‘I’d ride that’: Male teachers open up about teenage students’ sexualised comments that jeopardise their career

‘I’d ride that’, ‘You have a gyat?’ and ‘Love you, sir’: Male teachers tell how they endure a constant stream of sexual comments – and moaning – that can destroy careers.

Male teachers say unwanted sexualised comments from students are helping to drive them out of the profession.

In one online forum, male teachers shared the comments – including moaning sounds from girls – made to them as students attempt to shock, scare or embarrass them.

One said: “First day at a new school I walked by a group of year 8 girls and one said within earshot ‘I’d ride that, no questions asked’.”

He also said boys make comments such as calling him “Daddy” and saying “Love you sir”, “Do you rizz the shorties?” and “You have a gyat?”

Gyat is a slang term of appreciation for someone’s shapely buttocks. Rizz is short for charisma.

ABS statistics show around 28 per cent of teachers are male, down from 41 per cent 50 years ago.

Others also reported being told “Thanks daddy” and “Love you sir” and having students try to hug them.

The teacher said other students say such things “kinda loudly amongst the friend groups like they want me to hear and make me uncomfortable”.

“I’m guessing the trap or game is I approach them and tell them what they said is inappropriate and then they deny it?”

One said the issue was “the moaning” by female students, which he said was gross and inappropriate.

Another said: “In the past week I’ve contacted the parents of two separate year 6 students for making an orgasm sex noise, and for making an inappropriate sexual image on their computer.”

“Both times the parents deny the kids know what they’re doing.”

Another teacher of students in year 7 and 8 agreed parents are either in denial or clueless about such behaviour.

“The disconnect between parents and their kids is wild. Their parents talk about them like they are innocent little children. Yet the things they say in my class are disgusting.”

Associate Professor Paul Kidson from Australian Catholic University said a number of male teachers “feel quite on edge about what others are saying to them on the job”.

“It could easily be misconstrued or end up as a vexatious claim or harassment case. It’s not just childish banter. The possibility for irreversible career damage are profound.”

Dr Paul Kidson, an investigator on the Australian Catholic University's Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing survey, says male teachers should not have to put up with students’ damaging banter.

Dr Kidson said national approaches to educator registration meant a teacher could have an unfounded work complaint “follow them around, making it hard to get another job”.

“It’s not just innocent fun. It’s extremely damaging and some kids have no idea.”

Teachers said it was alarmingly common for students to threaten to call them pedophiles.

One said he had been “threatened by a year 7 girl that she’d spread word to other students and accuse me of being a pedo because I didn’t let her leave the classroom to get a drink because she hadn’t completed any work”.

Another said: “I didn’t think it was going to be an issue but I don’t know any male colleagues who haven’t had the word ‘pedophile’ thrown at them or had complaints about them being ‘creepy’ thrown around.

“These things are weaponised against male teachers because it works. Students aren’t seriously accusing anyone, they just know that it will make male teachers back off of enforcing expectations, or quit.”

Male teachers say they are baited with sexualised comments from female students.

Another young male teacher said such behaviour had a significant impact. “I thought I wouldn’t really have an issue with it in primary school but have been proven wrong several times already. Not to my face but warned by other teachers to not be in situations alone with certain students due to comments they had made about me.”

Female teachers also agreed they had experienced a “significant increase” in such behaviour: “Honestly, it’s concerning behaviour, and the manipulation and cruelty in some comments is insane,” one said.

“I also find there’s been an increase in physical aggression – trying to stand over me, get in my face etc,” she said.

Many of the teachers said students acted innocently in response: “We had kids make the confused pikachu face when told that creating AI videos of teachers and students kissing was a suspension/exclusion level offence.”

Teachers said schools need to take more decisive action.

“The school needs to have firm, consistent consequences that deal with what has been said. Also it helps to have staff who those students respect, actively and publicly have each other’s backs,” one said.

Male teachers say students don’t realise how dangerous it is for them to make inappropriate sexual comments.

Another said: “I don’t think the kids realise just how disgusting it is and are just doing it to get a reaction. Admin needs to deal with this behaviour, starting with having the kid call home and telling their parents what they’ve been saying,” they said.

Teachers put the increase in sexualised behaviour down to a rise in permissive parenting, social media, access to adult material online and mobile phone usage. One said it was: “The end result of an entire generation of permissive parenting. Students talk to teachers as their inferiors, say completely gross, sexualised stuff without any shame.”

Dr Kidson said the one consequence of such behaviour was the lower number of males choosing to go into teaching. “In some primary schools now some kids go through kindergarten to year 6 without coming across a male teacher,” he said.

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Originally published as ‘I’d ride that’: Male teachers open up about teenage students’ sexualised comments that jeopardise their career