At least two Adelaide schools have sent information home to parents and guardians explaining how to discuss the controversial online influencer Andrew Tate with their children.
Key points:
- Andrew Tate has been banned from social media platforms for allegedly posting misogynistic content
- Two Adelaide schools have sent home information explaining how to talk about him
- The education minister says schools are free to choose what to send to families
Unley High School emailed an information sheet to carers last Friday, while nearby Black Forest Primary School also sent out similar material.
Tate, a 35-year-old former kickboxer, was banned earlier this month from Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
In a statement Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, said he had violated the company’s policies “on dangerous organisations and individuals”.
The bans have spurred more interest in him, with young men sharing content as part of affiliate marketing schemes.
The flyer on Tate produced by an Instagram page called @the.unteachables was originally distributed to teachers as a guide about talking about him without encouraging it.
“As a school we do not endorse the views of Andrew Tate and do not want to perpetuate these through the school,” Unley High School principal Greg Rolton wrote to students’ families.
“Please find the resources attached that we have put out to all staff to ensure they have tools to respond to such extreme views that may influence impressionable students.”
Among other things, it tells teachers not to “shoosh” discussion but to ask questions from a perspective of “curiosity and non-judgement”.
It also explains what to do if students are targeted by behaviour influenced by Tate.
“Ensure any victim or witness of the comments is safe and knows that those views or behaviours are never acceptable,” it said.
Minister backs school’s communication
Education Minister Blair Boyer said schools had autonomy to send information to parents without needing approval from the Department for Education.
The father-of-three said he was unfamiliar with Tate until recently.
“But that’s probably an example in itself of why it’s important that schools can do this, because I’m not going to be able to have a conversation with my kids around Andrew Tate and what he’s saying if I don’t know [who] he is and I’m sure other parents would fall into the exact same category,” he said.
“So you’ve got to send a letter to make parents aware and let parents have that chat to say ‘are you aware of this bloke, do you know what he is saying, do you know why this messaging is so dangerous and here’s what we can do to make you understand and navigate the pitfalls of social media’.”
He said parents often needed to be informed about trends on social media “so they can have a conversation”.
“I wouldn’t class myself as particularly old, but already I’m probably well and truly out of touch with that’s getting around on platforms like TikTok, so how do our school-aged kids’ parents know what they need to be raising with their children?” he said.
Earlier this month Tate said in a statement to a UK newspaper that his Instagram account was banned because old videos “where I was playing a comedic character” were “taken out of context”.
“I have nothing but positivity to spread regarding all people, whether male or female, and this has been reflected in all of my recent messaging and posts,” Tate said in the statement.
He claimed Instagram ignored his charities supporting women and his videos explaining that his mother was his hero.
The ABC has contacted Andrew Tate for comment.
