Manosphere: The boys we are failing
By Hannah Atkinson, Head Teacher & Founder, Open Air Education
There is a growing conversation happening online; one that many educators and parents are only just beginning to notice. It lives in podcasts, YouTube channels, TikTok clips and forums. It is often referred to as the “manosphere.”
And whether we like it or not, our boys are listening.
The question is not whether they will encounter it.
The question is: why does it appeal to them in the first place?
A vacuum boys are trying to fill
In schools, we have (rightly) spent years addressing inequality, promoting inclusion and challenging harmful stereotypes. But somewhere along the way, many boys have internalised a quieter message:
There isn’t much space for you to talk about what it means to be a man.
So they go looking elsewhere.
The manosphere offers something deceptively simple:
certainty
identity
belonging
and a narrative of strength
For a boy who feels lost, unseen, or disengaged, that can be incredibly powerful.
At Open Air Education, we often talk about how “most schools teach children to fit into the system; we teach them to shape the world.”
But if boys don’t feel they belong in that system to begin with, they will find a different one.
The danger isn’t interest... it’s isolation
It is too easy to dismiss the manosphere as simply toxic. Some of it is. But that framing misses the deeper issue.
The real risk is not that boys are curious about masculinity.
The risk is that they explore it in isolation, without guidance, nuance or challenge.
In that space, complex ideas get reduced to:
dominance over empathy
success over purpose
control over connection
And gradually, a worldview forms.
What boys are really asking for
In my experience as a mother of boys and headteacher, boys are not asking for outdated stereotypes or permission to behave badly.
They are asking:
What does strength look like today?
Where do I fit?
How do I matter?
At Open Air Education, we’ve built a model around the idea that education must go beyond knowledge recall and develop “skills, values and actions… critical to a child’s development.”
Because identity is not taught in a PSHE lesson once a week.
It is shaped every day; in how we learn, interact, fail and grow.
Reframing masculinity in schools
If we want to counter the pull of the manosphere, we need to offer something better; not just something louder.
That means creating environments where boys can:
experience responsibility, not just rules
build competence through real challenge
express emotion without shame
see diverse, grounded models of masculinity
This is why our approach is rooted in:
outdoor learning, where resilience is lived, not lectured
project-based work, where contribution matters
small communities, where every child is known
Because confidence doesn’t come from being told you’re strong.
It comes from doing hard things and discovering that you are.
The role of schools (and all responsible adults, actually)
We cannot outsource this conversation to the internet.
If we don’t talk to boys about identity, someone else will.
If we don’t model healthy masculinity, they will copy what they see.
If we don’t give them purpose, they will adopt someone else’s.
Education must step into that space; not reactively, but intentionally.
At Open Air Education, our mission is to develop young people who are not only academically capable, but “resilient, curious, compassionate… who care about people, the planet and their place in it.”
That includes our boys.
A final thought
The manosphere is not the root problem.
It is a symptom.
A signal that too many boys feel:
disconnected from school
unsure of their identity
and unsupported in navigating what comes next
We don’t solve that by shutting down the conversation.
We solve it by having a better one.
