Children between 11 and 18 years old will receive lessons to make them aware of 'involuntary celibate' or 'incel' culture, and links between pornography and misogyny, the UK Department for Education said. —Getty Images/ AFP
IN July, the British government announced that English schools would start teaching children how to combat misogyny from the start of its new academic year, as sexist content promoted by so-called manosphere influencers such as Andrew Tate spreads online.
Children between 11 and 18 years old will receive lessons to make them aware of “involuntary celibate” or “incel” culture, and links between pornography and misogyny, the UK Department for Education said.
Secondary schools will also teach greater awareness of AI deepfakes under the new guidance as the government warned that misogynistic attitudes had reached an “epidemic scale” among young people.
Hit Netflix drama Adolescence highlighted the problem earlier this year when it sparked widespread debate about the toxic and misogynistic influences young boys are exposed to on the internet.
“I want our children to be equipped to defy the malign forces that exist online,” Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said in a statement announcing the new teaching guidelines.
“Schools and parents alike have a vital role to play, helping children identify positive role models and resist the manipulation too often used online to groom impressionable young minds.”
The new school session in the United Kingdom for 2025/2026 began in September 2025.
Phillipson’s department published data showing that 54% of pupils aged 11 to 19 in the UK had witnessed comments they would describe as misogynistic recently.
ALSO READ: Online misogyny making its way into homes, schoolyards and workplaces, UN Women warns
The education ministry said the new lessons would focus on helping boys find positive role models and challenge myths about relationships spread online “without stigmatising boys for being boys”.
Adolescence, released in March, centres on a 13-year-old boy who stabs a girl to death after being radicalised on the internet.
It spotlighted the “incel” culture of males who feel physically unattractive and harbour a hatred of women.
Schools are able to implement the new guidance from September, and must follow it from September 2026. — AFP
