They want federal and state governments to fund programs like theirs in every classroom, from years six to 12, in Australia, to combat the growing men’s mental health crisis.

Around one in seven children and adolescents had a mental illness in the past year, according to a 2025 report by the Australian Institute of Health and Wellness. Poor mental health is also more prevalent today compared to previous generations, particularly among young adults aged 16 to 24.

Suicide is the leading cause of death among Australians aged 15 to 24 years, and men are more likely to die by suicide than women.

Isaac Wicklein, a 17-year-old student from Blackburn, Melbourne, has dealt with bullying at past schools. While he now has a great friendship group, this past year has been one of his roughest yet, in large part due to medical issues that have meant time off from school and social isolation.

The aspiring meteorologist, who loves music, sport and science, says: “When I first started struggling with mental health and bullying at my school when I was a lot younger, I used to think it was better to just suck it up and it would be stigmatised if I actually did say something because I’d be called a wuss or whatnot.”

Over time, he’s learned that vulnerability can be a strength.

“I’ve gained more friendships and opened deeper friendships because I’ve just been completely genuine and vulnerable. It’s definitely been an advantage.”

He thinks schools need to do more to support young students.

“I think that mental health at school is just not talked about enough,” he says.

“Teenagers spend so much time at school, I think that’s where they should actually get that information from about who to talk to and so forth.”

Talking with, not at, teens

“We’ve got a culture where showing emotion is risky as a teenage boy,” says Daniel Datnow-Jamieson, head of impact at The Man Cave.

“That creates a lot of challenges for being able to have courageous conversations and to be able to seek support and help from their peers, from other people around them in their lives. And that means that there are a lot of teenage boys who are going it alone.”

Since 2014, the Melbourne-based charity has worked with more than 100,000 young boys and men through its programs. The biggest lesson they’ve learned, says Datnow-Jamieson, is meeting young people where they are.

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“It’s shifting the way we think about this, from being something about getting through to boys, which I’ve heard quite a bit about, to being more about, how can we have a conversation with boys and not about them?” he says.

In workshops, often held in schools, this looks like creating safe, respectful spaces free from judgement while still making room for play.

“Boys are still boys after all, and games and banter are really, really helpful for making the whole experience enjoyable,” says Datnow-Jamieson.

And it’s working. Survey responses found 57 per cent of boys who believed they must act strong reversed their opinion after one workshop with The Man Cave, for example.

Role models

Role models matter, and in the absence of positive leaders, alienated teenage boys and men can turn to influencers like Andrew Tate who promote extreme and potentially harmful messages of masculinity.

Wicklein says he’s aware of such figures, and has seen peers fall prey to their influence, but has “never been convinced to fall into that hole where there’s a lot of hypermasculinity”.

“The idea that men should be the leader of the house and stronger than women … there are some very extreme thoughts.”

He says he looks up to his parents, and online, he likes Jak Piggott, a young Australian influencer who talks about mental health.

Richards cites his dad as a role model in his life, as well as MP Bob Katter.

“I don’t like his ideas, but I like the way he holds himself. He says what he thinks,” he says.

Dr Mel Opozda, a health psychologist and research fellow in men’s mental health at Flinders University who co-authored the report, connects this lack of positive role models to shifting gender roles.

“Young women maybe do know their place a bit better [today], or they’re becoming less reliant on men. For young fellows, this can lead to confusion, which is often where some social media influencers can jump in to say, ‘well, this is the place that can be for you’.”

Positive role models “come down to having range,” says Datnow-Jamieson.

“Stoicism and discipline are strengths and as are empathy, authenticity, and help seeking. It’s not about removing traits, it’s actually about adding more tools to the tool belt so that we’re better equipped to navigate an increasingly complex world.”

The messages these role models promote also matter for wellbeing.

Last week, Jesuit Social Services published the first Australian study to examine the connection between rigid gender norms and life outcomes among adolescent boys. It found those who are not governed by very limiting ideas about what it means to be masculine are more likely to thrive.

While fathers can play an important role in their son’s lives, they are not the be-all and end-all, says Opozda.

“Lots of different people can act as role models”, she says.

Social media

Teenagers and social media is a hot topic right now, with the federal government’s ban for under 16s set to come into effect next month.

While Richards, 14, thinks the ban will encourage in-person connection, he also points to the double standard in government policies for young people, like the Victorian government’s youth justice reforms to try children as adults.

“If someone under 16 cannot vote, cannot drink, cannot drive, and under this new proposal, cannot use social media, they shouldn’t be put in jail,” he says.

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Living in a regional area, where social media can be a lifeline, he also worries the ban might increase isolation.

At 17, Wicklein won’t be directly affected by the ban, but has seen the impact of more extreme online content at his co-ed school.

“There is always a bit of argy-bargy between the boys and the girls, and there’s a bit of animosity towards each other, mainly because of the differences that people have between women and men. I think that has actually been heightened by more toxic masculinity influencers being on social media.”

Opozda and Datnow-Jamieson say young people are savvy consumers of social media.

Opozda “sees both sides” of the ban argument, but is concerned what it might mean for connecting young people with peers and diverse role models.

“I also worry, especially about young people who don’t have access to people who are like them … I’m thinking of people with chronic health conditions or a mental health condition, or LGBTQIA young fellas who live in the country [for example].”

“They’re not dumb. They’re not passive consumers,” says Opozda, explaining young men can distinguish between what’s real and what is extreme online content.

More teenage boys agreed than disagreed that social media is harmful for people their age, says Datnow-Jamieson of The Man Cave’s research.

“Most of them were neutral, but teenage boys are asking us to hold social media companies to account to actually make their algorithms less harmful. And because social media is supplementing a loss of in-person connection and community, we’ve got to make sure we invest in efforts to strengthen face-to-face connection and community to mitigate the harms of removing social media.”

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