warns Nicola’s friend Misogyny among children ‘fuelled by the rapid rise of social media’
SOCIAL media is fuelling misogyny among children – and is as harmful as nicotine or junk food, experts have claimed.
Scotland’s curriculum advisory body said the ‘rapid rise’ of social media had led to ‘anonymous threats’ and the sharing of ‘misogynistic views’ in ‘a wide audience’.
Education Scotland said more than 190 schools are now part of a programme aimed at tackling genderbased violence including misogyny.
Dr Kaitlyn Regehr from University College London warned: ‘As young people micro-dose on topics like selfharm, or extremism, to them it feels like entertainment. Harmful views and tropes are now becoming normalised among young people.’
Scottish Tory deputy education spokesman Roz McCall said it was ‘deeply concerning to see that the growth of social media is linked to a rise in misogyny in our schools’. She said: ‘We all have a duty to ensure that
‘Anonymous threats against others’
we are properly educating children on this subject and about harmful gender stereotypes so they don’t carry these toxic views into adulthood.’
Education Scotland produced a podcast exploring how social media scrolling is ‘impacting pupil behaviour, with a focus on online misogyny’. Chief executive Gillian Hamilton said: ‘The rapid adoption of social media means there is now a space where people can make anonymous threats against others and share misogynistic views amongst a wide audience.
‘Addressing and tackling this type of violence and abuse requires education, transparency and coordinated action.’
Education Scotland’s Mentors in Violence Prevention peer mentoring programme in schools includes material on ‘challenging online misogyny’.
It offers a ‘safe space to discuss gender-related pressures, the scale of online misogyny, and strategies to challenge discriminatory behaviours’. Dr Regehr said social media algorithms are amplifying extreme content and normalising harmful ideologies for some young people.
A study led by Dr Regehr found a four-fold increase in the level of misogynistic content on the ‘For You’ page of TikTok [a personalised feed of recommended video content for its users] accounts over just five days on the platform.
Dr Regehr said: ‘Online consumption is impacting young people’s offline behaviours, as we see these ideologies moving off screens and into school yards. I really think this is like Big Tobacco decades ago.
‘At some point there will be enough research that the public will demand policymakers start prioritising young people’s wellbeing over profit.’ She said it was deemed ‘OK to consume a couple of problematic videos, just like sugar and junk food, but if that is 50 per cent of what you’re consuming – which is what our research is pointing towards – that’s problematic’.
According to TikTok, Dr Regehr’s study used ‘limited data which is not reflective of our broader user base’.