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.”
I think about just how many shitty fathers these kids have, most of them in the maga cult that are lapping up the likes of Carlson and Peterson’s lessons on red pilled bullshit and condoning the behavior of their kids (albeit from a notably absent distance).
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.
I’m clueless, what slang are we talking about here, I doubt I’d know it if I heard it.
I don’t know much more than you, but they said it right in the comment. “They are obsessed with their value” Such as, “High value man” “low value man” ect
I do know my 14 year old nephew is obsessed with making money in ways I never saw in my youth cohort
Nothing is more toxic than obsessing over money and status. Literally will poison your soul and ruin your life.
It’ll get you laid!
Welcome to capitalism baby!
Capitalism is an inadequate reason for all this, because we had decades of capitalism without this level of shit and toxicity.
Consumerism. Consumerism is the problem.
We have sold out.
“How did we get here from there?” One step at a time.
Not all consequences are immediate.
I’d argue it’s not the inevitable outcome of capitalism. The grifters are connecting and feeding off each other like never before though. Trump/Tate/Farage/Rogan/Jones/Brand/Peterson/Shapiro are a few that spring to mind. They’re probably not sitting round planning stuff (well Shapiro probably is in the dorkiest way possible) but they amplify each other, vouch for each other etc etc.
They’re parasites with no moral compunction, they spot a glitch where they can get support, money and power and exploit the shit out of it with no regard to the consequences.
To my mind they harken back to the bullies of the 90s (and I’m sure before) and appeal to that mindset, wokeness bothers them because it represents progress that patches the glitch. I could ramble for hours but I’ve no solution, I wish someone did.
I don’t really see this as something new. None of it really. There have always been backward ass people. They have always called other kids losers and ostracized them. There has always been a classroom full of kids dragging everyone around them down. School never solved these problems so how am I supposed to react when I hear it’s getting worse?
Rizz, alpha/beta/sigma, mid, simp. A lot of importance placed on your value, your masculinity and a lot of overlap between gaming and red pill content.
You got kids mewing trying to get their jawlines looking nice. Little girls obsessed with makeup and skincare. It’s wild and people think it’s all innocent. It’s not. It’s early indoctrination.
Thanks! I feel the only new things here are simp and rizz if I’m honest. Simp seems to have gone the way of woke in that it’s lost most of its meaning, but when I see it used on YouTube it’s sinister AF. Tbh I’ve noticed this a lot on YouTube of late, high degree of racist and misogynistic comments in videos that feature a woman doing something “incorrectly” or if something criminal happens and it’s not readily apparent what the race of the perp is.
You and I are getting the same algorithm cuz I’ve seen the same stuff on insta. I had to deleted it finally. Couldn’t tolerate the intolerance and stupidity. Just a circkejerk of losers.
It’s honestly wild to me that people in my age bracket can grow up with heroin chic, and think it somehow just vanished into the ether. I don’t know why it’s so hard for them to understand that kids are just getting hit with an evolved form of the same bullshit message that you’re worthless if you don’t fit a specific aesthetic.
How does heroine chic relate? I may have been too young to remember anything besides the look
It was just the “goal” aesthetic I was trying to meet as a young woman. So many of my classmates developed an eating disorder or just started using drugs because the “strung out supermodel” look was what everybody wanted.
Its just a precursor carrying the same message kids are gettimg today. That you’re worthless if you don’t look the right way, and you should hurt yourself to look the right way.
Ah I see. Yeah the more insecure you are the more money they can make from you. Especially the more unattainable the ideal is.
It’s from the Matrix, maybe you’ve seen it. For those who haven’t here it is without giving any major spoilers: at one point one of the main characters tells the protagonist that if he wants to learn the truth he could take a red pill that he offers to him, but if he wants to remain oblivious and continue to live normally he should take a blue pill. They’re using this analogy to describe how the media peddles as normal what they consider wrong values and ideas like lgbtq tolerance, feminism and so on.
Needless to say, Tate is a big fan of that movie. So much so that he named his “course” the Matrix Academy. One of my former classmates actually paid for that nonsense. It was just a discord server and the lectures were useless. All the information there could be found for free on the internet by just doing a Google search or watching a few videos on Youtube.
I’m aware of red pill/redpilling - it’s the specific slang I’m curious about. My knowledge/experience with Tate is primarily through the news and a few profiles by the likes of Robert Evans, which basically means I’m coming in with the negative viewpoint and no real experience of his content.
Without knowing the slang it likely passes me by as “well that’s how the kids talk these days” so I’m likely missing significant dog whistles all the time. I like to be aware - allows me to be vigilant and keep a check on myself.
Social media and the rise of influencers is the downfall of humanity.
Humanity? This isn’t happening in every country. The west is not all of humanity.
There aren’t influencers in the east?
When you consume social media in China you see a lot more travel influencers, foodies, educational reels, and generally more positive content. People who post rage content there get banned.
