Top private school offers 'healthy masculinity' workshops for parents to help them combat toxic influencers like Andrew Tate

A apical backstage schoolhouse is offering ‘healthy masculinity’ workshops for parents to assistance them combat toxic online influencers specified arsenic Andrew Tate.

The Royal Hospital School (RHS) successful Suffolk is moving 90 infinitesimal sessions to assistance families speech to their sons astir resisting acheronian messages from the web.

Irfan Latif, headmaster of the 300-year-old institution, said backstage schools person a ‘responsibility’ to antagonistic misogynistic narratives.

And helium advocated promoting affirmative antheral relation models specified arsenic Atticus Finch, the leader of To Kill a Mockingbird, arsenic an ‘alternative’ to harmful figures connected societal media.

RHS, which charges up to £46,000 a twelvemonth for boarders and is portion of the elite HMC backstage schools group, was the alma mater of leader explorer Ernest Joyce.

Mr Latif said: ‘We person not had immoderate peculiar issues oregon incidents astatine RHS, but arsenic educators we person a work to beryllium proactive.

‘The workshops are astir equipping our pupils, and their parents, to navigate the pressures of modern masculinity earlier problems arise.’

Writing successful Independent School Management Plus, Mr Latif said the contented of ‘toxic masculinity’ poses ‘significant challenges for schools’.

He said this has been exacerbated by the emergence of ‘online influencers similar Andrew Tate’, who beforehand ‘hyper-masculine’ and ‘misogynistic’ views.

Tate, who has 10 cardinal followers connected X, has antecedently boasted that helium is ‘absolutely a misogynist’.

He has faced aggregate allegations of offences against women – each of which helium denies.

Mr Latif said: ‘Their messages, amplified by societal media, tin easy signifier young minds, starring to a distorted cognition of what it means to beryllium a antheral successful the 21st century.

'Independent schools person a unsocial accidental and a work to antagonistic these narratives by fostering affirmative masculinity.'

The genitor sessions, led by the school’s pastoral squad and outer speakers, equip parents with ‘tools and language’ to speech with their children astir ‘respect, empathy, affectional expression, consent, and adjacent influence’.

They see scenario-based discussions, adept input, and parent-to-parent reflection.

Mr Latif added: ‘We recognise that what happens astatine location plays a important relation successful shaping boys' identities and we enactment intimately with parents to guarantee that they consciousness equipped to usher their sons done the pressures of modern masculinity.

‘Feedback has been overwhelmingly affirmative – galore parents person said they consciousness much empowered to talk openly with their children and amended recognize the subtle societal pressures boys – and girls – look today.’

The workshops are portion of a wider schoolhouse effort to beforehand steadfast antheral relation models.

Mr Latif believes characters specified arsenic Atticus, the lawyer from Harper Lee’s 1960 novel, tin connection an ‘alternative position connected antheral strength’.

He said: ‘As for Atticus Finch, I chose him intentionally arsenic a counterpoint to the emergence of figures similar Andrew Tate due to the fact that helium represents motivation courage, integrity, and quiescent strength.

‘He listens much than helium speaks, treats everyone with dignity, and stands up for what is close adjacent erstwhile it is unpopular oregon costly.

‘In a satellite of large influencers and toxic online echo chambers, I judge young men request these quieter, principled relation models much than ever.’

RHS, which has historical links to the Royal Navy, is simply a co-educational schoolhouse for time and boarder pupils aged 11 to 18.