Teen boys reminded: “The power in being a man is being your true self”

With the #MeToo movement and men in senior positions accused of deception, it’s arguably never been a more important time to ask: What does it mean to be a man? How do we tackle toxic masculinity? What is men’s responsibility in the world? How can we celebrate the uniqueness of men?
To celebrate International Men’s Day, Rocking Ur Teens will be bringing together 180 teenage boys and their teachers for an empowerment event to explore these questions and much more.
Taking place on 12th November at Thomson Reuters head offices in Canary Wharf, the oneday interactive event will showcase positive male role models to inspire participants through their experiences and raise their aspirations, showing them that anything is possible when they have the courage and confidence to find their own identity and work hard.
The event will be hosted by Bear Grylls The Island Star and Radio Presenter, Dean Quinton. Participants will also hear from keynote speakers including Andrew Hulbert, Successful Entrepreneur and CEO of Pareto; Cameron Parker, Motivational Schools Speaker and Andrew Odong, Content Strategist and Founder of Creative Media Agency Pesa Productions. They will share their career stories and learned wisdom.
Andrew Hulbert said: “I remember my teens. I was unproductive, lacked direction and wasn’t focussed in the right areas. I have so much experience now that I’d like to have given to my younger self. That’s why I’m involved in Rocking Ur Teens, as it gives me the chance to shape the future of some of the countries brightest teenagers and pass on that learnt wisdom.”

The teens will also take part in a spoken word workshop with Ragz-CV and a session on making good choices. They’ll benefit from speed mentoring with a diverse group of men who will share the advice that they would give their 13-year-old selves – with the benefit of hindsight.
Founded in 2015, Rocking Ur Teens is a social enterprise that equips young people with the skills that leaders of the future need. It does this through its annual events. To date, Rocking Ur Teens has welcomed over 1,500 students and teachers at its conferences. Over the next five years Rocking Ur Teens aims to expand its impact by growing its mentoring programme.

Talking about our last boys conference, one teacher said: “Students were blown away by the experience they thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing and the opportunity to network and experience new ideas.”
Sponsored by Thomson Reuters, the conference is highly subsidised and tickets cost just £15 per student or teacher.
To find out more about the conference and how to sponsor the event see rockingurteens.com. Tickets for this event are sold out, to register for future events see rockingurteens.com.