Pupils to be taught strangulation is illegal to tackle ‘incel culture'

Times

15-07-2025

Strangulation will be taught as a criminal offence under new Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance published on Tuesday, as part of an overhaul of the curriculum in England.
For the first time, pupils will be explicitly taught that strangulation — applying pressure to someone's neck or covering their mouth and nose — is illegal, even if it doesn't cause visible injury.
The revised guidance, the first significant update since 2020, will push secondary schools to tackle the growing influence of the 'manosphere' and incel culture, as well as emerging harms linked to pornography.
However, critics said the government had watered down a previous draft, which sought to counter 'trans activist' positions.
Schools will also be told not to use oversimplified diagrams or cartoons to teach about gender identity, such as the 'Genderbread Person', which had been used in some lessons provided by external providers.
These can risk misleading pupils or encouraging them to question their gender unnecessarily, the guidance said.
The new guidance said schools should be careful not to endorse any particular view or teach it as fact, including that all people have a gender identity. It added: 'Schools should be mindful to avoid any suggestion that social transition is a simple solution to feelings of distress or discomfort.'
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Pupils will be taught how online content, including AI-manipulated images and deepfakes, can distort perceptions of women, sex, and consent, which the Department for Education guidance said can 'portray misogynistic behaviours and attitudes', influencing those who watch it.
Boys will also be encouraged to identify positive male role models and to challenge online misogyny.
Sexual harassment, including unwanted touching, sexual language, upskirting, revenge porn and sharing intimate images without consent, will also be covered in detail.
The overhaul of RSHE comes after a government consultation raised alarm over inconsistent teaching and controversial materials used by third-party providers.
The Labour government scrapped earlier Conservative plans to ban sex education for children under the age of nine. Instead, the guidance advises that it should not begin before Year 5, while giving schools the flexibility to teach it earlier. The revised mandatory curriculum will be introduced in all mainstream schools from September.
Mental health education will start in primary school, focusing on emotions, loneliness, bullying and seeking help.
In secondary schools, suicide prevention will be taught with guidance from mental health professionals, avoiding graphic or emotive content.
Other newly added topics include suicide prevention, loneliness, gambling, virginity testing, bereavement, parenting, menstrual and gynaecological health, and antimicrobial resistance.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, warned that the expanded content risks overwhelming schools. 'The new guidance asks schools to teach more content with only the same amount of time available,' he said. 'Government cannot continue to impose additions to the curriculum without proposing how the additional teaching time needed is to be found.'
Whiteman also criticised the lack of support for suicide prevention teaching: 'NAHT has particular concerns that the inclusion of suicide prevention content has not been accompanied by a commitment from the government to provide funded training for all teachers to give them both the knowledge and the confidence they need to discuss suicide prevention and self-harm with young people.'
The guidance for schools has been overhauled by the government
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The government said the changes were designed to reflect modern challenges facing children and equip them with the knowledge to stay safe and make informed choices. The guidance will be reviewed again before it becomes statutory in 2026.
Helen Joyce, the director of Sex Matters, which campaigns for clarity on single-sex services, said: 'It's welcome that Bridget Phillipson is warning schools not to use simplistic graphics that perpetuate stereotypes or encourage children to question their gender. Far too much harm has already been done by sexist and frankly stupid teaching materials that lie to children by telling them it's your personality and interests that determine whether you're a boy or a girl.'
She added: 'It's a big shame that the Department for Education has watered down sections of the draft guidance it inherited from the previous government, which sought to counter the trans activist positions adopted by many schools over the past decade. Instead of warning schools not to teach about the broader concept of gender identity, it now says pupils should not be taught that everyone has a gender identity.
'We're concerned that the DfE still doesn't seem to have grasped the harm caused by so-called social transition in schools.'
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A spokeswoman for Bayswater Support Group of parents of children with transgender identities said: 'The new RSHE guidance fails to address the serious safeguarding issues around teaching gender identity to children, including the implicit message that children could have an inner identity that means their body needs fixing.
'As well as significantly weakening the clarity offered by the earlier draft guidance, this version introduces topics which are likely to be harmful to vulnerable children. For example, direct teaching about suicide may actually undermine suicide prevention strategies.'