By Mark Brooks, Director of Policy and Communications, Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys

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It might not seem possible, but this week marks the first anniversary of Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne’s hard-hitting drama, Adolescence, exploding onto our television screens and taking the world by storm. In the tidal wave of commentary and the deluge of awards for this gripping watch, fantastically imagined and conceived, it was easy to forget that it was a Netflix drama… not a documentary.

Because many people did react as though it was true - with even the Prime Minister calling for it to be shown for free in the nation’s schools. Asa commentary published by our brother organisation the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM) reported at the time of Adolescence’s release The specific crime committed - a boy inspired by incel ideology killing a girl- is essentially unheard of. Just one in 20knife crime victims in England and Wales are under 15. Knife crime is largely an issue for adult men; only 10% of victims are women. The report further said: “Incel violence is also extremely rare. Approximately 59 people worldwide have been killed in ideologically motivated spree killings by incels. By contrast Boko Haram which has a similar sized membership has killed 350,000 since 2002 incels seem to be a very low-risk group (when it comes to radicalisation).”’ It’s worth noting that only 18.5% of perpetrators in the UK are teenagers.

Perhaps the biggest issue facing teenage boys in Britain today is that everybody has an opinion about them, but hardly anybody actually listens to them. A survey carried out by Peter Hyman for the independent educational think tank Demos last year, asked 700 sixteen year olds for their views on the world, and they were very revealing.

On the subject of the struggles facing girls and boys, it says, “Young people recognise that both men and women are facing real, but different pressures. Girls grow up navigating misogyny. Being likeable but not weak, ambitious but not aggressive. Boys are often unsure of what it means to be a man in 2025. Be tough, but not aggressive. Be vulnerable, but not weak. Be kind but assert yourself. Young men find it a minefield.” The clear message from the evidence when boys are actually asked what they think, is that misogyny is not the norm. Indeed, one of the report’s key findings is, “Andrew Tate does not have a hold on young people. There are a range of influencers, many of whom provide guidance for self-improvement.”

In fact, research conducted by King’s College London (KCL) found that only 20% of young men (and 7%of young women) had a favourable view of Tate but an overwhelming 61% had a negative view. It also found that21% of young men think women have a better life than men but 32% think women have worse lives. Surveys conducted by YouGov were even more clear, finding only 13% of young men with a favourable view of Tate, with 71% unfavourable. Compare that to positive approval ratings for Sir Gareth Southgate 37%, Prince William 40% and Lewis Hamilton 45%

Watching Adolescence as anything other than a really powerful drama has the effect of catastrophising perceptions of teenage boys and their attitudes. This is not helpful; even less so if we are naive enough to think that teenage boys are not seeing and hearing what society thinks of them. Hardly inspiring to know everyone thinks you are a problem. If we want to improve the lot of boys and young men as people within society, the evidence suggests we need more concentration on nuts-and-bolts issues – getting them educated, providing them with opportunities and the possibility of worthwhile and rewarding careers, and less on the clearly warped perception that they’re all angry incels. In other words, the problem is the world that young men and boys live in, its unemployment, its societal dysfunction, its lack of community ambition and aspiration, it’s the lack of positive role models. Young men and boys themselves are not the problem.

So, what are British men doing up there in their bedrooms in front of their computer screens if they’re not plotting violence against young girls? Research from gender equality group, Equimondo, suggests they’re going online for a range of reasons. “43% of men surveyed said they felt able to be themselves without judgement online, compared with 36% of women,” it found. “Men are also more likely to use the internet to feel heard, understood, and connected. The relative anonymity of online spaces may provide a safer arena for vulnerability, compensating for what may be missing in men’s offline relationships.” The KCL research also found that 38% of young men feel society should value them more. Possibly one of the saddest statistics of the lot.

And when it comes to the online world there are problems around perception and risk. Late last year, Ofcom produced new, much needed and welcome guidance for tech companies on tackling online harms affecting women and girls. However, nothing has been forthcoming about confronting the specific harms that affect men and boys.

Despite frequent requests Ofcom has perversely refused to consider parallel guidance for tech companies on tackling online harms affecting males. The organisation is mandated in the Online Safety Act 2024 that guidance for women and girls needed to be produced, but nowhere in this legislation does it forbid it from doing so for men and boys too.

Some online harms affect both genders in similar ways, but evidence shows others are different or have a different perspective or are even just unrecognised (for example, cyber-stalking). This is why we need complementary guidance that takes into account men and boys‘ specific online experiences.

What Adolescence has done in the real world is to inspire a positive reaction – a backlash even. A lot of commentary from people like Dr Sophie King-Hill at Birmingham University, Dr Anna Machin at Oxford and Sonia Shaljean at Lads Need Dads is beginning to refocus minds on the problems men and boys have rather than ones they cause(and even then, it is some, not all). Tolerance for unhelpful tropes like the redundant and loaded phrase, “toxic masculinity,” is wearing thin. And again, the Prime Minister seems to have moved from his earlier position stating, “We see you, we hear you, we believe in you. We are on your side,” when announcing the forthcoming summit on Men and Boys. A huge and positive leap forward - rather than the more traditional problematising narrative.

Let’s be fair; Adolescence is a powerful work of art. It should continue to win awards. However, it is not the basis for developing the public policy responses our boys need. It is, after all, a drama not a documentary.

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