Teachers Are Sharing The Rise In Misogyny They’re Seeing In Young Boys In The Classroom, And It’s Terrifying

    "My daughter just finished fifth grade, and after the election, she had several boys saying things like 'your body, my choice."

    Julia Corrigan
    by Julia Corrigan

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    Recently, I came across a post on the popular Teachers subreddit that piqued my interest. The post, written by user escrawl and addressed to fellow teachers, was titled, "Have you noticed a rise of misogyny among boys?"

    "I teach fourth grade, and I'm already seeing it with my boys," escrawl began. "They talk about how women can't be leaders, they don't have to listen to me because I'm a woman, etc. I have boys already following Andrew Tate and other similar influencers. What do you do?"

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    She continued, "I once warned a mom about what a bad influence Andrew Tate could be, and the dad came back at me hard, saying I don't know what I'm talking about."

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    "I'm at a loss," she said. "Do you just leave them be?"

    "I do not preach my politics to my students," she clarified. "I make it a point to not show where I lean, even when talking about politics in Social Studies.

    "I brought up the concern up with a parent, not directly to the student. The only thing I push is to be respectful to others. I would also be concerned and address misandry if observed."

    Other teachers chimed in.

    "46-year-old man here," one teacher, toddkhamilton, wrote. "When I was teaching in the late 2000s, another male teacher and I noticed the early signs of what has become a very serious situation with this topic."

    A group of diverse young adults engaged in a lively discussion, leaning in and listening attentively to one another
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    "We taught in a progressive education environment where the administration was very supportive of teacher led initiatives, so we proposed a 'G Day' (guys day) where for an hour and a half each Wednesday (basically lunch and recess), two other male teachers and myself would take the grade 5th-8th grade boys and just kind of hang together. We'd have a topic each week, and then open things up for the boys to ask questions."

    "It was incredible," toddkhamilton continued. "They'd ask fascinating questions about all sorts of things — people they saw online, situations they were in with girls or at home — and it worked really well. My colleagues and I saw a change in them, especially over the years of doing it."

    Two young men stand together; one gestures energetically, while the other listens intently. Casual clothing suggests a relaxed, youthful interaction
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    "It worked so well that the administration created the equivalent for the girls, and they felt it was successful too.

    I left after the third year, but heard they continued it until a head of school who felt it opened us up to liability took over and shut it down.

    Boys need healthy men to be able to talk to and share their thoughts with and learn from. Today's male youth seem to only really have toxic men to learn from. Until there are strong positive male voices equally available to them, the toxic bros are setting the agenda."

    Another male teacher, Leucippus1, wrote, "I have certainly noticed that the algorithm has been pushing overtly misogynistic content to me; I can only imagine what it does to teenage boys."

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    Another user, Jack_of_Spades, replied, "I made one Facebook post that I was feeling sad after a breakup. My feed was flooded with 'the problem with women...' 'real men do___' shit for MONTHS. I'm thinking this AI fed algorithm shit should be illegal."

    "It should be, yes, wrote user MossSalamander. "A lot of vulnerable people are being radicalized to hate others because of this."

    "Middle School teacher here," wrote user ImpressiveCoffee3. "The boys watch all of that content, even a lot of the sixth graders. They say they don't take it seriously, but they keep watching it, and watching it, and watching it."

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    "There is also a rise in the idea that they should all be entrepreneurs and not only skip higher education, but refuse to work for someone else. 

    They think they should have 'motion' and that because I am a teacher, I have somehow failed at life because I am paid a salary by an organization."

    "Glad it isn’t just me," wrote teacher lilygirl112; "I heard second grade boys praise Diddy."

    Two young boys are in a classroom; one boy is whispering to the other, who is smiling. Other students are focused on their work at desks
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    User poopbucketchallenge chimed in: "I also think these kids are on the internet FAR TOO EARLY and it should be illegal until 18 to access any part of online other than tightly controlled academic and safe-for-work curiosity stuff."

