International Day of Education 2026: Why “Not in My Name” Starts With Boys

International Day of Education 2026 should not be a box-ticking post. It should change what adults do next, because safeguarding depends on what children feel able to say. UNESCO’s global event for 2026 focuses on “the power of youth in co-creating education” and places young people at the centre of shaping safer, fairer learning environments.

Most children do not disclose abuse by using the word “abuse”. Instead, they test the water first. They do it in fragments, through behaviour, silence, or a comment they can withdraw.

For this reason, Freedom Charity developed Not in My Name as a prevention campaign that begins where culture is formed and where it can shift quickly: among boys, within peer groups, and in everyday moments.

Start here for campaign resources: Not in My Name school program

International Day of Education 2026: what should change in schools

International Day of Education exists to recognise education’s role in peace, rights, and development. In the UK, it also raises a local, urgent issue: schools and colleges act as safeguarding environments every day. Therefore, the practical question is simple: do children feel safe enough to speak early, and do adults respond in a way that protects them?

In England, schools and colleges must follow statutory safeguarding expectations set out in Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE). As a result, culture matters. It shapes what children think they are allowed to say and what they believe adults will do if they speak.
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/international-day-education-2026-global-event-power-youth-co-creating-education

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education–2

International Day of Education 2026

UNESCO’s theme for International Day of Education 2026, “the power of youth in co-creating education”, means young people should help shape how education works, including the parts that affect safety day to day. In practice, co-creating means pupils help answer real questions, such as:

Which reporting routes feel safe, and which feel risky?
What stops a child speaking, even when they want to?
Which adult responses build trust, and which shut disclosure down?

When young people help design the system, they use it more. By contrast, when adults design everything alone, systems often look good on paper but fail in real life.

https://www.unesco.org/en/days/education

Not in My Name: why Freedom Charity starts prevention with boys

Prevention fails when it targets only those at risk of harm. Girls should not carry the burden of prevention alone. They should not have to manage coercion, threats, or control while everyone else stays silent.

So Not in My Name gives boys and young men a clear boundary they can use in the moment. It is not a performance. It is a refusal to normalise control, humiliation, and entitlement.

Importantly, this is not about blaming boys. Instead, it protects boys from a culture that pressures them to prove status through dominance. At the same time, it protects girls from the consequences of that pressure.

For support and guidance on coercion and forced marriage, add your internal link here: Forced marriage support and advice (insert your Freedom Charity forced marriage page link)

International Day of Education 2026 and peer pressure: boys shape boys

Families matter. Schools matter. However, peer culture often decides what becomes “normal”. Boys shape other boys through what they laugh at, what they repeat, what they excuse, and what they challenge. That is why this campaign focuses on the moment of peer pressure, when harm is still preventable. Aneeta Prem

These short lines work because they stay calm and clear:

“Do not talk about her like that.”
“That is not funny. Stop.”
“We are not doing that.”
“Not in my name.”

One boy speaking up can feel exposed. Yet when several boys speak up, they set a standard. As a result, girls become safer and harmful behaviour loses social permission.

International Day of Education 2026: when harm hides behind “culture”

Some of the most serious harm comes with an excuse. People can frame control as “care”. They can frame coercion as “duty”. They can frame forced marriage as “family choice”. They can frame violence as “discipline”. So language can hide what is really happening.

UK law draws clear lines. In England and Wales, the legal minimum age of marriage and civil partnership is 18, and the change took effect on 27 February 2023.

GOV.UK marriage age change
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/legal-age-of-marriage-in-england-and-wales-rises-to-18

In addition, regulated professionals and teachers in England and Wales must report known cases of FGM in under-18s to the police, and that duty took effect on 31 October 2015.

GOV.UK mandatory reporting of FGM
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mandatory-reporting-of-female-genital-mutilation-procedural-information

For safeguarding audiences, clarity matters. FGM is child abuse.

What schools can do this week for International Day of Education 2026

International Day of Education 2026 has value only if it leads to action. So here are the steps that change day-to-day safety.

1) Build a youth safeguarding feedback loop

Create a protected way for pupils to share what feels unsafe, what stops disclosure, and what language young people use. Then publish what you change. In doing so, you build trust through visible follow-through.

2) Make reporting routes simple and visible

Use one clear route, signpost it consistently, and explain what happens next in plain English. Also explain confidentiality and its limits clearly.

3) Teach Not in My Name as a skill

Do not treat it as a poster. Instead, teach it as a peer intervention. For example, teach pupils how to challenge without humiliating, how to refuse group pressure, how to check in with someone who seems frightened, and when to escalate to a trusted adult.

4) Train staff to spot coercion early

Staff need confidence to name coercion plainly and respond consistently. Otherwise, delay can increase risk. KCSIE provides the baseline expectations and language for safeguarding practice in England.

What parents and carers can do

If a child hints at pressure, fear, or control, avoid confronting any suspected perpetrator. Escalation can increase risk. Instead:

Ask calm questions: “Are you worried about anyone’s expectations of you?”
State the principle clearly: “No one has the right to control you.”
Use the school safeguarding route early, not as a last resort.
Treat imminent risk as urgent safeguarding.

FAQs about International Day of Education 2026

When is International Day of Education?

It takes place every year on 24 January.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/education-day/background

What is the theme for International Day of Education 2026?

The theme is “the power of youth in co-creating education”.

Why focus on boys?

Because peer culture is a powerful prevention lever. When boys learn to correct other boys early, harm loses social permission, and prevention becomes real.

What does the law say about child marriage in England and Wales?

The minimum legal age is 18, in force from 27 February 2023.

International Day of Education 2026 and the prevention that lasts

International Day of Education 2026 matters when it strengthens what young people can do in real time: shape safer cultures, speak earlier, and challenge harm before it becomes normal.

Freedom Charity built Not in My Name to interrupt harm early. It gives boys language to lead without aggression. It also signals to girls that prevention is not a burden they should carry alone.

In short, prevention becomes legacy when it changes what the next generation accepts.