Female teachers reveal how Andrew Tate has infiltrated the minds of young boys in Australian schools and is driving a culture of ‘sexism’: ‘I don’t feel safe anymore’

Female teachers have spoken out about how young boys are influenced by controversial social media star Andrew Tate.

The self-proclaimed champion of “misogyny” and “toxic masculinity” presents himself as an advocate for a self-reliant, “alpha” mentality to his legions of followers.

He is currently facing criminal charges in Romania, including organized crime, human trafficking and rape, but the ex-kickboxer turned influencer remains hugely popular around the world.

Now teachers in Australia are concerned about the growing number of young men who idolize him.

Grace (not her real name) told me ABC’s 7:30 program on Tuesday, she heard one of her students at the Sunshine Coast school where she taught in 2022 talk about how much they “love” Tate.

Grace (not her real name) said she “didn’t feel safe” in her classroom

“I just said, ‘Look, I don’t want to hear that name in this classroom.’ I saw a few girls rolling their eyes and sighing,” she said.

Although only a handful of boys were fans of the British-American TikToker, it set a “disturbing tone” for the class, according to Grace.

“Most of what happened in my experience was sexual in nature,” she said.

“Students in my classes making groaning noises, asking inappropriate questions, asking personal questions about my age or my appearance.”

Grace was instructed to use ‘teaching techniques’ to suppress the behavior, but was ultimately unable to control it and decided to give up her career.

“It’s very disappointing that I don’t really feel safe in a classroom anymore,” she says.

“Even though I want to be there to stand up for the young girls… my mental health suffered.”

Dozens of other teachers across the country have had similar experiences.

Researchers from Monash University interviewed female teachers about Tate’s impact in Australian classrooms and found he was ‘popping up’ everywhere from rural towns to metropolitan schools.

The study, which included 30 female teachers, found that there are ‘widespread experiences of sexual harassment, sexism and misogyny from boys towards female teachers, and that the ominous presence of Andrew Tate influences their behaviour’.

“The consistency is one of the most exciting things about what we found in this study,” said Stephanie Wescott, one of the report’s authors.

Stephanie Wescott (pictured) from Monash University said a study into Tate’s impact in Australian classrooms found it was ‘popping up’ everywhere from rural towns to metropolitan schools

Tate is currently facing criminal charges in Romania, including organized crime, human trafficking and rape – but the ex-kickboxer turned influencer remains hugely popular around the world

“What they told us is that Andrew Tate showed up in their classroom in different ways.”

Tate has almost 9 million followers on X and was the fourth most searched topic in Google Australia’s news category last year.

According to 21-year-old Jaidyn Davis, he is most popular among men in their teens and early twenties because of the way he talks about men and women.

Mr. Davis and many other young men who follow Tate online said they see nothing wrong with the influencer’s core ideology, as he tries to convey the idea that “men” should be masculine.

Ethan Slater, 25, agreed, saying Tate resonates with younger men because that’s what they want to become.

He went on to explain that he believes Tate’s views are often taken out of context.