So yes, they have influencers, but the social media I’ve seen out here is more moderated. Not true for all countries of course, you can get the same TikTok in Japan, and there are LOTS of hateful comments on the Japanese internet.
Have you ever had a creepy guy who hangs around the school desperately trying to impress little kids? Yeah he’s the online version.
Or he’s your friend’s weird, 28 year old brother, whose room is only lit with black lights, and UV reactive posters, has no job, smokes weed all day, and trips all the time, who tells you Mayans invented cell phones.
Some of that’s okay.
I mean, he’s having an easier time getting laid than most of the people criticizing him on these forums so…
Who do you think adolescent boys are going to listen to more?
I mean, he’s having an easier time getting laid than most of the people criticizing him on these forums so…
That’s a bit of projection. Especially when a lot of people shit talking him on these forums are very likely in polycules…
If that is where America is heading, to some theocracy like Iran and where men see women as chattel, then I would rather raise children elsewhere there is a culture of empathy.
We’re in for a very, very stupid future.
The world is fucked and always has been. Humanity are horrible evil beings.
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.
Just proves he attracts the immature mind
oh the society is totally not turning to shit because of terminally online kids. No worries at all.
Removed by mod
The problem is he’s a symptom of broader socialtal issues. Someone else will just rise to fill his place unless we work to address what caused him prominence.
There already are countless others, Tate is just one of the most prominent. Because of all his crimes.
Would make me happy for a week or so anyway
Banning hard drugs doesn’t solve the underlying problem, but it makes them less widely available, which is a good thing. Ban him.
Does it? Or does it just make hard drugs more dangerous and drive up multiple related crimes (burglary, shop lifting, mugging, cocoing, county lines etc) and stigmatise people with addiction issues stopping them from being able to seek help?
I believe it does. It’s really hard for children to buy hard drugs.
It’s also really hard for children to buy booze. Having it legal and regulated stops kids getting it and stops the illegal activities surrounding it AND brings in tax revenue.
With illegal drings you end up with children and vulnerable people falling victim of county lines and cuckooing.
https://metro.co.uk/2025/04/19/cuckooing-devastating-crime-hiding-plain-sight-22926126/
https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/what-we-do/crime-threats/drug-trafficking/county-lines
Really bad analogy
Luigi all the Andrew Tates of the world, then. Nothing of value would be lost.
(I’d say it should be done through the legal system, but I live in the US, and laws are apparently only for attacking minorities and enemies of the regime now.)
It’s okay to treat symptoms of an issue whilst simultaneously treating the cause of the issue.
Fantastic point. Though, we’re not doing either really, are we? We’re kind of just letting the issues fester and pointing fingers at each other.
I should do more to help…
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.
The series is addressed in the article
why periods in weird places?
Just read it out loud (even in your head) and you’ll notice it’s adding pauses for emphasis. Whether it’s good style or not is a different question, but the why seems pretty clear.
Either a 3rd grade drop out, or someone too old to remember what they learned in 3rd grade.
Unlike the reference series, the comment was not done in 1 take and didn’t have the budget for professional editing.
It was a toilet comment. I can only take so long before people notice I’m gone.
The left coild have done more to court these kids. To late now my gender is a lost cause and every moment is a reminder. I hate this I hate my gender.
I swear people refuse to take accountability for anything. It’s not social medias fault. This is POOR PARENTING. Plain and simple.
So over a few years millions of parents decided to collectively take a hard pivot into bad parenting? Couldn’t possibly be an unprecedented media environment with algorithmic targeting?
iPad babies.
No but a generation? Yes 1000%. Parents are responsible for their children. Their media usage, their behavior at school, literally everything. A child can not be held accountable by themselves. It won’t ever happen without teaching them. Parents are responsible for teaching their kids manners.
If you believe the answer to this problem is banning social media, you are not looking any deeper than this article and are falling for click bait.
As a parent with kids who are starting to dip their roles into the digital age, I would also say this is mainly a parenting issue, but the economic “squeeze” is the other part.
There are so many tools available to manage the content your kids consume - ad blockers, family accounts with monitoring and management, ect. I may be biased as I’m in the IT profession, but if you live in this digital age and claim ignorance on anything technology related then it’s no wonder we are on the state we are in.
Many of the responsibilities the US government agencies used to take on themselves have been eroded to be handled by the individual, coupled with a subscription society for the or day to day appliances and tools we use. After working a full time job M-F, and if I don’t have after hours tasks to handle I get maybe 1 hour worth of family before it’s time to pack it up for the night. Weekends are typically house work or chores. I consider myself fortunate to have that much. Squeeze in management of my kids content intake and that’s just more time taken away from everything else on the list.
I’ll do it though because I’ll be damned if my kids grow up like these kids are now.
