Friday Feature: Growing Up Male in the Digital Age [Importance of Mentors]
This is Part 4 of a 4-article series about the question“What are some of the formative experiences that punctuate the journey of growing up as an adolescent boy with access to tech devices?”
Read the first 2 parts - where we cover formative experiences like problematic gaming and first introductions to sexual images - at the links below:
Part 4: The Power of Mentorship (this article)
What the Research Shows About the Importance of Good Mentors for Teen Boys
While girls' empowerment is frequently discussed, boys often face unique, overlooked challenges in social-emotional development. (1)
Positive role modeling helps boys navigate their identity with a stronger sense of purpose and a more balanced understanding of what it means to be a man. (1)
Studies find that long-term mentoring provides a unique environment where boys feel safe to express emotions and vulnerability. (2)
Older male mentors serve as role models for a more expansive version of manhood. By being emotionally expressive and supportive, mentors show boys that being a man does not have to mean being disconnected from one's own emotions, which leads to better psychological health. (2)
Mentoring relationships have been shown to help boys manage difficult emotions, particularly anger, more effectively. Having a stable, older male figure to talk to allowed boys to process their feelings through conversation rather than acting them out. (2)
Sources:(1) Egwurugwu, N. A. (2025). Empowering teenage boys through self-esteem development: Strategies for visibility, voice, and confidence. International Journal of Innovation Research and Advanced Studies, 9(2), 193-198. https://doi.org/10.70382/hijiras.v09i2.052(2) Pryce, J., & Keller, T. E. (2007). “I just feel safe with him”: Emotional closeness in male youth mentoring relationships. Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver. https://www.bigbrothersvancouver.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/1-I-just-feel-safe-with-him-2007.pdfFor me, it's incredibly important who I surround myself with. I don't have many friends, but the ones I do have are very good people. I think it's important, first of all, to have that, 'cause they will influence you a lot.
-Ridian (👇 full interview below👇)
Interviews with Gen Z Males on Mentorship
You mentioned how important it is to have a good mentor when you were a teen and navigating those stages of your life, including with developing healthy habits with tech and not over-gaming or spending too much time online. Can you talk more about this?
[Ridian, 23-years-old] I guess I'm very lucky to have had one really good role model who I think of as my older brother [who was my martial arts teacher]. I've also had multiple [close] friends [to learn from]. I just got really lucky with mentors, they set a pretty good example. Especially me in school, I am oil and water. I did not fit. So, I was very lucky to find [my mentor].
How did you find him?
I'm dyslexic, so I'd see an orthophonist [when I was little in Paris], and we would do different exercises, and he was the instructor for one of these exercises. Then he became a mentor figure. It was funny because, this is in Paris, where we met him - Mum, just being weird, straight out the blue said, “Oh, you should come to Thailand [with us].” And he agreed to stay with us for three months, and every single day, he taught me physical exercise and fitness, and ever since then, he's really changed my life for the better.
How did you find other role models - was it also through your interests?
Yes, [their positive influence has been] massive. Like Liam [who is] one of my good friends and coach. I'm big into fighting [and hope to do it as a career], and we met at a market in Ireland, and he said that he does Brazilian jujitsu, and he would be glad to teach us. [He was] the first male figure [I met] who really fights for [men’s] mental health and wellbeing. I didn't really know about it until him, then he kind of [shone] a light on it, because [men’s mental health] is something that's quite bad. For me, it's incredibly important who I surround myself with. I don't have many friends, but the ones I do have are very good people. I think it's important, first of all, to have that, 'cause they will influence you a lot in that sense. [And then to manage negative emotions] was fitness, for me. A lot of self hatred, or frustration, was [channeled] into fitness.
