Perhaps boys CAN do well in school?
Perception becomes reality if boys are told “boys don’t do as well as girls in school.” Here’s how to shift that perception.
Parents
Questions from parents
Civility
There’s a move to teach boys civility in school, but focusing on only boys’ behavior is only half the story. Here’s my take.
Neuroatypical: an atypical approach for all students?
The term “neurotypical” is used specifically to refer to individuals who are not on the autism spectrum. People who are neuroatypical are said to be on the spectrum. The problem with this binary, on/off labeling is that there are a wide variety of behaviors that fall under the neuroatypical designation. If you include ADHD and … Read more
Toxic masculinity (and how to end it)
You may be aware of a recent event when a young woman, who was jogging on a public highway, was approached by a young man who wanted her to stop and pay him attention. The story goes that when she rejected him, he “blacked out” and when he woke up, he discovered her dead in … Read more
Bush School: Experiential education that sparks young minds
Earlier this month (July 2018), I was in Australia for the annual conference of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC). I’ve mentioned this group to you before. This time, I went to a pre-conference adventure that involved going to a bush school. The school is in the Kangaroo Valley in New South Wales, Australia. This … Read more
The myth of the “bad boy”
I don’t know if your son has ever gotten into trouble at school, but mine certainly did. He’d come home with a note saying something to the effect that “your son received a discipline notice today because he [pick one of the following] yelled at another student | threw his books on the floor | … Read more
The academic life of boys
One of the many problems that boys have in school is that educators, for the most part, don’t see them as being interested in the academic side of school. By that I mean that boys will learn the facts that are presented in class, but they don’t seem to be concerned with the abstract nature … Read more
Screen time – what is its effect on teens?
Two articles appeared recently in national magazines which address the issue of how damaging the amount of time adolescents spend on phones/tables/computers is to them. Specifically, both articles addressed the effect of screen time on adolescent brains and behavior. The first article appeared in The Atlantic in the September 2017 issue. Jean M. Twenge is … Read more
Raising boys to make #MeToo an artifact of history
In the past few weeks, the news has been full of reports about women who are reporting sexual harassment from men in positions of power and authority. The question I’m getting asked is whether there is something that can be done to make sure that young boys are taught that this behavior is unacceptable. There … Read more
The Emotional Life of Boys
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I have mentioned more than once that male humans are more emotional than female humans, and the difference in emotional expression is particularly true in very young boys. As an example, take a look at this segment interviewing adolescent boys which recently appeared … Read more