On Monday 19th June, the College engaged the organisation Collective Shout to work with Year 9 and Year 10 students to counteract the unhealthy messages boys are exposed to in today’s pornified cultural landscape. The workshop was run by Daniel Principe, a graduate from Trinity College, and now a health professional, with a background in PR, marketing, and media. In a dynamic multi-media presentation which included research, along with first person stories of young men, Daniel explored how exposure to sexual imagery is contributing to a distorted view of bodies and relationships. He dissected the impacts of harmful messaging from media, advertising, pop culture and the global porn industry and discussed how cultural forces fuel distorted ideas and attitudes about body image, relationships, and sex. Daniel’s message empowered boys to navigate these cultural challenges and step outside the ‘Man Box’ resisting the harmful masculine stereotypes. He encouraged boys to be courageous and resist these harmful messages as they aspire to become good men.

For those parents unable to make the parent presentation you can view it HERE.

WHAT DID THE BOYS SAY ABOUT DANIEL’S PRESENTATION?

“The talk was a really good to have especially for us year 9s as we begin to go through adolescences. Something I found interesting is that even brands like quicksilver are making inappropriate shirts. I also found it interesting that even animations like Shrek can be turned into inappropriate stuff. I learnt that some people in this world are very immature. Like there was a shirt that said “it is not rape it is just a snuggle with a struggle” this just proves that some people are messed up. I found it confronting that even kids in Year 4 are getting catfished.”
Zach Felsch

“I found it really interesting, and it felt like a safe place to communicate about the problems and risks that come from pornography and those types of things. I found out that we are exposed to photos of nearly naked women from a young age with no idea that it happens, Sir showed this happening by showing a photo of his nephew on a car rid at a shopping centre which was pointed at an ad for lingerie. I found it confronting that these ads can shape/change the way we view girls and ourselves which can have a bad effect on everyone. I liked that Sir put it in a way that wasn’t too awkward or strange and it felt like a place where you could say something.”
Lachlan Fallens

“The talk on Monday was about how pornography and sexual images of women are destroying the minds of young teenagers and young adults. Personally I think it was a great presentation by Daniel and it was very interesting to watch him talk to us about this topic. This presentation by Daniel has changed my thoughts about how and why we were doing this and shows us the bad habits and how it can make us feel that women are objects, and how there is sexual jokes on every social media platform and how we can’t escape the trap of social media and how rape jokes aren’t funny and how they can be very offensive to people causing discomfort. I’ve learned that we shouldn’t see women as objects and how men are seen for their talents, but women are seen for their beauty and this is wrong, they should be seen as humans.”
Jacob Barnett

“He spoke about why pornography is such a widespread problem amongst teenagers and that it has serious negative side effects on their mental and emotional health. He mentioned that young people who are exposed to pornography at an early age, may develop distorted views on sexuality and relationships, which ultimately leads to unhealthy attitudes and relationships. Pornography often portrays unrealistic and harmful depictions of sex including violence, exploitation and objectification which was a big topic that Daniel spoke about. He also spoke about the objectification of women. Examples of this occur every day in society and is often found in modelling, magazines, and other institutions whose target audience is the male population. It is more common today than in the previous one hundred years and is getting to the point where the side effects of this are not just affecting women, but now affecting men.”
William Rummer

“An interesting fact that Daniel Principe spoke about was how women are showed as objects not as humans and this can lead to violence towards women. It was very interesting and taught me a lot about society’s respect for women and how we treat them so badly. I learnt that women are used for example, on magazines or for products. An example he shared was of a woman in a bikini for a fake eyelash advertisement. Something I found confronting was a story he told us about one of the schools he went to a boy came up after his talk and told him a story about his family and how he’s experiencing violence at home, and he started crying and Daniel felt so sad for him. I felt very sad, and I hoped that kid is alright cause no one should have to go through those things. Overall, Daniel’s talk was very interesting and taught me a lot and I hope we have another talk one day about the same topic or something similar because I found it very interesting.”
Aidan Zammit