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submitted 1 week ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

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 100 points 1 week ago

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 74 points 1 week ago

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 39 points 1 week ago

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 20 points 1 week ago

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

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago
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[-] Carmakazi@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

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.

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[-] Ep1cFac3pa1m@lemmy.world 40 points 1 week ago

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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[-] el_bhm@lemm.ee 66 points 1 week ago
[-] nialv7@lemmy.world 40 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

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.

[-] jaschen@lemm.ee 21 points 1 week ago

No positive father figure in their lives. No sense of community. Stigma from male role models that want to step up but fear being branded a PDF.

[-] blind3rdeye@lemm.ee 19 points 1 week ago

I honestly don't have a strong sense of how Tate can be so popular. But if I had to guess, I'd say the "no sense of community" is probably the biggest thing.

The internet has become a gathering place where communities and social bonds are formed. I can imagine a heap of people who are struggling socially in the real world seeing, and then seeing Tate and his community offer an 'answer' to that - supporting those who feel rejected, and putting the blame squarely on others. That's what I see as the draw that brings people in. They feel safe and secure in their haven of hatred. Any opposition to them is from people that are weaker and less important. -- Which then makes leaving the group almost impossible, because you'd have to degrade your own view of yourself - joining the people who you think are weaker and less important.

So this Tate thing is rot that has taken root because of a gap in more healthy support structures. (I don't see an easy solution for it though!)

[-] TheFriar@lemm.ee 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

A big part of this is the shallow takes on feminism that are so pervasive.

And to be clear, it’s not feminism itself that is the problem. It’s the complete lack of nuance we have when discussing topics as a society. The idiots outnumber the thoughtful people, and when an idea becomes mainstream, the dumbest possible take is the loudest and the easiest to spread. So actual feminism got out-yelled by idiots taking the idea to the most illogical extreme.

And that leads to light misandry. And even if it is light, it’s so pervasive that young boys now feel like they’re being overlooked and ignored, demonized and generalized with the worst men have to offer.

And again, I have to stress, that this isn’t because of feminism, it’s because of the lack of nuance surrounding all discussion, but in this case, the discussion around men/feminist issues. It’s much easier to spread “all men are garbage” than it is to spread “women have historically faced complex issues that, together, are a societal stumbling block resulting in less favor in everyday life and a harder, more complicated existence.”

And when this is the case, men like these assholes step in to tell boys, “fuck women, you are a king and you deserve everything.” And what little boy isn’t going to be empowered by that? We need to have space for men in modern society that is supportive and open, because right now the only “support for young men” comes from assholes trying to capitalize on the complicated feelings of suddenly feeling like they’re being unfairly overlooked.

Now, that also has to take into account that if the boys are ever overlooked, it’s because there have been centuries of unequal treatment for women, and that has to start to be righted somewhere. And it’s only been in the last, like, 30-50 years. And in all that time, we haven’t taken the high road to equality, we’ve taken the easy road hyperbole and simplistic solutions, which doesn’t solve the existing problem, it just gives us new ones—like this exact problem we’re dealing with now.

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[-] tonywu@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

“There are too many assholes in the world because people let them get away with it.” - Mr Inbetween

[-] Kurious84@eviltoast.org 40 points 1 week ago

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.

[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 9 points 1 week ago

Speaking of Sacha Baron Cohen, here's Ali G's take on feminism.

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[-] scarabic@lemmy.world 38 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

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

[-] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

He already converted to Islam

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[-] EuropeanPrimate@lemm.ee 37 points 1 week ago

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

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[-] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 31 points 1 week ago

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

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[-] Red_October@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week 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.

[-] ECEC@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago
[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago

"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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[-] lennybird@lemmy.world 27 points 1 week ago

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).

[-] queermunist@lemmy.ml 27 points 1 week ago

Let's not pretend like these children aren't having this behavior reinforced by their parents.

[-] Carmakazi@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

The internet has made it quite easy for kids to develop an "inner life" that their parents have little to no awareness of, regardless of how attentive they are, though it's obviously worse if they are not.

[-] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 week ago

Guess what, it's you're job as a parent to keep your kids off the Internet then.

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[-] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago

Just proves he attracts the immature mind

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[-] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 24 points 1 week ago

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.

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[-] VeryVito@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 week ago

In 10 years, it seems we not only gave up our own nations’ dreams of equality and union, but lustfully decided to lick the boots of those telling us our dreams aren’t worth having. It doesn’t help that the self-proclaimed “leader of the free world” is a known rapist who cuts deals with the Taliban at the expense of women’s liberties.

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[-] Matriks404@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

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 19 points 1 week ago

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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[-] DozensOfDonner@mander.xyz 18 points 1 week ago

Tate should get into a fistfight with a hot femboy and lose, his ego (and by extension those of his followers) would probably won't be able to take that.

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[-] peteyestee@feddit.org 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Sometimes I wonder if the Internet should only be allowed for people 21 or 25 years or older.

21 is the new 16... 25 is the new 21.

But... At the same time older adults are extremely dumb too.

But giving a young person access to the Internet is like letting them walk NYC alone at night during the 70s.

Ever since Facebook and 9/11 the Internet has been kind of awful.

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[-] blueamigafan@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

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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[-] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

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.

[-] Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

I mean, I've worked as a teacher for eleven years and I don't know a single person who doesn't think that social media contributed to declining behavior standards. When I say, 'a single person', I am referring to other teachers or administrators. I am not using hyperbole. Nobody thinks it is good, everyone thinks it's bad, and every year we tighten the noose.

This is across three school districts and nine grade levels.

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[-] pyre@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

can you blame boys for aspiring to this

[-] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 10 points 1 week ago

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.

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this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2025
351 points (96.1% liked)

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