Andrew Tate, one of the most controversial internet personalities out there, has captured the attention of middle and high school boys鈥攁nd teachers say his offensive, violent rhetoric has made its way into the classroom this school year.
Tate, a British-American former professional kickboxer, rose to fame in the last couple years through offering his mostly male fans advice on self-improvement. The 36-year-old is also a self-described misogynist, comparing women to dogs, saying women shouldn鈥檛 be allowed to drive, and claiming that men have 鈥渁uthority鈥� over their female partners. He鈥檚 also argued that women should 鈥渂ear some responsibility鈥� for being raped.
And even though he was arrested in Romania in December on charges of rape and human trafficking, his influence might not be waning any time soon. While Tate was banned from TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for hate speech last summer, fan clips of his videos still circulate on those sites, and he was reinstated on Twitter last fall after a five-year ban. Tate is currently in jail, but tweets from his account are still posted regularly.
Experts say preteen boys are particularly susceptible to Tate鈥檚 brand of toxic masculinity. Teachers across the world, including in the United States, have shared on social media that they鈥檝e seen an uptick in male students repeating sexist vitriol in class to get a rise from their classmates and teachers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 concerning鈥攖hese kids pretty much live online,鈥� said Jordan Randolph, a middle school English teacher in Texas. 鈥淭he younger boys, they鈥檙e so impressionable. They鈥檙e definitely at an age where they鈥檙e trying to figure out, what does it mean to be a man? What kind of man will I become? It seems like the whole Andrew Tate thing captures them.鈥�
Sometimes, her students will blurt out joking references to Tate, like his infamous retort, 鈥淲hat color is your Bugatti?,鈥� as a way of bragging about their possessions. But occasionally, the comments feel more pointed. Last semester, one 6th grade boy asked Randolph about Tate. She dismissed the question, saying it wasn鈥檛 appropriate to talk about at school. The next day, he raised his hand in the middle of an unrelated class discussion and asked again what she thought of Tate.
Randolph felt unsettled: 鈥淚t was like he was using the question to upset me鈥攁lmost like it was a weapon,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t honestly did upset me. 鈥� I was like, 鈥榃hy do you keep asking?鈥� He was like, 鈥業 just want to know what you think.鈥欌��
She responded that he was inappropriate and a misogynist, and several of her other students started cheering. 鈥淭hey were sick of hearing about it, too,鈥� Randolph said.
Sarah 鈥淢ili鈥� Milianta-Laffin, a 7th grade teacher in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, learned about Tate from her female students who were disturbed that their boyfriends were watching his videos. Then, she started to notice a disturbing uptick in misogynistic rhetoric that she attributes to Tate鈥檚 influence.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a huge increase in rape jokes that the boys are making,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been teaching for 17 years, and that鈥檚 not really a topic that comes up, especially in a joking matter.鈥�
Milianta-Laffin refers those students to a counselor, who informed their parents. Typically, she said, families are 鈥渕ortified鈥攖hey don鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 their kid,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 lot of them are shocked to learn that this content is out there.鈥�
She doesn鈥檛 think her students are seeking Tate out, but rather, algorithms are introducing his content to them while they scroll TikTok or YouTube. And they don鈥檛 have the social-emotional skills鈥攑articularly following pandemic-related school shutdowns when they weren鈥檛 in physical classrooms鈥攖o recognize how problematic the videos are, Milianta-Laffin said.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 understand the severity of what they鈥檙e saying,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not understanding that one person鈥檚 joke is another person鈥檚 trigger.鈥�
Why is Andrew Tate so appealing to young boys?
Middle school students are 鈥渞eally in the process of figuring out who they are and their place in the world,鈥� said Mairead Moloney, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky who studies online misogyny. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really seductive for someone like Andrew Tate to come along with a worldview that puts you at the very center of the world and, in essence, makes all other groups beholden to you.鈥�
Pasha Dashtgard, the director of research at American University鈥檚 Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), said Tate鈥檚 rhetoric appeals to boys who feel forgotten or left out of the cultural conversation that has embraced and popularized feminism.
鈥淭here are a lot of young boys who are like, 鈥業 don鈥檛 see how I fit into this, and I don鈥檛 understand how feminist concepts apply to me, except as a way of criticizing me or diminishing me,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淭hat gap creates space for grifters and scam artists and people who have bad intentions to insert themselves into the conversation. Andrew Tate is part of a long legacy of shock jocks and people who make their money being offensive.鈥�
Tate runs 鈥淗ustler鈥檚 University,鈥� a series of online courses on how to make money on the internet (through methods like investing in cryptocurrency or setting up e-commerce stores). He charges $49.99 a month. Some of the subscribers claim to be as young as 13.
