BBC News, South East
Getty ImagesBoys need better role models to avoid a “ticking timebomb” created by toxic online influencers, the head of a new taskforce has said.
Brighton & Hove Albion FC’s chief executive Paul Barber launched the Lost Boys Task Force on Thursday for young men at risk of disconnection from society.
It was set up amid growing concerns that, without reliable role models, a generation of boys are becoming increasingly vulnerable to dangerous ideas online, issues highlighted in Netflix’s drama Adolescence.
Mr Barber said he wanted young men to be given access to a trusted adult outside of their family who can help support their development.
“I know from my own experience how crucial having a reliable mentor when you’re young can be,” he said.
Following the separation of his parents in 1980, Mr Barber said he went into a “spiral” and a period of “playing truant” and “feeling lost in the world.”
Despite having a supportive mother, he said having a teacher and football coach to turn to helped him in difficult times.
“At a time when toxic influencers like Andrew Tate are filling the void for so many boys, it’s clear that too many young men feel isolated and directionless,” he added.
‘Crisis across many fronts’
The taskforce takes its name from The Lost Boys Project, which saw the Centre for Social Justice travel across Britain to discover what was happening with boys and young men.
Its report, Lost Boys – State of the Nation, found that this group are in crisis across many fronts.
It includes that boys are now more likely to own a smartphone than to live with their dad.
According to the Youth Endowment Fund, as of last year, 630,894 young people aged 12 to 16 in England did not have access to a trusted adult.
The taskforce is calling for a Trusted Adult Guarantee, with government-funded training provided for 10,000 trusted adults in education and sport settings, alongside a national system to track the number of young people who have such adults.
‘I became a lot more aggressive’
Yassin, an 18-year-old from South London with Algerian-Bolivian heritage, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that his mentor from Football Beyond Borders – an education and social inclusion charity harnessing football to change young people’s lives – came into his life when he was robbed at knifepoint aged 13.
“I became a lot more aggressive, starting to get into a lot more trouble, was very defensive, didn’t want to do work at school and was very avoidant,” Yassin said.
He said his mentor took on the role of his “emotionally absent” father.
“I heard football and thought, ‘yeah, I’m in there straight away,’ but it’s actually about connections and building relationships with that trusted adult,” Yassin added.
Barry Fletcher, chief executive of the Youth Futures Foundation, which aims to help marginalised young people into secure and fulfilling work, has welcomed the taskforce’s appeal.
He said: “Trusted adult relationships are a core part of the programmes we fund to generate evidence of what works to support marginalised young people into employment.”
