My teenage son is too right-wing

[outdamnedspots]

We talk a lot about crime and politics at home.

Ds 17 has picked up that a lot of crime is committed by immigrants and people who are not-white, and us getting far too right-wing for my taste. He sounds awful, really racist.

What can I say to him to combat his thoughts?

I’d have a serious word with him and tell him he needs to grow up and educate himself. At 17 he has no real experience of the real world. Sounds awful but I’m sure life will knock it out him when he’s out in the big bad world. He’s likely just parroting things he’s heard other ppl say

We have done that. He spends too much fucking time on fucking TilTok.

yeah social media is so scary !!! I’m glad it wasn’t a thing wen I was in my teens. As a fully grown woman I go on it and can end up feeling bad about myself etc so I can only imagine how easily and badly it’s influencing teens !

Switch off the WiFi and stop paying for his phone!

Depending on where you live, could you and him volunteer somewhere that supports recent immigrants? Those kind of ideas are much harder to maintain when you interact with real people.

Throw some real facts and figures at him. I mean looking at this over 73% of our prison population is white 🤔.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/ethnicity-and-the-criminal-justice-system-2022/statistics-on-ethnicity-and-the-criminal-justice-system-2022-html#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20of%20the%20defendants,of%20the%20other%20ethnic%20group.

Which isn't a big difference to the actual UK representation.
https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest/

I'd also ban him from ticktock or find some better sources of information. What is he studying? As I often talk to 17 year d DD about things like this that you have to be careful where your information is coming from. But then she's doing science and they are being taught about careful sourcing of information so that helps.

I think it is healthy to challenge your parents politics as a teenager. Obviously any racism needs to be halted. Other than that, suggest alternative information sources to TicTok,and don't dismiss his views before discussing them.

I mean

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/ethnicity-and-the-criminal-justice-system-statistics-2020/ethnicity-and-the-criminal-justice-system-2020

He is probably seeing a lot based on US figures which are more stark.

I would chat with him and ask for his sources and why he thinks these things, but have an open mind.

I often repeat outrageous things and my wife asks me details and I have to check

He is his own person, and entitled to his own opinions

get him involved in some local voluntary work where he is interacting with people from a different back ground

I sympathise, but there is no guarantee that your offspring will share your political outlook.

I think everyone is allowed their own opinion as long as it isn't inciting violence.

It's difficult because he is not technically wrong...

"In 2018 Sky News initiated freedom of information requests to every police force in the country. Statistics published by Sky News showed that black people in the UK as a whole were over-represented in homicide compared to the population. The figures showed that 13% of murder suspects were black compared to 3% of the population of the United Kingdom (as of the 2010s), and in London 48% of murder suspects compared to 13% of the population."

From the Wikipedia article about crime and race in the UK.

Racism isn't ok but is it racist to acknowledge that black people are disproportionately represented in murder statistics? I remember when my parents were talking about stop and search in London disproportionally targeting black people and I pointed out that black people (I should say black men) are disproportionately more likely to be involved in knife crime. They didn't have any response to that other than to gawp and probably think I'm horribly racist...but it's true!! Argue intelligently against it if you like but when you say "What can I say to him to combat his thoughts?" it does sound a little like you want him to ignore statistics he's seen and agree with your world-view.

Being racist is a waste of time and I'd watch for any signs of viewing neo nazi material,also a lot of cranks and weirdos populate the neo nazi websites.

I guess you don’t know what he’s seeing on TikTok? Can you sit down together and do some research, look at statistics and reasons into why ethnic minorities might be in prison (no doubt some think tank will have done a paper!)? And what could be some solutions? Then he’ll have a much deeper understanding of the issues and at least based on some proper research not TikTok ?

Start taking a newspaper or magazine with a more balanced approach to political issues than your son is likely to find on TikTok. An actual printed newspaper. If it's in the house, he will probably read it.

Also a very large percent of under 25s are being pushed to the right. When they're having it forced on them that people can be sexless aliens or furry animals, what can you expect?

I think it’s really important to be well informed yourself so you can have debates on these issues. For example, the posters above have said that black people are disproportionately more involved in murder, I’d be asking why. If someone is disproportionately not accessing education or opportunities then crime is a more likely path. Should we not be working to fix the societal issues that cause it rather than just glibly assume that one set of people are naturally more predisposed?

The influence of TikTok is worrying, but there’s nothing on TikTok I can’t talk to my son about. It’s a good starting point for a discussion.

If all he's seeing is ethnic minority criminals on his algorithms then that's going to form an opinion. Teach him how he's being manipulated by this.
Ask him to research facts because unfortunately, every race and religion have their criminals.
Most people are decent and law abiding and are just doing what everyone else is doing - working to pay bills and look after their families, if they have one.
He can see that as he lives his daily life - going to the shops, teachers at school, his drs surgery, hospital, train and bus travel and so on.

Watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix with him.

He is allowed to have his own opinions separate from you. That's ok. If anything, it opens conversations. Hopefully.

I suspect that if we are more careful with who we let in and the numbers. The country would be as civilised and safe as once was. In a way he is not wrong and dismissing him as right wing is the wrong approach. Once people accept we have a problem we can start building up a safe and secure environment. It seems that your concern is that he is right wing and racist. Do not you think he can easily see numbers and statistics and confirm he is not wrong? Another matter is to analyse why has all this been happening.