Experts are sounding the alarm over sexism in the classroom due to an "explosion of misogyny" in Australian schools.

Associate professor Samantha Schulz, who is a sociologist of education, said it's putting female teachers and students at risk and that influences like the online 'manosphere' are to blame.

"Post-COVID, principally when students returned to school, teachers across many sites described what has been called at times an explosion of misogyny," she told Weekend Today this morning.

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"We're talking about a rise in vulgar, sexualised, aggressive language, mostly being played out by boys and young men, mostly targeting female teachers and peers.

"Boys and young men [are] echoing, often verbatim, talking points and problematic beliefs that are promulgated by male influencers."

Sexism and misogyny have long existed in Australian schools, allowed to fester due to policy neglect in regards to gender literacy and gender equity in schooling.

It has created an environment where sexism is often normalised, allowing more extreme rhetoric to rise to the surface.

Meanwhile, schools and teachers often lack the capacity to name and address these kinds of gender-based issues.

And it's not just burnt out teachers that are being harmed by the spike in schoolyard sexism.

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"Far too often what's missing in these discussions is how this is being experienced by girls and young women, and what this means for them, not simply during their schooling, but also the longer term impacts," Schulz said.

"Girls describing feeling unsafe, unheard, taking up less space, learning or being enculturated by default to accept that misogynistic language and behaviours by boys and young men must be tolerated, because nothing necessarily or comprehensively is being done to address it."

It's sending a devastating message to female students that violence against women and girls, which is already extreme in Australia, is the norm.

On the flipside, boys who engage in sexist and misogynistic behaviour often get off scot-free.

"We often hear from parents, 'not my boy, my boy wouldn't do that,'" Schulz said.

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She warned that the problem will only worsen – both in schools and in wider Australian society – until it is addressed head-on.

That means educating teachers on who to understand, navigate and teach about gender in a way that encourages consent and respectful relationships in the classroom.

And that needs to be supported by strong policy frameworks.

"We need to name misogyny, register what is happening, so that we can gain a really clear picture of the scale of this issue, which is not going away," Schulz said.

"Schooling has to be viewed as a primary prevention space for gender-based violence, but this requires political will so we need brave politicians who accept that this is a significant crisis, and it is going to have long-term implications."

Exclusive: It's been nearly six months since Australia's teen social media ban came into effect but more than half of nine.com.au readers say it's just not working.

The under-16 social media delay (eSafety insists it's not a ban) kicked off on December 10, 2025, and saw millions of teen accounts wiped from newly age-restricted platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Reddit for their own safety.

But an exclusive nine.com.au survey of nearly 1300 readers revealed that more than 60 per cent feel the ban has been ineffective in the months since.

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"Kids are smarter than we give them credit for, they find ways to get around the restrictions," one reader told nine.com.au.

Nearly 70 per cent of under-16s who had social media accounts before the ban started are still on age-restricted platforms, according to an eSafety report.

One nine.com.au reader insisted the ban "needs to be tightened and properly policed".

About 20 per cent of nine.com.au readers said they feel the ban is working and 17 per cent were on the fence.

Many of the latter group said it's too soon to say how successful the ban has been.

"Feedback is necessary from teens, parents, and schools, before being able to assess its efficacy," one said.

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Another suspected it will take years to see the full effects of the ban.

"It will be the younger kids who never had [social media] that may see the benefits," they said.

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Skipper at nine.com.au poll, which runs once a fortnight, canvases the views of the Nine audience on 9Nation, which is an online community of our readers and viewers.

Australians are spending a fortune on bank fees, forking out more than $4.1 billion on them in the last financial year alone according to RBA data.

That figure was up by $268 million compared to the previous year.

The pesky fees are costing Aussie households around $412 each year (excluding business banking fees) and credit cards are the biggest culprits. 

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Aussies were slugged with $1.7 billion in credit card fees last financial year, up by 10 per cent compared to the 2023-24 financial year.

The average credit card annual fee is $204, which can be a big deal for cash-strapped Aussies.

A spike in overseas transaction fees and annual fees also played a role in soaring costs, according to the RBA.

Fees on home loans recorded the largest jump, surging by $167 million or 17 per cent between July 2024 and June 2025.

That spike is linked to an increase in Aussie homeowners refinancing, which can incur a slew of fees.

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There is a silver lining: exception fees like late fees and overdraft charges fell by nearly $13 million last year.

Canstar analysis suggests Aussies could save big on banking fees by shopping around and prioritising low- or no-fee options like:

• Credit cards with no annual fees and no currency conversion fees
• Low-fee home loan options that don't charge an annual fee
• Bank transaction accounts with no currency conversion fees

Aussies can also try to negotiate with their current bank or lender for lower fees.

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"While fees are growing like a beanstalk — up $268 million in just 12 months — people have more power to cut these down than they realise," Canstar.com.au data insights director Sally Tindall said.

"Whether it's negotiating a mortgage application fee or switching to one of the 12 credit card lenders that have no-fee cards, there are ways and means to slash your fees back to their roots."