Suicide is the leading cause of death<\/a> among Australians aged 15 to 24 years, and men are more likely to die by suicide than women.<\/p>\n Isaac Wicklein, a 17-year-old student from Blackburn, Melbourne, has dealt with bullying at past schools. While he now has a great friendship group, this past year has been one of his roughest yet, in large part due to medical issues that have meant time off from school and social isolation.<\/p>\n Seventeen-year-old Isaac Wicklein says negative social media content, bullying and poor physical health leading to time off school are the biggest factors that have affected his mental wellbeing.Credit: Simon Schluter<\/p>\n The aspiring meteorologist, who loves music, sport and science, says: \u201cWhen I first started struggling with mental health and bullying at my school when I was a lot younger, I used to think it was better to just suck it up and it would be stigmatised if I actually did say something because I\u2019d be called a wuss or whatnot.\u201d<\/p>\n Over time, he\u2019s learned that vulnerability can be a strength.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve gained more friendships and opened deeper friendships because I\u2019ve just been completely genuine and vulnerable. It\u2019s definitely been an advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n He thinks schools need to do more to support young students.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that mental health at school is just not talked about enough,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cTeenagers spend so much time at school, I think that\u2019s where they should actually get that information from about who to talk to and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n Talking with, not at, teens<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a culture where showing emotion is risky as a teenage boy,\u201d says Daniel Datnow-Jamieson, head of impact at The Man Cave.<\/p>\n \u201cThat creates a lot of challenges for being able to have courageous conversations and to be able to seek support and help from their peers, from other people around them in their lives. And that means that there are a lot of teenage boys who are going it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 2014, the Melbourne-based charity has worked with more than 100,000 young boys and men through its programs. The biggest lesson they\u2019ve learned, says Datnow-Jamieson, is meeting young people where they are.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s shifting the way we think about this, from being something about getting through to boys, which I\u2019ve heard quite a bit about, to being more about, how can we have a conversation with boys and not about them?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n In workshops, often held in schools, this looks like creating safe, respectful spaces free from judgement while still making room for play.<\/p>\n \u201cBoys are still boys after all, and games and banter are really, really helpful for making the whole experience enjoyable,\u201d says Datnow-Jamieson.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s working. Survey responses found 57 per cent of boys who believed they must act strong reversed their opinion after one workshop with The Man Cave, for example.<\/p>\n Role models<\/p>\n Role models matter, and in the absence of positive leaders, alienated teenage boys and men can turn to influencers like Andrew Tate who promote extreme and potentially harmful messages of masculinity.<\/p>\n Wicklein says he\u2019s aware of such figures, and has seen peers fall prey to their influence, but has \u201cnever been convinced to fall into that hole where there\u2019s a lot of hypermasculinity\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea that men should be the leader of the house and stronger than women \u2026 there are some very extreme thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n He says he looks up to his parents, and online, he likes Jak Piggott, a young Australian influencer who talks about mental health.<\/p>\n Richards cites his dad as a role model in his life, as well as MP Bob Katter.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like his ideas, but I like the way he holds himself. He says what he thinks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Dr Mel Opozda, a health psychologist and research fellow in men\u2019s mental health at Flinders University who co-authored the report, connects this lack of positive role models to shifting gender roles.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung women maybe do know their place a bit better [today], or they\u2019re becoming less reliant on men. For young fellows, this can lead to confusion, which is often where some social media influencers can jump in to say, \u2018well, this is the place that can be for you\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Positive role models \u201ccome down to having range,\u201d says Datnow-Jamieson.<\/p>\n \u201cStoicism and discipline are strengths and as are empathy, authenticity, and help seeking. It\u2019s not about removing traits, it\u2019s actually about adding more tools to the tool belt so that we\u2019re better equipped to navigate an increasingly complex world.\u201d<\/p>\n The messages these role models promote also matter for wellbeing.<\/p>\n Last week, Jesuit Social Services published<\/a> the first Australian study to examine the connection between rigid gender norms and life outcomes among adolescent boys. It found those who are not governed by very limiting ideas about what it means to be masculine are more likely to thrive.<\/p>\n While fathers can play an important role in their son\u2019s lives, they are not the be-all and end-all, says Opozda.<\/p>\n \u201cLots of different people can act as role models\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n Daniel\u00a0Datnow-Jamieson, head of impact at The Man Cave.<\/p>\n Social media<\/p>\n Teenagers and social media is a hot topic right now, with the federal government\u2019s ban for under 16s<\/a> set to come into effect next month.<\/p>\n![\"Seventeen-year-old](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/53635ea95e7cc680a2a9b13db061b6e51a5aca2a.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Daniel\u00a0Datnow-Jamieson,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/7d6ba328b825fd647532cf2f068e5e299f0ad3e9.jpeg\")
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