Adolescence, Gareth Southgate and Lost Boys: the need for male role models
Adolescence was of course fiction not a documentary. Plenty has been written about it, including quite rightly highlighting some of its glaring misrepresentations. But it certainly responded to and created a mood about the situation of boys and young men in our society. This has been picked up in discussions about the importance of strong, positive male role models, as encapsulated in Gareth Southgate’s Richard Dimbleby Lecture and recent comments from the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson. We indeed have also written about the increasing exclusion of males from the lives of children on this site.
What seems to have been overlooked, is that every child has two parents, providing every boy (and girl) with a potential male role model. With human imperfections, no doubt, like the dad in Adolescence, but certainly better than online influencers.
Inevitably with a lower profile than a Netflix drama, it is the Centre for Social Justice’s Lost Boys report* (which this charity contributed to) which should be given most credibility in this area, based as it is on fact, evidence and robust research. The report highlights the devastating effect of fatherlessness in our society, particularly on crime and boys’ mental health. It does though provide a positive vision for the future where we “stop seeing masculinity as a problem to be solved and start seeing it as a strength to be nurtured. Strength, resilience, responsibility – these are not traits to be suppressed but harnessed for good.” It also states how we need strong fathers, amongst other positive role models, in “a culture that values the unique contributions of men and supports boys to grow into good, responsible adults.” We couldn’t agree more.
So surely it is time for all those who talk about positive male role models to acknowledge the existence of decent male parents? Why not support those agencies, like this charity, seeking development of their role? And combatting the activity, in the Family Courts and elsewhere, of those who, for ideological reasons, have a starting point of treating all dads as a problem.
Why not contribute to this debate by emailing news.team@bothparentsmatter.org.uk?
*Read the Lost Boys report here
