Craig Foster AM recently spoke to a group of 350 primary school principals from NSW public schools about the dangerous influences currently impacting Australian boys, especially on social media.
He shared the experience on LinkedIn on Monday, noting the fact violence against women in Australia is already requiring national strategies – but things could get even more challenging, given the rise in violence in schools.
Indeed, schools in NSW have experienced a record level of assaults in the past two years, with new crime statistics reported over the weekend sharing there were almost 2300 assaults on school premises from July 2023 to June 2024, just falling short of the record set in the previous year, at 2460 assaults.
This surge in the state came after the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, but the number of reports has “remained high over two years” according to Jackie Fitzgerald from NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics.
There has been a spike in sexual offences, with 799 such offences reported in the past year, as well as intimidation, stalking and harassment.
Meanwhile, the NSW Education Department published a separate report last week outlining thousands of incidents that have occurred in public schools, including reported assaults that had been filmed and shared on social media.
Last year, researchers interviewed 30 female teachers across Australia and outlined an alarming trend of sexual harassment and misogynistic language and behaviour being used by boys in schools . The Monash University study said that the anti-feminist “manfluencer” Andrew Tate was having an influence, with teachers reporting seeing images of Tate on computer desktop backgrounds, and students using common body language and gestures made by Tate.
The above is troubling enough.
But back to Foster’s experience. He noted he was speaking with the principals of primary schools, meaning the issues they are experiencing involve kids mostly younger than 13.
He said these principals spoke about boys moving in “packs”, objectifying women, and using physical violence inspired by “man-fluencers” on social media.
He also discussed the issue of “reverse racism”, where white young men are turning to harmful ideologies, having been told that immigration and multiculturalism are an attack on them.
“It’s ridiculous but very, very dangerous,” Foster said.
Foster noted the backlash against policies for talking about gendered violence that is occurring on social media, especially among boys and men who see this as an “imposition” on them and an issue that, in addressing and even speaking about, they can only lose from.
We want to believe that much of this social media messaging comes from one key culprit, Andrew Tate. The first individual we name when discussing “manfluencers”, toxic masculinity and misogyny shared online.
But thinking it’s limited to the first name that comes to mind ignores the wider extent of the problem.
Tate is also one of the easier ones to dismiss. The household name is in and out of court, and seemingly frequently having his home raided by Romanian police as he faces trial for human trafficking charges.
But like anything “on trend”, kids will look beyond the obvious ideas and names they hear in the news and that their parents and teachers are speaking about, before moving on to the next thing.
For every Tate we can name, there are many more behind him. They may have familiar accents and locations, and tap into issues on the current national agenda with their own specific take on the matter — don’t that positions men as the victims.
These are talented communicators who can present themselves as having the simple answers to some of the challenges young people are facing, including loneliness, bullying and trying to figure out their identity and place in the world – challenges we know are amplified during periods of uncertainty, which is especially present when kids are coming of age.
We’d be wise to consider what’s driving an interest in these influencers, rather than merely dismissing the most obvious influencer names that come to mind.
There are the tech platforms themselves to consider, profiting from the attention these influencers bring, even when they ban these influencers.
There are the more “legitimised” influencers who are also sharing their contributions — often with much louder microphones on mainstream media — including the richest man in the world, a former US president, and plenty of other prominent businessmen and elected officials, including in Australia.
Then there are the issues affecting boys and young men at a difficult time in their lives — and those who seek to take advantage of it, telling them that the loneliness, angst and lack of connection they may feel is a result of women and minority groups getting more power and opportunity.
And there are the ongoing consequences of the pandemic and lockdowns, which marked a shift in rates of school refusal, technology use and addiction to the dopa available on devices – not just on social media, but also through online gaming, online gambling and waiting for the next instant message to come through.
Australia is not alone in boys and young men being attracted to ‘influencers’ spreading misogynistic rhetoric.
Australia is also not alone in the fact that Generation Z (those born after 1996) is suffering from higher rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm than those generations ahead of them.
One manifestation of these issues is an increase in violence in schools, which could further escalate into an increase in violence generally, including violence against women and girls.
Another manifestation is a reshaping in political power, growing gender divides in voting intentions, and the rise of more extreme political forces, especially far-right parties.
We witnessed this in Europe over the weekend, where the far-right, anti-immigration and Russia-friendly Eurosceptic Freedom party finished first in the Austrian election, with a massive 29 per cent of the vote. Far-right parties have also secured varying wins in Germany, Slovakia, the Netherlands and France in recent months.
In Europe, there is evidence that the most significant growth in support for far-right parties isn’t coming from boomers; it’s actually coming from Generation Z – the youngest group of voters aged 18 to 26.
There’s much that Australia’s own politicians can learn from in recent elections in Europe, the US experience, and the trends that we’re seeing around violence in schools.
They could, for one and urgently, consider what more could be done to address the underlying reasons why boys are increasingly seeking out extremist views. What can be done to better support them? What’s pushing them to the fringes? What is the appeal of certain ‘man-fluencers’?
What matters is how our politicians choose to use what they learn from recent trends in violence, populism and elections. Is it an opportunity to address some of the reasons behind the growing rates of depression, anxiety and loneliness of young people, especially boys and young men, or is it an opportunity to generate a populist, collective rage?