Creating safe online spaces
The Boys+ Club Project
Find out how Next Gen Men has been creating safe online spaces for boys and masculine-exploring youth in the digital age.
Transcript
[Video opens with a close-up of a person being interviewed]
Jake Stika: The masculine script – you’ve got to be tough, you shouldn’t show emotion, and you shouldn’t ask for help – like, that’s more harmful than it is helpful. And so you get to define your masculinity, don’t let others define it for you.
[Upbeat music. A colourful gradient appears on screen with an animation of a stopwatch. Text on screen: 90 seconds with Jake Stika, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Next Gen Men]
[Close-up of Jake]
Jake: My name is Jake Stika, I use he/him pronouns and I am the Executive Director and co-Founder since 2014.
We are working towards a future where boys and men feel less pain and cause less harm. And the way we are going to achieve that outcome is by changing the way that we see, act, and think about masculinity among youth in communities and at workplaces.
We never want to be wholly apart from the youth. And so one of the things we do now that is direct youth provision is our outdoor education experiences in the summer called the Rights of Passage Expeditions.
We started a Discord server during the pandemic called Next Gen Men Boys Club, that’s evolved to Next Gen Men Boys + Club. And, you know, we’ve been running that online over the last three years and now we are grateful to have WAGE behind us helping us to build a promising practice out of this because how do we give this model and this possibility to Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, other organizations working with youth so that they can also create their own online communities for youth in their spaces because they’re already in relationship with them.
[A colourful gradient appears on screen. Text on screen: Equality in Action]
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In less than three years, over 475,000 messages were sent. They included topics you might expect from boys and masculine-exploring youth who are talking to one another online; things like video games, memes, and homework.
One by one, these messages helped create a healthy online community where young men could show up for one another in a new and unexpected way.
The messages were sent over a Discord serverFootnote 1 facilitated by one dedicated staff member at Next Gen Men with the intention of supporting these Canadian youth in their journey to change the way they see, act, and think about masculinity.
Raising healthy, happy young men
Since 2014, the team at Next Gen Men has been working diligently towards a future where boys and men feel less pain and cause less harm.
“The way that we achieve that outcome is by changing the way we see, act, and think about masculinity among youth in communities and at workplaces,” says Jake Stika, the organization’s Co-Founder and Executive Director.
Jake shares that some of the inspiration behind his desire to evolve his own understanding of masculinity, and help others in doing the same, came after a few years of struggling with his mental health. While dealing with his recovery from his mental health struggles, his best friend and Co-Founder Jermal Alleyne Jones tragically lost his younger brother to suicide at the age of 13.
“Between Jermal’s grief, and my own struggles, the two of us formed a really strong male friendship based on emotional support, listening, and being there for one another,” says Jake.
Men’s mental health matters
In Canada, death by suicide is approximately three times higher among men compared to women and is the leading cause of death among young adults aged 15 to 34Footnote 2 .
Next Gen Men started off with afterschool programming, but their work has progressed to a larger scale.
“We now do professional development and capacity building to support the people who are in relationships with the young men,” says Jake. “So coaches, educators, camp counsellors – giving them the perspective, tools, and skills to connect with youth on the subject matter of gender and masculinity.”
Their work prioritizes approachable learning methods that can be used every day. For example, they have developed two decks of cards with questions designed to help spark conversation that enable boys to be vulnerable. Next Gen Men has also created courses and a professional development program. They will, however, stay close to their roots when engaging with youth.
“We never want to be wholly apart from youth. A lot of people talk about youth but are not with youth. It is a big part of us to stay in connection with them” explained Jake.
Creating safe online spaces for all
In 2020, the shift from in-person to virtual afterschool programming changed the way that Next Gen Men needed to work with youth.
This inspired Next Gen Men’s pivot to providing programming through a Discord server, which has proven to be a significant success over the past three years.
Backed by WAGE funding, Next Gen Men is now able to share their success with other organizations across the country.
“WAGE funding has helped us to build a promising practice,” says Jake. “We are looking at how we give this model and opportunity to other organizations working with youth so they can also create their own online spaces with the youth they are in relationship with.”
Looking ahead
While Next Gen Men has accomplished a tremendous amount in just under 10 years, there is still work to be done when looking at supporting men and boys to end gender-based violence.
“We are working towards generational transformation to prevent that first harm. Ultimately, that means we are not a society fixing broken men, but raising happy, healthy, and connected young men,” shares Jake.