Ms Saoirse Exton:

The key issue in the context of toxic masculinity is that once it begins in the classroom, it can develop into much more serious things in adulthood. The thing with toxic masculinity is that because we live in a patriarchal society, it is widely acceptable. Young men often learn from a young age that it is acceptable and they can get away with certain things. That can be really harmful in every setting. At the moment, the message is being sent out that this sort of behaviour is basically all right. As I mentioned, that means it perpetuates over time. It is important that the Government, but also teachers, parents, peers and everyone else, reinforce that there is certain behaviour that is just not acceptable. Teachers need to be trained to recognise that behaviour from an early stage - before it gets violent or to the comments stage. One of the ways to do that is to have gender-inclusive education, such as talking about menstruation in a class where there are people who do not have a womb. I do not understand why a class would be split up based on gender. It could be talking about consent in an intersectional way or talking about pleasure. We never talk about pleasure in the RSE classroom. I genuinely think that if we break down these sexual barriers, we will also break down gender barriers. They are tied into one another.