鈥淭here is cultural cache of being the person who has this secret code to society,鈥� Dashtgard said. 鈥淎ndrew Tate is 鈥� targeting a common human problem: 鈥業鈥檓 a young boy, I鈥檓 nervous around girls. I don鈥檛 know how to talk to women; I鈥檓 insecure.鈥� 鈥� It鈥檚 all done with this idea of, 鈥業f you just give me your money, I鈥檒l teach you how to be 鈥� the perfect man.鈥欌��
Tate draws young boys in with his talk of fancy cars, the money he makes, and his experience as a professional kickboxer. He shares fitness tips and gives motivational advice about working hard and believing in yourself.
They鈥檙e definitely at an age where they鈥檙e trying to figure out, what does it mean to be a man? What kind of man will I become? It seems like the whole Andrew Tate thing captures them.
鈥淗e does say aggressive and offensive things, but a lot of his videos come across as him being amiable, a good guy, funny,鈥� Moloney said. 鈥淭hat makes it more seductive鈥攈e comes across as one of the boys. It鈥檚 very accessible.鈥�
This type of content is sandwiched between misogynistic rants or other hateful comments. But that鈥檚 how radicalization works, Moloney said: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 start with the worst stuff. You draw people in by having these more middle-of-the-road views.鈥�
Falling into Tate鈥檚 rabbit hole is dangerous, she said. Men鈥檚 misogynistic attitudes are linked to the perpetration of physical or sexual violence against women.
But extreme misogyny also harms men, Moloney said. Men who have sexist beliefs tend to have higher rates of substance abuse and depression and are less likely to be able to ask for and receive help, more likely to bully others, and are less likely to form intimate connections with women or men.
What to do when a student brings up Tate in class
If a student repeats a harmful comment from Tate in front of other students, 鈥渢he teacher has a responsibility to the class and to the people who are being targeted by that hate speech and offensive terms and statements, separate from this person who is saying these things,鈥� Dashtgard said.
For instance, teachers could send students who make those comments to the school counselor, he said, but then they also must tell the rest of the class that kind of language isn鈥檛 acceptable.
When talking one-on-one to a student who has espoused Tate鈥檚 views, educators shouldn鈥檛 immediately criticize Tate, the experts said. 鈥淒o not come from a place of judgment or, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e really in trouble鈥欌�攖hat鈥檚 not effective, that shuts down the conversation,鈥� Dashtgard said.
Instead, educators could say: 鈥淗ey, you鈥檙e saying these horrible things about women. What do you think your sister thinks about this? [What about] your mom? How would you feel if someone was saying this about you?鈥� he said.
The Social Institute, an online learning platform that focuses on how students can better navigate social media and technology, is developing a lesson about the impact and power of social media influencers. The lesson will be available to The Social Institute鈥檚 partner schools and districts, which include Greece Central school district in Rochester, N.Y., the Juneau, Alaska, district, and some schools within the Boston public school system.
Laura Tierney, the organization鈥檚 founder and CEO, said the idea for the lesson came from teachers requesting that are relatable instead of 鈥渃ringey.鈥�
鈥淚 think it can be really hard to pass students鈥� cringe test when it comes to these topics like Andrew Tate,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou fail at this test when you talk down to students, when you only assume a common adult perspective on technology: 鈥業t should go away; this person is only bad; there are no good things鈥欌�攋ust being more close-minded. I think you pass it when you are asking open-ended questions to students and getting them talking and sharing.鈥�
Tierney recalled an exercise her athletic coach once did with her: Scroll through your social media feed and name five values that you see. Unsubscribe from or unfollow five people who don鈥檛 align with your personal values.
She said she reminds students to 鈥渃ontrol the controllable.鈥� They鈥檙e not in control of what Tate posts, but they can control who they follow and whether it aligns with their goals and who they want to be.
Students need media literacy
Dashtgard said it鈥檚 far easier and more effective to teach students the skills they need to weed out bad actors on social media before they come across them, rather than de-radicalizing them afterwards.
鈥淛ust like a vaccine, if you give people a dose of propaganda and you explain to them that this person or these people are going to use the following strategies for manipulating you, they鈥檙e much less likely to believe it鈥� when they come across the content organically, Dashtgard said.
Some of the strategies found in online propaganda, including Tate鈥檚 content, are scapegoating marginalized groups, offering simple solutions to complex problems, and cherry-picking facts, he said.
Moloney, of the University of Kentucky, also called for schools to teach more explicitly about gender equality in the earliest grades. Children need to know that women are capable of being leaders, and men are capable of being caretakers, she said.
鈥淣obody wins in this current system where we teach children from the youngest ages that there is a gender that is superior, and there is a gender that is inferior,鈥� Moloney said. 鈥淜ids get the message, and when someone like Tate comes around,鈥� they believe him.
After all, while Tate might end up serving a lengthy prison sentence, he鈥檚 just a symptom of a larger problem, the experts said. There will be another Tate-like influencer who comes around soon enough.
鈥淓ducators have to find solutions to not keep playing whack-a-mole when it comes to this topic,鈥� Tierney said. 鈥淭here is always going to be some negative influencer in the news that students will be following and talking about.鈥�
