A new resource has been created to provide guidance for schools, teachers and parents to help tackle the effects of online ‘masculinity’ influencers on young people.
The guide aims to respond to the call from teachers and parents who need a way to respond to the noise around what influencers like Andrew Tate are saying online.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Dublin City University School of Psychology Assistant Professor and creator of the guide Dr Darragh McCashin said that alongside his colleagues, he created the guide to address the impact that toxic masculinity influencers is having in the classroom and the home.
“It's a three part guide, and I suppose the first part really looks at the overall context,” he said.
“It's not just the digital ecosystem in which this is occurring but it's also mirroring different effects that we're seeing in society more generally, particularly in the recent Women's Aid report about regressive ideas of overall masculinity in Irish society.
“Part two looked at the implications that it has in the classroom, so where are we seeing this? How is it impacting ideas?
“Part three looked at specific strategies and best practice guidelines as to how you would facilitate the conversation.”
"Facilitate conversations"
Dr McCashin said the “core message” that the report directs to parents and teachers is that it is important to address the issue.
“It is important to address it, to actually name the influencer in question, in this case, it's Andrew Tate, and to specifically facilitate conversations around some of those ideas,” he said.
“Because the opposite, the silence and the vacuum is the very vacuum that Tate is filling with really problematic noise.
“So the first message is that we do need to name it and we do need to try and facilitate conversations around some of those ideas whilst not trying to finger wag our correct views, which is very hard thing to do, and it's often quite challenging work.”
No finger wagging
Dr McCashin said the importance of not judging or finger wagging has to be emphasised.
“This area is often associated with backlash, with often kind of combative attitudes, whereas if you do the opposite, which is having open questions and gently facilitating group work like that and allowing students themselves to question each other and some of the kind of crazy ideas that emerge from the likes of that red pill ideology can be called out and ridicule at some point may come into it, but we have to be careful not to, not to be combative in our approach,” he said.
“The most important principle [is] to meet people where they're at rather as opposed to where we would like them to be.”
"Nothing new"
Dr McCashin said despite the seemingly new phenomenon of Andrew Tate, there is actually “nothing new” about him.
“What is particularly unique is how he's really gotten so much popularity, particularly with the pre-teen male audience,” he said.
“That appeal does speak to the many vulnerabilities that particularly boys have.”
"Glorified pyramid scheme"
The rise of Andrew Tate’s ideology is a mix of “red pill ideology” such as conspiracy theories and vulnerability, Dr McCashin said.
“There's an inconvenient truth that Tate is somehow unveiling to his audience,” he said.
“But let's be clear, it's a glorified pyramid scheme with kind of a pseudo hustle culture that's selling something that isn't really real.
“Mix that in with your kind of Instagram-type symbolism of wealth and lifestyle and that does appeal to particularly young boys.”
“Changing society”
Dr McCashin said this is all happening in the context of a “changing society”.
“The role of men is different, the idea of what the ideal man and what the ideal role model should be isn't really being answered for boys,” he said.
Dr McCashin said that the “biggest tragedy” is that boys looking for mental health self-help are being fed Tate’s content - which is a huge issue according to the psychologist.
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