Teaching Men to Be Emotionally Honest

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This article in the NYTimes highlights the sad reality so many young men face– appearing emotive is hazardous, but appearing to work hard in school would be a social disaster.  Could this pressure help explain why boys are falling behind in school?  When Andrew Reiner asked one of his male students why he didn’t openly worry about grades the way many of his female classmates did, the student responded, “Nothing’s worse for a guy than looking like a Try Hard.”

Teaching Men to be Emotionally Available

Ending violence against women by changing the way we raise boys

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In the wake of yet another tragic act of violence against women – van plows through busy Toronto sidewalk – this New York Times column makes a compelling case for changing the way we raise boys.

“The truth is that in addition to not protecting women, we are failing boys: failing to raise them to believe they can be men without inflicting pain on others, failing to teach them that they are not entitled to women’s sexual attention …” Click link for full article.

When Misogynists become Terrorists

Should we talk to little boys the way we talk to little dogs?

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A preliminary glance at the title of this piece may leave you scoffing at the disrespectful notion of talking to boys like animals, but take a closer look.  The author, a clinical psychologist, presents a compelling case for how often we talk to our animals in loving and tolerant tones, yet our children don’t regularly receive the same.  It’s an interesting lens through which to view how we talk–and how we listen– to young boys.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/well/family/whos-a-good-boy.html

 

#KidLitWomen: a blog entry by Megan Dowd Lambert

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As a MERGE Children’s Book Campaign consultant, Megan Dowd Lambert contributes her rich experience and passion to our work in Developing Healthy Boys.  See her latest response to the #KidLitWomen dialogue here, where she details her diversity audit practice to ensure diversity and equity ideals are represented in book selections.

#KidLitWomen: The Diversity Audit as a Tool for Accountability and Inclusion

In Sweden’s Preschools, Boys Learn to Dance and Girls Learn to Yell

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Reported by New York Times writer Ellen Barry: “Science may still be divided over whether gender differences are rooted in biology or culture, but many of Sweden’s government-funded preschools are doing what they can to deconstruct them. State curriculum urges teachers and principals to embrace their role as social engineers, requiring them to counteract traditional gender roles and gender patterns.”

Guys We Have a Problem: How American Masculinity Creates Lonely Men

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This piece summarizes the alarming trend of lonely men in the US, and the suicide rates that follow.  With insights from our 2017 Healthy Boys Summit keynote speaker Niobe Way and her pioneering research into boys’ friendships, this podcast reinforces the critical need for developing emotionally and socially connected boys today, before they become men.
https://www.npr.org/2018/03/19/594719471/guys-we-have-a-problem-how-american-masculinity-creates-lonely-men