How to prevent your son from being sucked into the 'manosphere'

Hit show Adolescence has explored the self-radicalisation of a teenage boy into toxic masculinity

- Abel Ang

The most dangerous place for a teenage boy is to be alone in his bedroom.

This statement has been ringing in my head since the airing of the fictional series Adolescence in March.

As a father who has raised two boys through their teenage years, this is naturally a topic which gravely concerns me.

The Netflix drama, which probes the angst of the family of a young teen boy accused of murder, clocked 24 million views in four days.

Shot using a one-take style, each episode follows the characters in real time as they attempt to get to the bottom of the incident.

In four episodes, the experiences of protagonist Jamie (played by Owen Cooper) of being bullied on social media and his self-radicalisation into toxic masculinity are explored.

Stephen Graham, who co-wrote the drama and starred in it, said he did the show because he felt that parents needed to be mindful of the external influences working insidiously on their children.

His inspiration for the series came from a spate of young boys in Britain stabbing young girls.

It compelled him to explore what could lead them to do such horrible things.

Some of the most shocking lines in the series are about the "manosphere". The concept originated in the early 2000s to describe an online community focusing on masculine issues, gender and politics.

Among the popular topics discussed in the community are how to pick up women and seduce them, masculinity and aggressive anti-feminism.

The sentiment there is that men are discriminated against because of the runaway success of feminism in society today.

The manosphere contains substantial discussion of an "incel" culture, which is a shortening of the words "involuntary celibate", where men complain that they are unable to find romantic or sexual partners to satiate their desire for sex.