More than half of teachers see harmful social media content impacting pupils

WorldTechnology
31 Mar 2026 • 9:04 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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  • A National Education Union (NEU) survey of over 10,500 educators found that more than half believe pupils are influenced by racist and misogynistic social media content.
  • One in six teachers reported experiencing misogyny from a pupil in the last year, with 9 per cent also experiencing sexualised comments.
  • Teachers identified misogynistic (56 per cent), racist (52 per cent), and homophobic or transphobic (45 per cent) content as significantly influencing pupils.
  • The majority of teachers stated that social media use negatively impacts pupils' concentration (71 per cent), mental health (67 per cent) and sleep (66 per cent).
  • The NEU is calling for stricter government regulation of tech companies and for the social media access age to be raised from 13 to 16, a stance supported by almost all teachers.

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