Children will be taught how to combat misogyny and resist so-called incel culture under new guidance for schools published on Tuesday. The guidance on relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) focuses on helping boys find positive role models amid the increasing spread of sexist online content from "manosphere" influencers such as Andrew Tate.

It also stresses the need to avoid "stigmatising boys for being boys". As well as lessons on so-called incel (involuntary celibate) culture, secondary schools will be required to provide young people with greater awareness of AI, deepfakes and links between pornography and misogyny.

The guidance comes as the Department for Education (DfE) warned that misogynistic attitudes had reached "epidemic scale" among young people, with 54% of those aged 11-19 saying they had witnessed misogynist comments. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: "Before I was elected to Parliament, I managed a refuge for women and children fleeing domestic violence, so I have seen first-hand the devastating impact when we don't foster healthy attitudes from the youngest age."

Phillipson added: "I want our children to be equipped to defy the malign forces that exist online. Schools and parents alike have a vital role to play, helping children identify positive role models and resist the manipulation too often used online to groom impressionable young minds." In its manifesto last year, Labour pledged to halve the rate of violence against women and girls in 10 years.

Earlier in 2025, Sir Keir Starmer praised the Netflix drama Adolescence for highlighting how misogyny had "taken on a different form" and said he wanted a discussion on what could be done to stop young boys "being dragged into this whirlpool of hatred and misogyny". Margaret Mulholland, of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the new guidance and its focus on finding positive male role models for boys, saying it was "important that we don't simply tell boys what is wrong".

The previous Conservative government proposed changing the guidance on RSHE in May last year, with then-prime minister Rishi Sunak expressing concern children were being exposed to "inappropriate" content. The draft guidance, which was open to a nine-week consultation, proposed clear age limits on the teaching of certain topics to ensure children were not "exposed to too much too soon".

It said sex education should be taught no earlier than Year 5, when pupils are aged nine to 10, and that what is described as the "contested topic of gender identity" should not be taught at all. The proposed guidance said schools should "at minimum" show parents a representative sample of teaching resources they plan to use and that schools "should respond positively to requests from parents to see material that has not already been shared".

While Tuesday's revised guidance includes the requirement to provide parents with teaching materials, the new Government has scrapped the proposal to prescribe specific ages at which individual topics are taught. The DfE said there would be a "strong new emphasis on age-appropriate" teaching, and a "clear dividing line" between primary and secondary school.

But the guidance would allow teachers to "sensitively respond to topics that children might have seen online or heard from their friends", with research suggesting 22% of primary school-aged girls had seen "rude images online". Tuesday's guidance also includes requirements on helping children with their mental health, including working with mental health professionals to discuss suicide prevention "in an age-appropriate way".

Children will be taught the importance of "grit and resilience" in order to help them "feel able to take on challenges and risks". Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen - who founded suicide prevention charity 3 Dads Walking in memory of their daughters - said: "Giving schools permission to talk about suicide prevention means more young people can be supported to open up about difficult feelings and know where to find help."

They added: "We know, from painful personal experience, how much this matters. This change will save lives." Schools will be able to implement the guidance from September this year, and must follow it from September 2026.

(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.