Mothers and fathers tend to see misogyny as being an issue – but not at their own child’s school
Adolescence was in many ways a show aimed at parents, who ultimately may have the most power to address emerging issues with boys.
However, our study of 900 parents with children aged 4-17 finds that while many parents describe misogyny among boys and young men as a major and growing issue in schools and society in general, few seem to have noticed such behaviour from their own children or their peers.
When it comes to boys picking up misogynistic views, most parents put the blame on social media, and social media companies top the list of entities they say need to do more to tackle the issue.
Parents believe it is difficult for parents to keep their children safe online, although most say they themselves are well able to see and control what their children access online. Three in ten say they have seen their children accessing content online that they feel is damaging to their upbringing.
How many parents have experienced misogynistic behaviour from children?
Our study finds that only 7% of parents say they have ever noticed their own children expressing misogynistic attitudes or behaviours. These figures are largely consistent regardless of the gender of the parent or the age of the child.
Among those who have noticed such behaviours from their children, 23% say they have noticed them “very” or “fairly often” – amounting to just 2% of all parents noticing frequent misogynistic behaviour from their offspring.
By contrast, parents are notably more likely to have noticed misogynistic actions from their child’s friends (17%) and other children at their school (31%), with the numbers who say they notice them frequently falling to 5% and 12%, respectively.
Among those who say they had noticed any of the three prior groups of children expressing misogynistic attitudes or behaviours, 20% say that this affected themselves or their family – equivalent to 7% of all parents.
Most parents tend to see misogyny among boys as being a big problem elsewhere
While few parents are encountering misogyny among boys frequently – or at all – many do nevertheless see it as a big problem. One in three (33%) consider it to be a very or fairly big problem at their children’s schools, rising to 59% among schools in general, and 69% in society at large.
Parents also see the problem as growing, with 60% saying the issue has become worse in recent years. Mothers are more likely to think the situation is deteriorating (64%) than fathers (56%).
Despite concerns over the direction of travel, misogyny appears to be far from the top issue for parents when it comes to their children.
When we asked parents directly what their number one concern is for their children, misogyny and related issues hardly feature, with approximately 1% bringing it up. Far more common were issues around crime and safety (29%), social media (21%), education (21%) and jobs and financial opportunities (19%).
Where do parents think boys are picking up misogynistic attitudes and behaviours from?
Given the media focus on figures like Andrew Tate, it is no surprise to see that ‘social media influencers’ top the list of sources from which parents think boys are picking up misogynistic behaviours and attitudes, at 80%. A majority also say that comments and posts on social media more generally are to blame (59%).
These are the only two sources that a majority of parents consider to be responsible, with the next highest being “children in older years at school”, at 42%, slightly ahead of parents themselves (37%) and children their own age (33%).
The traditional trio of ‘bad influences’ on children – music, TV, video games – are a source of misogyny according to a third of parents (31-34%).
Whose responsibility do parents think it is to address misogyny, and are they doing enough?
Parents are most likely to say that it is parents themselves who have the greatest level of responsibility to address misogyny among young men and boys, with 83% saying they hold a “great deal” of responsibility.
Most parents charge social media companies with a similar level of responsibility (67%), with only a third saying the same of the government (35%) and schools (34%) – although in all four cases the overwhelming majority say each group has either a great or fair amount of responsibility on the issue.
In terms of who should be doing more to address misogyny, it is social media companies that come top for parents: 86% say such tech firms should be doing more, including 69% who say they should be doing “much more”.
Eight in ten parents likewise say that parents themselves need to be doing more (including 53% who say “much more”), while 39% want to see “much more” from the government and 26% from schools.
How difficult do parents feel it is keeping children safe online?
With social media coming top of the list of sources from which boys are picking up misogyny, it is no surprise to see that 76% of parents support a ban on under-16s using social media (although this will be for more reasons than misogyny alone).
Almost two thirds of parents (64%) are using parental controls to restrict websites and apps that their children can use, and half (51%) say they feel they themselves can see and control what their own children are doing online and on social media well.
Nevertheless, the large majority say that it is difficult for parents these days to keep their children safe online, at 76%, and 30% of parents say that they have seen their children accessing content that they consider to be damaging to their upbringing.
What do you think about the issue of misogyny, the attitudes of young men, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
