The Victorian Government will be rolling out new resources to help teachers seek and stamp out “Andrew Tate-types” in its updated Respectful Relationships strategies in schools.
Earlier this week, Education Minister Ben Carroll shared an update to the Respect Relationship strategy, this time focusing on “Andrew Tate-types” of influencers in hopes of bringing more schools onto the program.
For folks who are not familiar with Andrew Tate, he is a self-proclaimed misogynist who rose to prominence with his podcast. He has since been charged with a laundry list of offences including allegations of human trafficking and rape.
Per The Guardian Australia, about 2,000 government schools and 370 Catholic and independent schools have signed up for the initiative which aims to teach students about gender-based violence. However, according to the publication, the original program did not take into account the surge in popularity of influencers like Tate.
“More and more, we are seeing unhealthy masculinity on the internet and in our classrooms,” Carroll shared.
Deakin University Associate Professor Debbie Ollis — who helped with the update alongside Professor Helen Cahill of the University of Melbourne — revealed to The Age that 20 per cent of students had “crawled down the Andrew Tate rabbit hole” and that there was a clear interlink between influencers like Tate and real-world violence.
“Andrew Tate is a catalyst to explore the issues in a very contemporary way,” Ollis told the publication.
Not only will the update help students counter “Andrew Tate-types”, but the new program will also focus on consent, sextortion, pornography and gender-based bullying.
The education minister added that it was important for young men to have “the right role models” in order to “build positive behaviours”.
“The updated materials ensure students are taught how to navigate contemporary issues and our continued investment will allow for even more non-government schools to teach Respectful Relationships,” Carrol shared.
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