Is being told who you can see acceptable?
BBCFewer teenagers are recognising "unhealthy" relationship behaviours as wrong, a council has found.
Results from Newcastle City Council's latest health-related behavioural questionnaire suggest teenagers in 2024 are less likely to find toxic behaviour "always wrong" than those asked in the previous survey in 2022.
The percentage who think a boyfriend or girlfriend telling them who they can see is unacceptable has fallen, as has the proportion who would consider having their phone checked to be always wrong.
However, 17-year-old Sally, from Newcastle, said young people were taught how to recognise the signs of controlling behaviour and that "helps a lot of students be able to speak up, or speak up for their friends".
The survey was given to nearly 6,000 eight to 15-year-olds in 2024 and just under 7,400 in 2022. Just over 1,330 Year 8s and 1,223 Year 10s took part in 2024.
The resulting data suggests attitudes among the teenage cohort of those surveyed had changed over the two years, with "unhealthy" behaviour less likely to be considered always wrong.
Sally said she believed boys were influenced by social media.
She told BBC Radio Newcastle "a lot of boys are influenced by other boys".
"There's a lot of misogyny towards women, boys share things and get their friends to join in, and it's really detrimental towards women," she said.
Sunderland University psychologist Dr Jon Rees said young people interacted with social media differently from adults.
"I don't think there's anything magical about social media, other than the fact that it's at your arms length," he said.
"We know there's content out there that's not great and you don't want anybody seeing, let alone young people."
He said social media could expose young people to extreme views and teenagers with attitudes in flux "might be heavily and strongly influenced".
"Not that teenagers are immature, they're certainly not, but they might be more easily influenced by things, just because they're teenagers," he said.
ReutersChristian, 16, who studies in Newcastle, said the world as portrayed by social media did not match reality.
"With social media I think you see a lot of stuff empowering women, in real life you don't really see that," he said.
"I think online women can say when men are being misogynistic but that sort of thing doesn't happen [in real life]."
The survey also demonstrated a widening gap between the attitudes of girls and boys, with girls more likely to say a behaviour was always wrong, the council said.
"Thankfully, most pupils surveyed did believe certain actions, which are related to unhealthy relationships, were always wrong," a council spokesperson said.
"However, the findings also show a decrease overall in the number of children who feel that way, and a widening of the gap in views between boys and girls, both of which are obviously concerning."
The authority said "much good work" was already being carried out to support children and families.
"We have a commitment from partners to develop further action to help ensure young people understand what acceptable behaviours are," a spokesperson said.
The survey also revealed what the council described as "immensely positive" findings regarding young people's attitudes to drugs and alcohol.
The number of secondary school pupils who have tried illegal substances has more than halved since 2011, while just eight in 100 say they have tried tobacco.
Director of Public Health Alice Wiseman said: "We'll use what we've learned here to support schools and partners to deliver health and wellbeing education, correct misinformation, and promote more beneficial behaviours."