We need to talk to boys about the manosphere #shorts #tedx
Schools are reporting concerning behaviors from boys influenced by new forms of messaging, likely from the manosphere. The speaker argues that both ignoring the problem and harsh punishment are ineffective approaches.
Summary
The speaker discusses how schools are contacting them with serious concerns about boys' behaviors and attitudes toward peers, girls, and female staff members, attributed to new forms of targeted messaging. They identify two common but ineffective responses: ignoring the problem hoping it disappears, or coming down harshly on any problematic statements. The speaker emphasizes that harsh responses don't work, particularly with teenagers who are naturally developing their identities by differentiating from authority figures and exploring forbidden ideas. They advocate for a compassionate, inquisitive approach that allows young people to explore ideas through guided conversation, acknowledging that teens naturally make mistakes but also frequently change their minds. The core solution proposed involves having meaningful conversations where youth can explore thoughts to logical conclusions while being guided toward better understanding.
Key Insights
- Schools are contacting the speaker with real concerns about boys displaying problematic attitudes towards peers, girls, and female staff members due to new forms of targeted messaging
- There are two common but ineffective responses to this problem: sweeping it under the carpet or coming down harshly on anything deemed harmful
- Teenagers naturally want to be contrarian, think forbidden thoughts, and explore hidden topics as part of differentiating from parents and caregivers during identity development
- Young people naturally make mistakes as part of being young, but one of their great qualities is that they change their minds frequently
- The solution involves compassionate, inquisitive conversations that allow young people to explore ideas and follow thoughts to logical conclusions
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] But I think kids are really receiving this new form of messaging that's been packaged in a in a very specific way. And schools are contacting us with like real concerns about the behaviors of their boys. The the attitudes that boys are displaying towards their peers, um towards girls, towards female members of staff. I think there's either one of two directions that people move in, which is the first one is to like sweep it under the carpet, ignore it, pretend it doesn't exist, hopefully it will go away. And the second one is to come down like a ton of bricks um on anything that [0:30] anybody says that you think is harmful or problematic, which…
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