ON BOYS Podcast

AI — artificial intelligence — is already a big part of our everyday lives. We rely on it to help us get from one place to another. (GPS directions, anyone?) We use it to polish our prose. (Spell check and Grammarly, for instance.) Customer service chatbots and product recommendations based on previous purchases — all of these are built on AI. The public release of  ChatGPT , a AI system that usin...

Young Black men and boys remain the most vulnerable student population in U.S. schools.  That’s why  David Kirkland , founder & CEO of  forwardED , is asking educators to “put a deliberate focus on Black boys” this year – to uplift Black boys, of course, but also because research shows that addressing the needs of our most vulnerable populations helps ALL. “It’s not that Black males fail. It’s...

Stop, drop, grow, and  glow? That’s Holly Swenson’s advice to parents. Swenson, a RN-turned-writer and mom of 4 boys (currently ages 10, 13, 15, & 15) was approximately seven years into parenting when she realized that “when you are taking care of yourself, you’re better able to take care of everyone in her life.” She & Jen talk about her book ,  Stop, Drop, Grow, & Glow: Forming Deepe...

Kids can thrive at any size , says  Jill Castle , a pediatric dietician, parent, and author of  Kids Thrive at Any Size: How to Nourish Your Big, Small, or In-Between Child for a Lifetime of Health & Happiness . Takeaways: Feeding kids in a healthy way can be challenging, but  it’s important to raise children of all sizes to be physically healthy and emotionally well . Family culture plays a s...

How can parents overcome their fears and worries so they can say YES to their boys’ interests and passions? That’s the question we discuss with Heather Sponholz, a “boy mom” who’s said yes to her teenage sons’ solo National Parks trips, MMA fighting, and ambitious Christmas lights project. Takeaways: Navigating the balance between freedom and safety for teenagers can be challenging for parents. Al...

SheKnows’ “Be a Man” project is an “exploration of what it means to be a man today,”  says Erika Janes, a “boy mom” and SheKnows editor-in-chief. Importantly, the project includes teen boys and gives  them  an opportunity to share their thoughts about manhood and masculinity. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the boys’ responses reflect our still-evolving understanding of gender. Crying, for instance, is st...

What  is  the goal of youth sports?  It seems like an obvious question with an obvious answer. Isn’t the goal to provide kids with an opportunity to play sports? And to develop skills, teamwork, and camaraderie along the way? Historically, those were indeed the goals of youth sport. Many parents & kids still pursue those goals. But some parents & players have other goals:  A scholarship. C...

It’s back-to-school time!  What does this time of year look like for you & your family? Does your son dread back-to-school? Do you? Or, do you welcome that start of a new school year? Rob Vaughn, a 5th grade teacher, is one of the (too) few male elementary school teachers in the United States. Masculinity in 5th grade When we asked Rob about his experiences in school when he was a boy, he told...

The right hemisphere of your brain is your “wild creature mind,”  says  Steve Biddulph , the Australian author, psychologist, and family therapist known for his work on parenting and child development (including his seminal book  Raising Boys ). It is richly connected to our body & memories, including memories that we no longer consciously recall. It communicates with us constantly via bodily...

Boys know that deep friendships are critical to mental health , says Dr. Niobe Way, a developmental psychologists who’s been studying boys for 40 years. But as boys move through their teenage years, many of them — as many as 70-80% — find it difficult to connect with other boys. Why? “Boy culture,” says Dr. Way, author of  Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves, & Our Future , noting...

How do we best support neurodivergent boys? Approximately 12% of boys in the United States have been diagnosed with  ADHD . About 3% are on the  autism spectrum . 18% of boys have  dyslexia . An untold number are  gifted  – &, of course, many boys are  2e , or twice-exceptional, with more than one of these conditions. Dr. Matt Zakreski was one of those boys. “My backpack always looked like a b...

