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Boys to learn difference between porn and real life to tackle misogyny in England’s schools (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 3 months ago by HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to c/world@lemmy.world

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Children as young as 11 who demonstrate misogynistic behaviour will be taught the difference between pornography and real relationships, as part of a multimillion-pound investment to tackle misogyny in England’s schools, the Guardian understands.

On the eve of the government publishing its long-awaited strategy to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade, David Lammy told the Guardian that the battle “begins with how we raise our boys”, adding that toxic masculinity and keeping girls and women safe were “bound together”.

As part of the government’s flagship strategy, which was initially expected in the spring, teachers will be able to send young people at risk of causing harm on behavioural courses, and will be trained to intervene if they witness disturbing or worrying behaviour.

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[-] MudMan@fedia.io 24 points 3 months ago

Waaay better than the porn bans and online age verification schemes, honestly.

I question why this is just for "children who show mysoginistic behavior", though. Sex ed should be universal, and this should be a major part of sex ed.

I assume the fear here is parents complaining about their kids being talked about porn, which may end up being a larger underlying issue than the porn itself. I guess you just have to trust that education professionals handle the opportunity well and this doesn't become a stern talking to for problem kids, which is likely to do as much as stern talking tos have done historically.

[-] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 3 points 3 months ago

This isn’t about sex ed, it’s about behavioural courses, which wouldn’t be appropriate for most children, just as it wouldn’t be appropriate to send every child who does something wrong to a referral unit.

[-] Sine_Fine_Belli@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Yeah, I agree with you on this

[-] horn_e4_beaver@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 3 months ago

I mean this sounds entirely sensible.

But I do worry what a bureaucratic system is likely to decide a normal relationship looks like won't capture reality either.

[-] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 months ago

Hopefully they use it as a lesson in consent. And leave it at that.

I don't know enough about England's politics to form an opinion on how they will actually end up botching it, but I feel like it's going to be botched.

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[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

might as well tell them about the pickup artist grifters too, these are probably the primary source of that misogyny, i feel like porn is adjacent to this.

[-] krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 months ago

I personally feel that porn more than likely has fuck all to do with it and that this is part of a broader crusade against sex by the British government.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 3 months ago

trying to deflect from the actual sources, the right wing grifters, and pickupartists, if you go back far enough it ends up with foreign individual funding all of this and any right wing legislation.

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[-] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I think the problem is not just porn...... Maybe... Also society, systemically? Maybe also the parents? Television, Internet culture, business culture, religion, oh yeah, also RELIGION.

You know what stops misogyny? Education and real leadership. Not blaming pornography and kids not knowing the difference between ~~music~~ ~~movies~~ ~~videogames~~ porn and reality.

[-] SkabySkalywag@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Hate to say it, but this reminds me of that Monty python Meaning of Life sketch about the John Cleese teaching bored kids about sex

[-] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 4 points 3 months ago

I thought they blocked all the kids from watching porn. How are they going to know what they're talking about in these classes?

[-] Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

This is going to backfire hard. Kids aren't stupid, they know when they're looked down upon. These classes are going to be rejected by the boys who end up taking them, and they'll resent what it stands for.

It reminds me of the US back in the 80s when schools pushed abstinence extremely hard. That didn't stop kids from having sex, and this won't stop misogyny.

The only way schools can contribute meaningfully to ending sexism is by providing a safe environment that requires young boys and girls to actually interact with each other in natural and healthy ways outside of class time.

[-] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

yep. nothing makes kids resent you more than being condescending to them or telling them something is horrible and bad and will corrupt them.

this puritanism nonsense makes zero sense. sex education should be about the facts of sex. not value judgements about waht is 'good' porn or not. and female students should be included. this notion that 'women don't watch porn' is completely nonsense.

[-] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Kinda like how DARE taught us what all the drugs looked like, how to spot fakes, and how to find the dealers?

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[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago

I don’t think porn is to blame for that, rather social media but at least there’s learning.

[-] vega208@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago

The wrong people are in power.

[-] minorkeys@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

No mention of what behavior they are talking about, misogyny is a pretty wide and often vague subject. It's almost like we're not supposed to know the details so we can't decide for ourselves if the behaviors need 'correcting' instead of taking their word at a claim of misogyny alone.

[-] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

I've been called a misogynist a lot. Mostly when I am confronting a woman about her crappy behaviour towards other people or myself. It's definable a term that is used to avoid accountability, or against anyone who doesn't agree with benevolent sexism towards women.

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[-] Rhoeri@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

“Can’t talk now lads, I’m off to porn class!”

[-] sircac@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

The healthiest thing is a decent sexual education to tackle all the topics rather than only this issue in these cases... but very welcome anyway

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this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025

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