If you believe there should be no accountability or oversight for the richest companies ever that have deep personal access to billions of people across the globe, you should wake to the realities of the 21st century.
He didn’t say that. Social media companies should be punished and regulated to a certain extent, but saying that they’re the only ones to blame here is frankly bollocks. It’s the same discussion we’ve had with violent video games.
Ignorant parents use this to excuse their lack of action for their kid’s use of social media. What they could and should do is to not allow kids access to it or to monitor their traffic. This however requires willpower, time and effort to understand and implement this into daily life. Which either they don’t have or don’t want to do. This brings us to one of the causes of the low fertility rate for younger generations: it takes more nowadays to raise a child and younger generations are more responsible about raising kids than older generations.
Excessive regulation of social media for kids will massively affect our privacy. Certain European apps now require facial or id verification to use in order to prove you’re old enough. I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell don’t want to give out my ID or let them photo my face just to watch a movie just because some parent isn’t responsible enough to educate their kid.
It’s not social medias fault. This is POOR PARENTING. Plain and simple.
Sounds like absolving social media to me.
The complexity of social media engineering and the scope of its impact is unprecedented. It’s not at all the same thing as video game or TV panic. When you account for how much real-life peer discussion is driven by these platforms, protecting your child from this toxic rhetoric is nearly impossible.
You used to have to show your ID to rent a movie in person, why is doing it online any different? If you (rightfully) are concerned about data collection and surveillance, push for legeslative protections on that topic. This is a completely separate issue with a very clear root cause.
You used to have to show your ID to rent a movie in person, why is doing it online any different?
Because that data is stored and passed on to third parties in most cases. Because data breeches are a common occurrence nowadays. Because gorvernments and companies can use that data against you later on.
“Oh, that person has a nasty burn on his face? Why don’t I save that and pass this information to a face cream company?”
“Oh, this person is a refugee from another country? Why don’t I just pass this information to the government so they can see what they’re watching?”
It’s most definetly not like buying liquor when you briefly show your ID to the cashier.
If you (rightfully) are concerned about data collection and surveillance, push for legeslative protections on that topic
The EU and California have already done that and the results are rather poor since it’s difficult to properly enforce. You can slap fines on said companies, but that’s only a setback. It doesn’t stop them especially when you have a weak government like the US has right now.
This is a completely separate issue with a very clear root cause.
No, it’s not. You’re sacrificing privacy and liberty for everyone just to fix mostly a parental issue.
The solution is to give those laws teeth. Harsh regulations on platforms that serve unmoderated content open to everyone. Enforce transparency on content serving algorithms. Massive penalties for security breaches. Ban platforms that don’t comply.
If you’re worried about state actors having access to your clearnet data, that’s pretty much unavoidable in the internet age. You can lessen that by pushing against the digitization of society. You shouldn’t need a smart phone or internet service to live daily life.
Support brick-and-mortar stores, your local library, a local hobby group. Campaign against always-online car features, IoT e-waste, traffic surveillance laws, etc… Don’t make me choose between subjecting children to a stream of unregulated bullshit and the right to privacy. It’s a false dichotomy propped up by our need for digital convenience.
Because that data is stored and passed on to third parties in most cases. Because data breeches are a common occurrence nowadays. Because gorvernments and companies can use that data against you later on.
I’m just curious… How did you sign up for internet service? Can you walk me through the process?
Poor parenting is certainly an issue, but saying “it’s not social medias fault” is like saying the opioid epidemic “isn’t Purdue’s fault”. The people who manufacture and distribute the addictive and harmful product should be the first ones we go after. No amount of individual accountability will solve the problem as long as multi-billion dollar corporations are pumping this shit out 24/7.
People won’t even take accountability for believing this phony clickbait headline.
First. If the kid doesn’t want to talk to the teacher then put the kid into detention until they will. If the kid misses more then a certain number of days of class. Make them take the entire grade again. Fail them.
Second (and I’m not sure how we would do this) cut them off from the internet. There are books in the library for doing research.
These kids already have been left behind by someone and they filled the void with people telling them it wasn’t their fault.
And your solution is to leave them even more behind? That’s just compounding the problem.
The solution is guidance and therapy. What you’re describing is retaliation.
Agreed.
It’s a good thing most of the people on these forums don’t have much influence on the outside world.
These kids already have been left behind by someone
It’s like bullies. People always come down hard on bully kids. They rarely act like that naturally, they learned this behaviour. They’re probably being abused at home. Coming down hard on them just makes them more angry and confused.
You have to figure out what is making the kids act the way and address that.
Maybe check if Sky News is making stuff up first?
Second (and I’m not sure how we would do this) cut them off from the internet.
There are a whole bunch of ways to monitor, limit, and even cut off your kids internet usage. If you get your kid a cell phone or computer, you can install apps to monitor and limit what they watch and when. The fact that parents just let their kids freely use the internet with no supervision blows my mind.
