groups when having these discussions.

In this short survey, participants were asked to describe the last time they observed what they perceived as the effects of online misogyny affecting male students, female students, and staff. 

Reflecting on the behaviour of male students, 38% and 23% of secondary and primary teachers, respectively, spoke about misogynistic comments. A further 14% and 12% referenced discriminatory or inappropriate behaviour towards girls; in one stark example, a primary teacher reported a pupil sharing that they believe it's "okay to hurt women because Andrew Tate does it." As another shared, many male students (in their view) did not understand why it was inappropriate to touch girls non-consensually.

Female students' school experiences, of course, were seen to suffer as a result of these attitudes. Around 44% of secondary school teacher participants described female pupils being the victims of misogynistic comments, discrimination, or inappropriate behaviour. The impacts of this on well-being were also obvious, with 30% of these teachers making reference to negative influences on self esteem and engagement. These figures were not dissimilar in primary school settings. A teacher participant in one seemingly severely impacted school even reported that "the majority of the girls in my class have been worried about coming to school due to what the boys may say or do to them."

The recipients of misogyny naturally extended beyond classmates, with 14% of secondary and 8% primary teachers sharing stories of increased disrespect towards female staff, relative to male staff. In all, only 11% of secondary teachers, and 37% of primary school teachers reported that they had not witnessed the influence of online misogyny in their schools. 

The additional mental load placed on staff was well illustrated by responses. Many staff had witnessed and challenged misogynistic behaviour: around half of secondary teachers, and around a quarter of primary teachers. Others shared the impacts on their personal well-being resulting from these unpleasant challenges, and felt that there was a knock-on effect on their capacity for teaching. 

While these results are disturbing, the study at hand also aimed to look forward at what might rectify this situation. Unfortunately, when asked whether their schools were doing anything in particular to address misogyny, only a minority of teachers could say yes. But, schools that did offer relevant teaching offered some insights on useful approaches.

Some teachers reported that their schools focused specifically on predatory online influencers; others, though, provided lessons that addressed discrimination more broadly. Participants often endorsed these kinds of approaches, suggesting that deploying them more broadly may help deal with the influence of online misogynists going forward. These responses in particular, the team hopes, will help identify potential gaps in current provisions, which researchers and educators can work together to fill.

Read the paper in full:

Over, H., Bunce, C., Baggaley, J., & Zendle, D. (2025). Understanding the influence of online misogyny in schools from the perspective of teachers. PLOS ONE, 20(2), e0299339. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299339

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