9 out of 10 girls in school have already received “dick pics” against their will

It is shocked that the Inspector General of Ofsted, an administration in charge of supervising schools in the United Kingdom, discovered the results of a report published by her team in June 2021. According to the latter, 9 out of 10 school girls say they have been the target of sexist insults at school, while 92% have already received explicit photos or videos against their will. The young girls questioned during the investigation also evoke touching in the corridors on a daily basis.

Carried out in 32 public and private schools, this worrying report also specifies that young girls do not report these sexist behaviors because, for the most part, they do not see the point of complaining about repeated acts that are part of their daily life. Professors would also tend to minimize incidents within their institution. So much so that girls learn early on that they have to deal with sexism, misogyny and keep quiet.

From the age of 11, the study shows that sharing naked photos is a problem. These circulate without possible control on WhatsApp and Snapchat. For Amanda Spielman, Inspector General interviewed by The Telegraph & Argus, “The problems seen in the upper classes in recent years have spread to the younger ones.” She also adds that smartphones, social networks and mainstream open-access porn online have been aggravating factors.

Educating young boys, a mission strewn with pitfalls

“It shouldn’t be our job to educate the boys”, specifies a student at Ofsted in the report. This is why associations like Beyond Equality exist across the Channel. However, according to Ben Hurst, who started in this association as a volunteer, the new generation of schoolchildren is not so different from that of their parents and grandparents.

Interviewed by Stylist UK magazine, Ben Hurst explains that whenever he sets foot in a classroom to talk to boys, he hears phrases from another time like: “All sluts”, “Women are michtos who want only our money” or “A real guy has to be tough on women.” He explains that if some students mainly try to stand out by releasing these clichés out of humor, others believe in them hard as iron in 2021. And Ben Hurst to add: “I’ve heard teenagers whip out all the arguments of masculinist activists and conservative academics word for word, without knowing what they were talking about. They’re learning all this online and on Reddit.”, a major English-speaking community site. The educator also specifies that masculinist or ultra-right YouTube channels are now one-click away for everyone – including young, impressionable adolescents.

It is therefore no surprise that another study by Hope Not Hate, published in 2020, attests that half of young men in the UK believe that “feminism goes too far and destroys opportunities for men. “

Faced with this hostility, Beyond Equality workers always try to listen to what students have to say even when it comes to sexist nonsense heard here and there. As an introduction, Ben Hurst likes to remind them that “If you are in a privileged position in society, you are going to experience equality as oppression.” The educator also tries to show different ways of being a man by rejecting the criteria imposed by toxic masculinity. But for many young people in the midst of construction, deviating from the norm means being a failure or a deviant person. Venturing outside the dominant system paralyzes them.

For Dan Guinness, director of Beyond Equality, we must also encourage young people to follow their reasoning through. He explains : “If they think that women want to be above men for example, they are asked why and what evidence do they have to support it. What is crucial is to push them to question themselves. “

Dan Hastings

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