    Another teacher, _Lost_The_Game, wrote, "From what I remember as a kid, [they're just being] edgy, BUT…eventually it can set in unironically. 

    I remember lots of my classmates starting to say things just to be edgy, and eventually it just became their default state, like how you start saying some phrase or word ironically, and then later it becomes normalized."

    A male teacher with the username misticspear wrote, "It’s easy for me because boys who fall for that don’t have a role model who THEY choose and respect, and that’s typically my role. I go in hard early. Call Andrew Tate stupid and talk about how he preys on people who don’t know any better. Then I lead by example."

    A person in a shirt and tie sits at a desk with papers, attentively speaking to two individuals across from them. A whiteboard is in the background
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    Replying to escrawl's question about whether she should "leave it be," u/Ranger_242 wrote, "No, you don't leave it be any more than you tolerate racism or other forms of bullying or hate."

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    "If it becomes enough of a problem, start writing referrals and get your union involved. As for parents, make it clear to them as well."

    High school teacher Helen_Cheddar wrote back, "Unfortunately, misogyny is a lot more socially acceptable than other forms of bigotry. I had my FEMALE principal brush it aside when I brought it up, and she essentially said, 'boys will be boys.'"

    "I see it in some of my first graders," wrote teacher nochickflickmoments, "especially in boys whose dads are clear with me that they voted for Trump. Or when one of the first graders told me 'that women shouldn't be president.'"

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    User Major-Platypus2092 wrote, "I've noticed this quite a bit. I'm one of the only male teachers in my department, and students will often look to me to validate their Andrew Tate bullshit. I've tried correcting them in various different ways, but usually what happens is they just decide I'm a 'simp' or whatever and not worth listening to. I've broken through a few times, but it's pretty horrifying."

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    u/Brothless_Ramen wrote, "Yeah, it's pretty great how quickly a man instantly isn't a man because he doesn't buy into their garbage, it makes it so hard to pull them out. It's like they think there's this global conspiracy where all women and some men are personally against them and trying to make them fail algebra, and if you question that, you're part of the conspiracy."

    "My daughter just finished fifth grade, and after the election, she had several boys saying things like 'your body, my choice,' which is kind of horrifying," said user -dudess.

    User BugMillionaire wrote, "It's because the algorithms are designed to feed young boys alt-right/misogyny content. There have been many studies showing how the algorithm changes depending on age and gender, and how hard it is to deviate away from the alt-right info once you get it."

    "And we know how echo-chambery the internet is. Once they've gotten hooked, that's ALL they get. It's called algorithmic radicalization."

    "Yes," u/CharmingAmoeba3330 wrote in response, "This is what I was going to say. I saw a post the other day from a doctor and team who have been studying the growing misogyny in young boys. They said they found that if a kid, 17 or younger, made a TikTok account, within the first 17 seconds they would be pushed alt-right/misogyny content."

    Young child wearing headphones, focused on a tablet screen while sitting on a couch, showing concentration and engagement with the device
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    "I also saw another post about the uptick of young teen boys murdering teen girls in the UK."

    "It’s not just the boys," u/Sad-Biscotti-3034 wrote. " I teach senior girls in my government class who truly think that women should never run for office and claim they’d gladly give up their voting rights if they didn’t have to work and could be homemakers."

    A woman with wavy hair smiles broadly, wearing a floral scarf and blazer, surrounded by people outdoors
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    "Yes, I live in a very red county. It’s scary because many of them are voting age, and I can only teach them so much in the amount of time I have with them."

    This behavior is so concerning, I want to hear what you have to say. Tell me all your opinions and first-hand stories in the comments — especially if you're a teacher, parent, or student. This is a necessary discussion to have!

    Or, if you want to write in but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out the anonymous form below. Who knows — your story could be included in a future BuzzFeed article. 

    Please note: some comments have been edited for length and/or clarity.