It's been an important few weeks in the debate around the harmful influences that young people face from modern culture - in particular boys and adolescent men - with sport for development set to play a key role in addressing them over the coming years.
The former England men's football team manager Gareth Southgate delivered the 2025 Richard Dimbleby Lecture which was televised by BBC (watch it on iPlayer here). During the lecture, Southgate addressed how negative online influences can fuel toxic masculinity in young men.
This followed Netflix releasing a powerful drama 'Adolescence' which shines a light on the corrosive impact of social media and misogynist influencers on some teenage boys. There have been calls for it to be shown in schools, and Parliament.
STAGGERING
During his lecture, Southgate referred to a report, released earlier this month by the Centre for Social Justice, which said boys and young men were "in crisis", with a "staggering" increase in those not in education, employment or training. Read the report.
"Too many young men are isolated," said Southgate. "Too many feel uncomfortable opening up to friends or family. Many don't have mentors - teachers, coaches, bosses - who understand how best to push them to grow. And so, when they struggle, young men inevitably try to handle whatever situation they find themselves in, alone."
"Young men end up withdrawing, reluctant to talk or express their emotions," he added. "They spend more time online searching for direction and are falling into unhealthy alternatives like gaming, gambling and pornography."
Southgate highlighted the work of sport for development charity Football Beyond Borders (FBB) who he has supported previously, and who work on issues around toxic masculinity.
MASCULINITY
When launching the 'What Makes A Man' project in 2019, the charity's founder Jasper Kain commented: “Our overall mission at FBB is to create a more equal and inclusive society in which young people have the opportunity to develop the skills and attitude to succeed in education, work and public life.
“We believe there is a generation of teenagers who will benefit from having more honest conversations about masculinity, to help realise that genuine power comes from the opportunity to express a range of emotions and listen to the concerns of others."
Watch this film from 2024 when contributors to the project, which was supported by Gillette, reassembled in North London to discuss the film.
At ConnectSport CIC, our aim is to showcase and share important work being done in cities and communities across the UK to address key social and environmental challenges. If you would like us to showcase how your organisation or charity is addressing some of the issues described in this article, please contact hello@connectsport.co.uk
This story supports these goals and missions:
