How one school is putting in extra measures to tackle the force of Andrew Tate

In the world of influencers, few have stirred as much controversy as Andrew Tate, whose influence has found its way into schools and youth culture across the globe. Tate's outspoken, misogynistic rhetoric, has earned him both a loyal following and widespread condemnation.

While he currently faces charges related to human trafficking, rape, and organised crime in Romania alongside his brother Tristan – both of whom deny any wrongdoing – Tate's online presence continues to loom large.

Speaking to reporters outside their house in Bucharest on 22 March, the brothers said they returned to Romania as "innocent men don't run from anything".

"We've come here to prove our innocence because we deserve our day in court," Andrew added.

Tate first gained attention as a Big Brother contestant in 2016 but was removed just six days later after "information which came to light." Since then, he has reinvented himself as a provocative online personality, amassing over 10 million followers on X/Twitter.

Tate's wealthy, cigar-smoking, Bugatti-driving lifestyle is a magnet for early to mid-adolescent boys hailing him the 'Top G'. His 'articulate', 'charismatic' character makes them feel like he's fighting their corner. When in reality, he's a soon-to-be middle-aged man spewing problematic hot takes warped in a giddy 'comedic' vitriol.

@cobratate/Twitter

Tate's name has been back in the headlines recently, all thanks to the hit Netflix series Adolescence, which has shone a light on modern-day school life and the pressures young people face today.

Ashley Walters, one of the stars of the show, addressed the influence of figures like Tate in a recent interview – comments that clearly struck a nerve with the controversial figure.

"I think one of the great things we can do as men is to set the example that to be vulnerable is OK," Walters told The Female Lead. "We’re talking about influences. We’re talking about the Andrew Tates and whatever influencing young men; we can influence young men just the same."

In response, Tate turned to X:

Worryingly, Andrew Tate has birthed an influx of worshippers more than half his age – an issue too prominent to ignore in schools around the world. In 2023, Indy100 spoke with Stretford High School in Greater Manchester, one of the establishments tackling the force of Tate in the classroom.

"Teenagers are easily seduced by expensive trinkets," Nicola Doward, headteacher at Stretford High School, told Indy100 at the time, adding that they become "vulnerable" to believe everything he says. "He became like a gateway drug for misogyny."

"The more outrageous he became, the more society and the media rewarded him with fame and money – he became a lifestyle icon for teenage boys," Doward added, emphasising that it's not all boys, just a "small number of 'true believers'".

This, hand-in-hand with the cognitive development of teen boys, soon became a heady mix for teachers. Just as the students' minds were ready to expand, along came Tate to taint them.

Sadly, it was young girls at the receiving end of their behavioural shift.

"They have reported that Tate's misogynistic catchphrases are being used against them," Doward explained. "They have also reported that the attitude of some boys has become more confrontational."

Tate's force has gone as far as creating "rifts between many friendship groups that used to exist".

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It's a complex dynamic for schools to address – as Stretford High experienced firsthand.

You have high schoolers impressed by Tate's obscene views who are prepared to go head-to-head with anyone who challenges them. They feel attacked by the backlash against toxic masculinity, igniting their angst and desire to defend their newfound icon.

The school "confronted the issue immediately," with lessons developed for the year 10 group.

"We started off looking at an individual that our students didn't really know and had no feelings about – Jimmy Savile," Doward said, adding: "This was to establish a baseline of how someone can fly under the radar of the media and commit atrocities. At this point, all of the students were shocked by what he did and how he got away with it."

Teachers across the school then introduced Tate, prioritising question-asking over criticism.

Doward explained: "We asked what he had done that could be celebrated or criticised. We asked how he had made his money. We asked what kind of person was signing up for courses at his Hustler's University when those courses were available for free elsewhere on the internet. We asked why he had pointed out that his statements were not representative of his own views but were rather the views of a 'comedic character' that he had created called 'Andrew Tate' (sort of comparing him to the character of Borat, created by Sacha Baron Cohen)."

Teachers also ensured they were asking "deeply uncomfortable questions" – something that the students had not encountered before.

For the most part, students "started to back away from [Tate]" once they worked out "he was saying controversial things for money".

However, teachers did experience a handful of "true believers" making "comical attempts to defend him".

While Andrew Tate could very well disappear from the public eye at some point, "he will just create a vacuum for somebody else to inhabit."

But, if there's one positive from the saturation of Tate, it's that his views have rightfully raised many issues and questions within society.

"We need to address the circumstances that led to a generation of young men becoming vulnerable to falling under the spell of a man like Andrew Tate," Doward said. "Discussions about positive masculinity should definitely be put front and centre. This is not a quick fix. Tate has exploited a situation and monetised it...but he didn't create it."

Tate once claimed he was simply "playing a comedic character."

In a statement at the time, he insisted his remarks were taken out of context and claimed to have donated more than $1 million (£845k) to charities supporting women at the time.

In a video shared to his website in August 2022, Tate said: "I have some responsibility to bear. I still blame myself, because my rise has been so meteoric and I became so famous so quickly."

"My responsibility is that any negative connotations in my videos are removed. The way you say things in a video that gets 500 views is very different from the way you say things in a video that gets 50 million views – the more people you reach, the more important it is that people don’t take things out of context."

"If there was as many people cutting up videos like they did mine and those people had a negative agenda, they could make Mickey Mouse look evil, you could make anyone look bad."

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