RAISE MINDS. BUILD BRAINS
RAISE MINDS. BUILD BRAINS. Original link here.
What Netflix’s Adolescence Reveals — and Why Schools Must Return to Human-Centred Education
In the age of digital overwhelm, young people aren’t just learning—they’re absorbing. Values, attitudes, behaviours—all shaped in milliseconds through YouTube algorithms and TikTok feeds. The Netflix documentary Adolescence is a sobering reminder of how much our kids are navigating, emotionally and socially, before they even step into a classroom.
We cannot ignore it. And we shouldn’t expect schools to fix it with business-as-usual.
Winton. Minchin. And a Call for More Courage
Two of Australia’s most powerful cultural voices—Tim Winton and Tim Minchin—have long sounded the alarm.
Winton wrote, “Toxic masculinity isn’t a sideshow. It’s the main event.” In his novels and essays, he shares how boys are shackled to harmful ideas of toughness, silence, and dominance, often with devastating consequences for everyone—especially themselves The Guardian.
Minchin, in his now-famous National Press Club address, urged us to stop seeing the world through binary lenses. He challenged educators, artists and leaders alike to embrace complexity and nuance over outrage and tribalism Watch here.
Together, they point to the same truth: we need to raise more emotionally literate, critically-thinking humans—not just high-performing students.
Back to the Basics: Education That Sees the Whole Human
We’ve been here before. Educational pioneers like Carl Rogers, Nel Noddings, and Carol Gilligan built frameworks decades ago to help us see students not just as learners—but as people.
“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn… and change.” — Carl Rogers
Human-centred education starts with empathy, not outcomes. It values relationships, not ranking. And it understands that when students feel safe, seen, and supported—they thrive.
The 5 Biggest Problems Schools Are Facing Today
Harmful Gender Norms Boys expected to be stoic. Girls expected to stay "nice". The manosphere is somewhere there on our radar and in our consciousness but to many adults - most of us - it is invisible.
Media Overload, Critical Thinking Undervalued Young people learn more from influencers than from curriculum—and their developing brains lack experience, grey matter and tools to assess what’s real.
Burnt-Out Educators, One-size-fits-most Toolkit Teachers are stretched thin. Most aren’t trained to handle what students are bringing into the room. It's a perfect storm.
Cultural Blind Spots in School Systems Rewarding certain leadership styles, management of student "groups" and communication patterns coupled with legacy strategies that once delivered success and the current overwhelm are leaving them searching.
No Space for Emotional Exploration Students are anxious, confused, uncertain, angry, isolated. Schools often lack safe channels for processing any of it. A one-off incursion is a tick box not a solution.
5 Real Solutions Rooted in Gender Intelligence
Adopt a Gender Intelligence Framework Understand both male and female perspectives in teaching, leadership and student engagement.
Build Media and Gender Literacy into Learning Teach students to decode gender in what they consume. Build thinkers, not followers.
Equip Educators with Emotional Fluency Integrate Carl Rogers and Nel Noddings into professional development—human-first, not system-first.
Evaluate School Culture through a Gender Lens Audit leadership, discipline, communication and curriculum for unconscious bias.
Normalise Difference. Celebrate Complexity. Create a school culture that doesn’t punish difference but embraces it.
Education isn’t broken—but it is distracted.
We don’t need another policy. We need perspective. As Tim Winton reminds us: if we want boys—and girls—to grow beyond the systems that harm them, we must model something better.
BB.CO’s Gender Intelligence for Schools program brings this human lens into the culture, leadership and strategy of schools. Because when we get the foundation right, everything else can grow.
Want to explore how your school could lead this change? Visit bridesonbennett.co or get in touch with our team.
Let’s bring empathy, perspective and intelligence back to the heart of education.