Yesterday, PPTA members —secondary school teachers— voted to make addressing online extremism an official policy, and are now pushing for Government action.  

Teachers say they are seeing more misogyny from young boys, as well as xenophobia and anti-Māori rhetoric – and I believe them. Sit down with your teenager and ask them about Andrew Tate, Trump, trad wives —which were some of the complaints— and they’re all over it. And yes, it is driven by social media, algorithms, and their peers.

So, I do understand their concerns.  

But it’s not for the Government to fix.  

I’ll get to the teachers in a minute, but this is primarily an issue for parents.  

It’s parents who are responsible for setting the tone when it comes to their children’s beliefs and values. And as they grow and almost inevitably push back against their parents and their ideas while they develop their own, it’s also on the parents to listen and, without judgement, encourage open discussion.   

As parents we need to get into the trenches with our teenagers and have those difficult conversations so we understand where they’re coming from and why, for example, a young man might have been drawn into a “toxic online culture of masculinity”. Only then, perhaps, are we can be in a position to do something about it. 

I’m sure the teachers are right when they say parents aren’t fully aware of the content their children are being exposed to. I chat to my teenagers about contentious people and issues on social media and in the news. I’m curious to know if they’re aware of it. Sometimes I have to act cool and hide my surprise when I discover that not only are they across it, but they’ve researched it, thought about it and will already have formed an opinion. Parents are so far behind sometimes.  

Obviously if a teacher hears something harmful or disgusting —if they feel someone has been radicalised to the point where the person or others aren’t safe— then yes, it needs to be challenged. We don't want to to be normalised - although many teenagers will tell you it already is. But, just as many schools put phone bans in place before it was legislated, schools can have guidelines for acceptable behaviour in a classroom without government interference.

But when it comes to political ideology, Trump and trad wives, or cancelling people, we need to encourage debate and teach young people to disagree agreeably. 

Teachers are at the forefront of this and may well bear the brunt of it. It’s easy to say that teachers should use these moments as a constructive exercise in critical thinking – and I’m sure many do. But others will be terrified of being accused by parents of indoctrinating their children.  

There is undoubtedly room for greater media literacy when it comes to understanding misinformation, disinformation, xenophobia and misogyny – but teachers have got other things on their plates.  

So, parents – you’re up. 

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