Combating Misogyny in Schools in the Wake of Netflix’s Adolescence: A Call to Action

Just over two years ago EqualiTeach published a blog post providing guidance on how to tackle misogyny in schools. Through our work with young people and conversations with educators, we were seeing a rise in the popularity of online public figures and influencers promoting misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and domestic violence, which was presenting a very real threat to the safeguarding of young people. Previous to this, after the murder of Sarah Everard in 2021, we had already highlighted the grave impact of sexism in schools, including boys as young as 11 making comments about rape.

The recent Netflix show, Adolescence, has not only reignited the discussions around the very real threat of sexism and misogyny in schools, but also highlights the current struggles that young people are facing and how parents, carers, educators and other professionals working with young people are struggling to support them effectively. 

In this blog post we share our reflections and provide strategies to support schools to equip young people with the tools to reject and challenge sexism, misogyny and safely navigate the online space.

Embed Gender Equality throughout the School

Adolescence highlighted the deep-rooted sexism and misogyny that exists throughout society; for example the lack of respect for the psychologist, the teacher forgetting to introduce the woman police officer, and the disrespect shown towards the victim by Jamie. Schools need to be making proactive efforts to embed gender equality throughout all areas of school life.

Polices and procedures provide the foundations and set out the school’s values and expectations. Ensure these send out a very clear message that sexism and sexual harassment is not tolerated and that it is the responsibility of everyone in the school to promote gender equality.

Provide staff with training so that they can recognise how unconscious bias may impact on their interactions and expectations. Avoid registers and seating plans that are segregated by gender, avoid using gendered rewards, or choosing pupils to undertake jobs based on gender, for example, asking for “two strong boys” to move the tables.

Embed gender equality into communications, displays, books and resources. Avoid posters which imply that clubs and activities are for a particular gender. There should be books and resources available which smash stereotypes and which provide young people with the opportunity to learn about healthy and respectful relationships; what respectful behaviour looks like; consent; body confidence and self-esteem; and which signpost young people to sources of extra support.

It is vitally important that curriculum design and implementation is inclusive of people of all genders. Opportunities to discuss gender equality, sexism and sexual harassment should be regularly seized. All teaching and learning opportunities need to provide space for young people to see themselves reflected in what they are learning and provide positive role models. The curriculum should be an inclusive and safe space, and a tool for combating sexism and sexual harassment. Standalone assemblies or lessons are not enough.

Address Issues Head-On

Schools need to teach digital literacy; helping students critically evaluate online content, identify harmful ideologies, and understand how algorithms reinforce biases. Discussions on sexism, consent and healthy relationships should be a core part of PSHE lessons. Showing real life examples of sexism and unhealthy relationships can help young people understand the  detrimental impacts of these behaviours.

Schools are the best environments to encourage open discussions in safe spaces. Think carefully about form-time topics – can you incorporate a form-time curriculum which regularly addresses current affairs? Encourage open conversations about controversial figures, investigate their messages together with young people to collectively highlight and address the misogyny, sexism and gender bias they express. Engage in myth-busting activities to help young people develop crucial critical thinking skills.

Schools can also use these opportunities to highlight that the pastoral team is available to provide ongoing support for young people. Adolescence highlighted some of the issues that young boys are facing which make them vulnerable. To help address this, the pastoral team could run a series of support sessions for boys experiencing mental health problems, self-esteem crises or a lack of purpose or belonging. Regular events such as these  reminds all young people that having mental health problems is not a taboo.

Engage with Pupils and Include their Voices

Adolescence highlighted that young people will be dealing with issues that staff teams are not aware of. Jeffrey Boakye, author and teacher, has written about the importance of pupil voice, highlighting that “Schools really need to be in conversation with the young people in their community; be curious, listen, learn and respond. Engage with young people’s lived experience.“

Consulting and listening to pupils about things that matter in school, and which invariably affect them, offers pupils a stronger sense of belonging and agency, and will provide staff with a greater awareness of the issues that young people are facing. This can be in the form of questionnaires, focus groups, student councils, peer ambassadors and student led equality groups.

Recognise and Respond Robustly to Incidents

Schools need to demonstrate that they are tackling sexism and misogyny in every form, from casual sexist comments to clear harassment towards staff and peers. Policies need to clearly define what constitutes a sexist incident, provide robust pathways for recording and reporting incidents that are available to both staff and pupils, include details of how incidents are investigated and outline the possible outcomes for engaging in this behaviour.

All staff should be provided with training to increase their confidence in recognising incidents, effectively challenging sexist and misogynistic behaviour and the importance of recording every incident.

Young people can be involved in creating pupil friendly versions of policies to encourage pupils to report incidents and know that they will be taken seriously.

Promote Positive Role Models and Allyship

Invite women leaders, and positive male role models into school to speak with young people to help to broaden perspectives and introduce young people to role models that they can look up to.

Additionally, teaching boys to challenge sexism among their peers, rather than being passive bystanders, is crucial to build cultural changes within your settings.

A Collective Responsibility 

Adolescence was created in response to the murders of young girls by young boys, and it shows us all that ignoring sexism and misogyny in schools is not an option. It highlights that we cannot hide young people away from these issues, rather we need to be as equipped as possible about the dangers of online influencers and youth culture to help young people identify what is harmful and how to challenge it. We need to work together to embed equality, tackle misogyny and educate the next generation of young people to uphold the values of equality and respect for all.

EqualiTeach’s Resource Outside the Box, provides in depth guidance to support schools to take a whole-school approach to promoting gender equality and tackling sexism and sexual harassment and it is available to access completely free of charge here 

EqualiTeach also delivers workshops for pupils and staff training. If you are interested in finding out more about these and how we can support your school, please contact us.