FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The fame of the much-talked-about Netflix series, 'Adolescence', starring Stephen Graham, and featuring a standout performance by 15-year-old Owen Cooper, which raises conversations about the radicalization, violence, and hopelessness of modern teenage boys, has now grown rapidly.
And while it's certainly important that famous men are speaking out about the crisis of teenage boys, what they're actually talking about is something even more painful.
Because this is not a crisis for teenage boys. This is a crisis for adult men. This is a crisis for the fathers of these boys. Those who don't yell and don't cause problems at home are called good fathers, but there are mainly two types of fathers who have caused this teenage crisis:
The first type is the one we all know. He's the classic bad father. He's angry. He's abusive. He's violent. He's unable to talk about his emotions or give helpful advice: a distressed son's confessions of fear will be met with a quick, "Be a man, son."
In the worst and most common scenario, dad is simply not there at all. The Center for Social Justice's "Lost Boys" report released what qualifies as one of the most depressing sentences of 2025: "Boys are now more likely to own a smartphone than to live with their father."
We know this is a bad father. What's even more wrong is to put all the blame on him.
Because the second type of father is much less discussed. He is a "good" father. He is not violent, angry, or abusive. He is there. Just ... not enough.
I know a dad who is very passionate about being a good father. He has started a group with other dads who are committed to being good fathers. This group meets every other Saturday to discuss being a good father – while playing golf all day.
Meanwhile, his exhausted wife is at home parenting their son.
This man is very close to being a good father. The only thing he's not doing is "spending Saturday with his teenage son."
As a father, imagine how much more you have to do to have a greater impact on your son's life than Andrew Tate.
Tate is available to your son 24/7. He posts 20 times a day. He’s naming every complaint and confusion your son has and then offering a solution. He’s telling him that his future is great as long as he just goes to the gym, invests in cryptocurrency, and blames all his problems on greedy women and laziness. All of your son’s friends at school know who Andrew Tate is. They don’t know who you are. And you don’t know who Tate is. But he knows every button your son needs to push, and while you’re at your job, he’s at his. Being a raging cuckoo in your family’s nest.
The main strength of adolescence is that ... there are no "bad dads" in it. Stephen Graham is a loving father. So is the police officer investigating the case, played by Ashley Walters. It's just that neither of them realizes that there's a raging battle over who gets to raise the boys of the 21st century.
"We thought he was safe, in his room," Graham's wife cries, in the final episode. "But he was there, alone - with his computer."
And that's the real crisis. The good fathers who are spending less time with their sons than Andrew Tate. The men who should be knocking on the door - right now - going into that room, finally seeing what and who their sons are spending their evenings with.
They are the only ones who can teach them to question, analyze and, ultimately, rebel against this… theft of our sons./ Adapted Pamphlet, “The Times”
Lini një Përgjigje