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Sir Gareth Southgate gave a lecture on this year’s Dimbleby
Sir Gareth Southgate says he fears that young men are spending too much time playing games, gambling and watching porn.
In a broad talk at the BBC’s annual Richard Dimbleby Lecture, the former En England men’s football manager spoke about his own experience of missing a significant penalty at the Euro 96, saying he didn’t let him define him.
“The pain continues to bother me today,” he said.
Referring to his own experiences, he stated that Britain needs to do more to encourage young people, especially young men, to make the right choices in life and not be afraid of failure.
Rather than turning to teachers, sports coaches or leaders of youth groups, Sir Gareth said he fears that many young men are looking for directions online. There he said they were finding a new kind of role model.
“These are cold, manipulative, toxic influencers, and their only drives are for their own profit,” he said.
“They are willing to trick young men into believing that success is measured by money and domination, and their strength means that they do not show emotion, and that the world, including women, is opposed to women.”
Sir Gareth spoke about missing a key penalty in the 1996 Euro semi-final, when England lost to Germany.
“I missed that penalty, it was definitely a fork moment that made me a stronger and better man,” Sir Gareth said in his speech. “It forced me to dig deeper into and revealed inner beliefs and resilience I never knew existed.”
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He contrasted his own mistake with Eric Deer’s successful and successful penalty kicks against Columbia in 2018.
Over the course of 22 years, he said there had been a change in thinking among English players.
“In 1996, I walked 30 yards to the penalty spot and believed I would miss it,” he said. “In 2018, Eric walked 30 yards to the penalty spot and believed he would score.”
During Sir Gareth’s career as a defender and midfielder, he played for Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, where he was with the England team between 1995 and 2004.
He resigned as manager in July, two days after England lost to Spain in the Euro.
Sir Gareth was recognized as having revitalized the English team and was knighted in December with the King’s New Year’s honor.
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Sir Gareth celebrates after England defeated Colombia following a penalty shootout at Moscow’s Spartach Stadium in July 2018
He is the latest in scholars, business leaders and other notable figures to provide Richard Dimbleby lectures that have been held most years since 1972 to commemorate the station.
Previous speakers included King Charles III, when he was Prince of Wales, a high-tech entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates, and then managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Too many young men are isolated.”
Sir Gareth’s story focuses on the importance of beliefs and resilience in young men, citing three things needed to build these: identity, connections and culture.
He mentioned a report released earlier this month by the Center for Social Justice. This has led to a “surprising” increase in people who are not education, employment or training, saying that boys and young men are “in the crisis.”
“Too many young men are isolated,” Sir Gareth said in his speech. “Too many people find it uncomfortable to open up to friends and family. Many don’t have a mentor who understands teachers, coaches, bosses and more.
“The young men will retreat and become reluctant to speak or express their emotions,” he added. “They spend more time online searching for directions and fall into unhealthy alternatives like gaming, gambling, porn.”
He also said that young men fail and don’t have enough opportunities to learn from their mistakes.
“In my opinion, if we are now making life too easy for young boys, then when they grow into younger men, we inevitably make life difficult,” he said. “There’s a risk that too many young men are afraid of failure, because they have very few opportunities to experience and overcome exactly that. They don’t try, they can’t try.”
The former footballer also reflected that his career taught him about belief and resilience.
“If you learn something from your life in soccer, your success is far more than your final score,” he said. “True success is how you deal with the most difficult moments.”
Richard Dimblebee’s lecture with Ir Gareth Southgate aired on BBC One at 10:40pm and became available on Iplayer
