Misogynistic attitudes,shockingly,have been allowed to simmer away in some school environments for some time. Many female teachers have experienced this,leading to Monash University conducting research on gendered authority and misogynistic attitudes deployed to exert power over women and girls in schools (“The problem of anti-feminist ‘manfluencer’ Andrew Tate in Australian schools:women teachers’ experiences of resurgent male supremacy”). The fact that teenage boys may experiment with or be influenced by the views of far-right live streamers is no surprise given their stage of development. More concerning to me as a teacher is the risk that these attitudes may be enabled – even exacerbated – in certain high school settings.

How has this happened? Of all workplaces,high schools should be pushing back most strongly against misogynistic and extremist attitudes and their manifestations in various bullying behaviours and inappropriate comments.

Because the male brain is at its most vulnerable between the ages of 13 and 17,high schools have a huge responsibility in this regard. As a teacher,I have the privilege to share space with these malleable minds for extended periods every day. I am privy to all the boisterous conversations in the classroom,off-hand remarks,conspicuous gestures,tones of voice,confident or faltering comments and questions and demonstrations of kindness,gratitude or otherwise. I am acutely aware of my ability to influence those interactions and attitudes in some small way each day – for better or for worse. How I respond to the way students treat me,and their peers,matters enormously at this precious transient stage of their development.

But what I might do as a teacher on any school day is nowhere near enough – in less than an hour those young minds are off to another classroom or an assembly,house meeting or sporting field,and the responsibility rests with someone else at the school.