Editorial

Recent events have again pushed questions about boys, masculinity and respect into public conversation. Allegations surrounding Sydney Swans players, alongside the continuing reality that an Australian woman was killed by an intimate partner every 11 days on average in 2024–25, remind us that how boys and men understand women, power and responsibility matters deeply (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2026).

We’ve heard Nationals leader Matt Canavan argue that boys are being lectured about masculinity and pushed toward toxic online spaces as schools have become “anti-boy”, while others point instead to algorithm-driven social media and the manosphere (Armstrong, 2026; Staszewska, 2026).

Our boys deserve more than either disapproval or reassurance. They need help making sense of the competing stories being told to them about what it means to be a man.

Their online world is not neutral. It offers them identities. When they search for fitness, confidence, relationships or belonging they can be quickly shown content that reframes regular frustrations through resentment, dominance and blame (Armstrong, 2026). Recent Monash research found that 70 per cent of surveyed teachers had noticed manosphere ideas influencing student attitudes or behaviour during the previous year (Monash University, 2026).

Being a Truth Discerner is an essential part of formation for our young people, particularly as they navigate competing messages about identity, relationships, strength and success. Simply telling boys not to watch certain influencers will never be enough. We need to equip them to recognise the story underneath the message.

What is this telling me a strong man should look like? Who am I being encouraged to blame when things don’t go my way? Does being confident mean putting someone else down? If I keep listening to this, what kind of person is it shaping me to become?

Truth discernment means learning to test these messages against something deeper.

The Christian story offers a profoundly different understanding of strength. Jesus demonstrates authority without domination, courage without aggression and confidence without diminishing others. He shows compassion without weakness and leadership through service. Where are the people in our community who model Jesus’ vision of strength, and how can we more intentionally hold them up as examples of a different, Christ-like way to live well?

To genuinely value boys is to believe they can become men of courage, integrity, empathy, and responsibility. We need to look for opportunities where they can exercise strength well through challenge, service, leadership, friendship, care for others and by being vulnerable in safe spaces. It also means challenging attitudes that degrade or excuse harm, not because we think poorly of them, but because we think highly enough of them to expect better. It means surrounding them with adults who model that strength, which raises an important question for us as a community: where might we create more opportunities for our boys and girls to connect with positive mentors and role models?

Ultimately, being a Truth Discerner is about more than identifying a bad argument or recognising when something online is misleading. It is about learning to test the stories that shape us against something deeper.

That is one of the great opportunities of Christian education. We can help our young people ask not only, “Is this true?” but also, “Is this good?”, “Is this the kind of person God made me to become?” and “What will this way of thinking change the way I live and treat others?”

For our boys, that means offering a vision of manhood that is not built on status, dominance or resentment, but on courage, humility, responsibility, service and love of neighbour.

If Christian education can help boys recognise the voices competing for their identity, discern which stories are worth trusting, and then have the courage to live differently, we are doing far more than helping them avoid harmful influences. We are helping form young men who know what is true, understand what is good, and are learning to live both out.

Tim Eddy

Year 9 Coordinator, Deputy Head of Secondary & Secondary Teachers

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2026, April 23). Domestic homicide. https://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/responses-and-outcomes/domestic-homicide

Armstrong, C. (2026, September 2). Algorithm opt-in best way to stop big tech serving manosphere content to young men, says advocate. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-02/algorithm-social-media-sexism-manosphere/107104586

Monash University. (2026, August 28). National survey reveals widespread sexism and misogyny in Australian schools. https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/national-survey-reveals-widespread-sexism-and-misogyny-in-australian-schools

Staszewska, E. (2026, September 3). Teachers hit back at Nationals claim about ‘anti-boy’ ideology in schools. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-03/coalition-claims-teachers-push-political-agenda/107113438