The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has stated that the fate of boys is a defining issue of the present time, calling for an increase in male teachers to combat "toxic" behaviors.
Speaking at a conference on Thursday, Phillipson will highlight the need for stronger role models for boys and young men in Britain, citing the Netflix series Adolescence as an illustration of the challenges they face.
"It is clear that the behavior of boys, their influences, and the young men they become, is a defining issue of our time," Phillipson is expected to say. She will add that it is essential to raise a generation of boys with qualities such as curiosity, compassion, kindness, resilience, hope, and respect.
Keir Starmer has described Adolescence as "really hard to watch" with his teenage children. The series has sparked public debate about the link between digital media targeting boys and misogyny.
Phillipson will address the first festival of children organized by the children's commissioner for England, emphasizing the need for strong, positive male role models both at home and in schools. She will point out that only one in four teachers in English schools are men, with even lower proportions in nursery and early years education.
Phillipson notes that while the number of teachers has increased by 28,000 since 2010, only 533 of these new hires are men. She advocates for more male teachers to guide and lead boys in classrooms.
This concern about the lack of male teachers in primary schools has been raised by several education secretaries in recent years. However, research on the impact of male teachers on boys' attainment and behavior is mixed, with few studies showing significant improvements.
Rachel de Souza, the children's commissioner for England, will call for adults to be more receptive to children, noting that many boys and girls feel disconnected from society and often seek answers online.
"Children want to be listened to and heard. They want to work hard and understand that they have a role in shaping society," De Souza will say, according to remarks from her office.
"But some of these foundations of childhood are cracking. We are struggling to be honest about this crisis developing in childhood. The antidote to this is listening and connecting. We must prove that we will respond more quickly to them than ChatGPT," De Souza will add.
De Souza plans to investigate the use of mobile phones in schools, based on data from a national survey, and will examine children's trust in the police and the impact of deepfake technology that uses AI-generated images or audio to replicate faces and voices.
