Can boys find belonging on Discord?
When the pandemic shut down Next Gen Men’s after-school programs, the team tried moving their curriculum onto Zoom. Neither the adults nor the boys enjoyed it. So they asked the boys what they’d prefer.
“We’re on Discord,” they said.
That was the seed for NGM Alliance, an online community where young people play games, share interests, and find support. It sounds like online summer camp, but with with Minecraft and Fortnite instead of archery and canoeing.
Jake Stika is a co-founder of Next Gen Men, a Canadian nonprofit working with boys and men—and the publisher of Voice Male magazine.
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