Boys Need Early Intervention: Educators Are Sounding Alarms
Educators across Canada want to start conversations with boys about respect, relationships, and consent early. They’re asking for the time, training, and classroom resources to do it.
White Ribbon partnered with Angus Reid Group to survey 340 educators across Canada, including classroom teachers, school staff, and administrators. The findings show when educators believe prevention should begin, what they want boys to learn, and what schools can do to support them.
What Educators Told Us:
97%
of educators surveyed support early prevention as a key strategy for preventing gender-based violence.
70%
say learning about respect, consent, and boundaries is crucial for boys to learn and develop healthy expressions of masculinity.
67%
believe conversations with boys about healthy masculinities, relationships, and consent should begin between birth and age eight.
What Educators Need
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Educators identified a need for classroom materials on empathy, misogyny, and online sexual violence. Two-thirds of educators surveyed (67%) say learning about respect, consent, and boundaries is crucial to helping boys develop healthy expressions of masculinity.
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While 59% of educators surveyed reported feeling confident teaching about gender-based violence, gender equality, and healthy masculinities, that figure was 41% among early years educators. Professional learning can give educators opportunities to practise facilitating these conversations and responding to questions that come up in class.
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Classroom teachers identified limited curriculum time, anticipated concerns from parents and caregivers, and a lack of age-appropriate or ready-to-use lesson plans as barriers. Schools and school boards can help by making room in the curriculum, providing culturally responsive materials, and helping educators communicate with families about what students are learning and why.
This research report is part of White Ribbon’s ongoing commitment to preventing all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination by engaging men and boys to take an active role in promoting respect, equality, and safe communities.
By shining a light on these challenges, we equip educators, parents, and communities with the tools to counter harmful messages and create spaces where boys can grow up with respect, empathy, and equality.
Ending gender-based violence begins with how we support and guide our boys—and your support makes that possible.
By making a small donation today, you help us continue this vital work and equip the next generation to build a safer, more equitable world.
Use My Friend, Max Hate To Address Radicalization and Misogyny
My Friend, Max Hate is a groundbreaking global campaign designed to expose how online misogyny and hateful ideologies reach boys and young men. Through animated storytelling, the campaign illustrates how extremist influencers and online spaces recruit boys into harmful worldviews, often disguised as entertainment or “self-improvement,” enabling harm against women and 2SLGBTQ+ people.
Real change takes all of us. Whether you’re an individual, an educator, or part of an organization, there are many ways to get involved and join the movement.
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