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Topics: Parenting, Adolescence, Netflix, Life, Film and TV, UK News
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Parenting, Adolescence, Netflix, Life, Film and TV, UK News
A mom claims her son was 'red-pilled' like in Netflix's Adolescence when Andrew Tate videos convinced him 'women are gold diggers'.
Rachel Parker noticed son, Spencer Parker, repeating misogynistic things he'd heard online at the age of just 11.
When the schoolboy casually told her that 'women are gold diggers', the 33-year-old says she immediately challenged him and asked where he'd heard it.
The now-15-year-old explained it had been discussed in Andrew Tate videos that had appeared on his YouTube content feed.
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Rachel said she had to intervene in conversations as recently as a year ago on subjects such as women 'respecting their bodies' and blaming men for 'everything'.
She felt upset that Spencer was 'turning his back' on women, particularly given he grew up without a father figure; but a few weeks ago the mum overheard him telling off a friend for referring to his mum in a rude manner and says she's proud of the man he's becoming.
In light of Netflix's hit series Adolescence, the beauty industry worker is warning parents of 'red-pilling' signs and is giving advice on how to challenge concerning opinions.
READ MORE:
POLICE WARN PARENTS OF DISTURBING 'SECRET CODES' KIDS ARE USING ONLINE
In the show, it's explained that the 'red pill' represents an awakening to the 'truth' about gender issues.
Rachel, from Nottinghamshire, UK, said: "One day he randomly said, 'well women are just gold diggers anyway'.
"I remember thinking, 'that's weird for an 11-year-old to say' so I asked him where he'd heard that and he told me that he'd seen some men talking about it online.
"He watched normal videos of people playing video games and then out of nowhere this information started leaking in.
"Because he watched one video of it, another one came in and then he liked that and then another one came in.
"We would talk about other things that came up in these videos such as women 'not respecting themselves' and women being on OnlyFans."
Rachel went on: "At one point said he was sick of everyone 'blaming men for everything'.
"Even as recently as about a year ago I was out on a walk with him and he said something about 'body count' and we deconstructed that together as well."
Rachel's son's mindset has since changed for the better though and he now sees people like Tate as a 'joke'.
YouTube said that it terminated channels associated with the disgraced content creator in 2022.
Spencer is also 'not wanting to be like those men he saw on those videos', said his mom.
Discussing Adolescence and how it affected him, Spencer shared: "Watching Adolescence, it was very interesting to see how it plays out when a boy is exposed to that stuff online and has to experience the social expectations of having a girlfriend, which is why I focus more on school work instead of that.
"I now find this online content cringe. It's so embarrassing to watch those people have these opinions so loudly knowing that people are going to believe it without question."