invites us to reflect not just on progress, but on the challenges that remain for women and girls. In schools, one of those challenges is intensifying.
Our members are reporting a rise in misogynistic language, attitudes and behaviour among pupils - and they are clear about where much of it is coming from.
New research published in a new report from our campaign shows that 70 per cent of teachers frequently see pupils’ behaviour, attitudes or language shaped by extreme or harmful online content.
Almost nine in 10 teachers believe social media platforms play a major role in exposing pupils to this material.
Misogyny on social media
This is not a marginal concern raised by a handful of staff. It is a widespread, daily reality in classrooms, corridors and playgrounds.
Teachers describe a pattern that is increasingly familiar: sexist language becoming normalised; girls being targeted or harassed; and female staff facing open hostility or challenge to their authority that echoes narratives circulating online.
Schools are being asked to hold the line on respect, consent and equality while powerful digital platforms pump out content that actively undermines those values.
To understand what content children are served when they join social media for the first time, the Big Tech’s Little Victims campaign ran “The Algorithm Experiment”, creating four fictional profiles of British 13‑year‑olds across TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram. Researchers then scrolled as a child would, for up to 30 minutes a day over the course of a week.
The findings were shocking. On average, harmful or inappropriate content appeared within three minutes of logging on. For every minute spent scrolling, the profiles were shown one further piece of concerning material. Crucially, the content followed clear gendered pathways.
The platforms’ algorithms pushed boys towards figures linked to misogyny and content with hostile narratives towards women. On TikTok, misogynistic content appeared in 85 per cent of sessions involving boys’ profiles.
Meanwhile, the girl profiles were disproportionately served sexualised and body‑focused content, often alongside material linked to self‑harm and eating disorders.
Algorithm-driven harm
As teachers, we see how online misogyny becomes offline behaviour. And once embedded, it becomes harder to unpick from school culture.
Social media platforms have become de facto educators, shaping how young people understand gender, power and relationships long before schools have a chance to intervene.
Some will argue that this is simply the new media landscape and that it can be managed through education alone.
Digital literacy matters, and schools already do great work on this. But our members are clear about the limits of what schools can achieve when children are exposed to algorithm‑driven harm for hours outside the school day.
Education cannot outpace an algorithm built to escalate content and keep young users hooked.
That is why the NEU, alongside a growing coalition of parents, health professionals and educators, is calling on the government to raise the age of social media access to 16.
This is not a silver bullet, or a substitute for broader reforms to platform design and accountability. It is about recognising that these platforms are not safe environments for children, and that voluntary safeguards have failed.
Government inaction
Government delay is not neutral. Each month of inaction means another cohort of Year 8s and 9s learn more from social feeds than from the adults who care for them. The case for action is clear.
More than 90 per cent of NEU members support raising the age of access. Nearly two‑thirds of parents believe 13 is too young, and more than 70 per cent support a ban for under‑16s.
There is now a clear opportunity for teachers to make their experiences on the issue heard. The government has recently launched a national consultation on this issue, .
Teachers’ voices are essential to ensuring this consultation reflects the reality of classrooms, not just the assurances of tech companies.
I would urge colleagues across the profession to submit their views and share what they are seeing on the ground.
International Women’s Day was born out of working women demanding rights and equality. If we are serious about those principles for the girls in our schools, we must confront the culture that is shaping the boys alongside them.
Raising the age of social media access to 16 is a clear, workable measure that would protect girls, support boys to grow into healthier men, and make schools safer.
Daniel Kebede is the general secretary of the NEU teaching union
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