YOUTH experts have warned that toxic masculinity is on the rise among young men in Scotland in the wake of harrowing Netflix drama Adolescence.
Support workers say the worrying themes of misogyny and violence in the four-part drama are playing out in real-life as disaffected teenage boys become sucked into the dark world of social media.
Colin MacFarlane, national programme director at YMCA, has studied the topics for nearly a decade.
He told the Record: "There are concerning parallels between Adolescence and real life.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742610876/articles/72ngpdQQp2MYmR14NQsys/4131211331.jpg]
"From our research, and of the youths we spoke to, everyone has heard of toxic masculinity but nobody has heard of positive or healthy masculinity.
"The challenge we face with social media is that there is a lot of harmful content out there yet very little counter-narrative to it.
"Culture is changing in society at such a fast rate because of the online world."
Adolescence is a crime drama co-written and created by This Is England star Stephen Graham.
The series is about 13-year-old Jamie Miller, who is accused of stabbing a female classmate to death.
Jamie - like a growing number of teenage boys - finds himself caught in a web of violence and deceit after turning to the "manosphere" and the grim logic of online misogynists.
The limited series, starring Graham as Jamie's father, also examines so-called Incel culture - ideologies of blame, distrust and hatred towards women - which has been blamed for misogyny online.
Colin says these themes must be tackled in real life by providing disaffected kids safe spaces to go, so they can get offline and learn about empathy, respect and understanding.
He said: "At the moment, young men are seen as the 'big bad'. They are perpetrators of crime but nobody talks about the fact they are also victims of those crimes. They're often young men choosing to disengage with education and society.
"We, as adults, need to understand their world to make change. We need positive masculine role models to step up. There should be investment in youth work to allow places for young males to be guided and mentored.
"If we can promote young men to engage in positive behaviour, there will always be positive outcomes."
The Record's Our Kids... Our Future campaign was launche...
Support workers say the worrying themes of misogyny and violence in the four-part drama are playing out in real-life as disaffected teenage boys become sucked into the dark world of social media.
Colin MacFarlane, national programme director at YMCA, has studied the topics for nearly a decade.
He told the Record: "There are concerning parallels between Adolescence and real life.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742610876/articles/72ngpdQQp2MYmR14NQsys/4131211331.jpg]
"From our research, and of the youths we spoke to, everyone has heard of toxic masculinity but nobody has heard of positive or healthy masculinity.
"The challenge we face with social media is that there is a lot of harmful content out there yet very little counter-narrative to it.
"Culture is changing in society at such a fast rate because of the online world."
Adolescence is a crime drama co-written and created by This Is England star Stephen Graham.
The series is about 13-year-old Jamie Miller, who is accused of stabbing a female classmate to death.
Jamie - like a growing number of teenage boys - finds himself caught in a web of violence and deceit after turning to the "manosphere" and the grim logic of online misogynists.
The limited series, starring Graham as Jamie's father, also examines so-called Incel culture - ideologies of blame, distrust and hatred towards women - which has been blamed for misogyny online.
Colin says these themes must be tackled in real life by providing disaffected kids safe spaces to go, so they can get offline and learn about empathy, respect and understanding.
He said: "At the moment, young men are seen as the 'big bad'. They are perpetrators of crime but nobody talks about the fact they are also victims of those crimes. They're often young men choosing to disengage with education and society.
"We, as adults, need to understand their world to make change. We need positive masculine role models to step up. There should be investment in youth work to allow places for young males to be guided and mentored.
"If we can promote young men to engage in positive behaviour, there will always be positive outcomes."
The Record's Our Kids... Our Future campaign was launche...
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Daily Record (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 22, 2025