It is difficult to know what is actually going on inside the minds of boys and young men. But what they say when adults are not in the room is alarming, and may shock anyone who does not have a school-age child.
An Evening Standard special investigation reveals the torrent of threats and misogyny that is now commonplace for girls and young women in school. “Sexual harassment is a daily occurrence for me,” one girl said. Another recalled a boy who told her: “When we’re in bed, I’m going to do this and this to you”.
What we are witnessing is a congealing of early access to pornography and the rise of a macho classroom culture accelerated by apparent role models such as Andrew Tate, charged last year by a Romanian court with rape and human trafficking.
It is a stain on us all that so many young women and girls are forced to experience this toxic culture in a place where they should be treated equally and with respect. As one teacher put it: “If the connection between the two genders is this fractured at 15, what’s it going to be like when they get really intimate with each other and the stakes are higher?”
A polluted industry
“Lock them up” is not an election phrase that ought to be borrowed from the United States. But voters may consider making an exception for water company bosses. To that end, Labour has pledged to make the heads of water firms “criminally liable” if they continue to oversee the widespread pumping of sewage into rivers and streams.
It is a grim state of affairs. Thames Water last year dumped sewage into the capital’s waterways for more than 9,773 hours. Simultaneously, customers were forced to swallow bill increases of an average 12.1 per cent in April, with more likely on the way. Sewage freely flowing in our waters adds to the public sentiment that nothing is working. The next government would be wise to make this a top priority.
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