Circumcision is a decision every boy parent must face – but what’s the truth behind the practice? Let’s break down the facts and dispel the myths. Culture & emotion influence circumcision rates Surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis is incredibly common in some cultures & very rare in others. In the United States, approximately. 58% of male newborns are circumcised. But rates vary g...

To connect with boys, you must first listen , says Jonathon Reed, program manager for  NextGenMen . Societal expectations of boys & men are gradually shifting. These shifting narratives are part of why it’s so important for adults to  listen to boys . Adults’ interpretation and understanding of situations and interactions doesn’t necessarily reflect boys’ complex experiences, and neither does...

Dr. Lisa Damour says that adults should consider the barriers boys face when it comes to emotional connection and expression.  "Gender is such a huge force in how emotion is expressed, and perhaps even in how emotion is experienced," says Dr. Damour. "If a boy doesn’t feel that he has permission to let people know he’s hurting, it’s a good bet that he will discharge his unwanted emotio...

Brendan Kwiatkowski knows that connecting with teenage boys requires understanding, patience, and a willingness to create a safe emotional space. Kwiatkowski, PhD, a renowned researcher specializing in boys’ emotions, experiences, and masculinities, says that teen boys “assume most people don’t want to hear about their negative emotions.” Helping Boys Express Their Emotions One of the key factors...

Teacher Tom says “kids haven’t changed at all” over recent decades. “Kids still need freedom to play, to follow their own curiosity,to ask and answer questions,and to learn how to get along with other people,” he says. Nurturing Kids & Building Connections The first five years of a child’s life “should be about how to live with these complicated things called emotions,” Tom says. Children also...

Women are America’s safety net.  Women provide the vast majority of child and elder care and care for the disabled. Women do the bulk of home- and community-tending, and they create and reinforce the ties that bind us together. Most of that labor is unpaid — and the little that is paid is typically poorly compensated. This imbalance is clearly problematic for women, who are often exhausted and ove...

Like most moms, Jaimie Kelton has “so many thoughts & fears on raising a boy.” “I question myself constantly,” says Jamie, host of  The Queer Family podcast  and mom to two children, a 10-year-old daughter & a 6-year-old son. She knows that gender is a social construct — and also knows that gender stereotypes are extremely powerful and prevalent. When she was pregnant with her son, Jamie s...

Child psychologist Emily Edlynn says a healthier approach to tech is good for the whole family.  As she wrote in her Substack newsletter, the currently popular shame-blame-restrict approach to social media, screens, and gaming isn’t working particularly well. Emily sas: Parents’ hyper-focus on screen time, gaming, or phones can have more negative effects than the technologies on their own. Parents...

Dr. Adam Price’s book,  He’s Not Lazy , is one that parents of teenage boys frequently recommend to each other. There’s good reason for that:  He’s Not Lazy: Empowering Your Son to Believe in Himself   addresses parents’ fears and concerns about their “unmotivated,” “under-performing” teenage sons. Stop Worrying About Your Boys Fear is usually at the heart of parents’ concern about their sons’ app...

BoyMom Ruth Whippman has spent significant time reimagining boyhood. As a mom of 3 boys, she knows that raising boys today is a complex endeavor. As she writes in her book,  BOYMOM: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity , “Boys in America (and worldwide) are going through something of a crisis – not only academically but they make up the majority of perpetrators AND also the maj...

In this episode, Jen & Janet discuss: The end of an era (Jen’s last son finishes high school!) What Jen will NOT miss about having a kid a school How parenting is like labor & birth Transactional vs. relational communication Letting boys take control of aspects of their life Rebuilding trust Apologizing to your kids Links we mentioned (or should have) in this episode: Emails & Phone Ca...

If you think you don’t know anybody who takes opioids, have you asked? Those are the words of Julia Pinksy, an Oregon-based mom who lost her son to an opioid overdose. “It’s been 10 years since he passed,” she says,”which seems unbelievable.” In the years since, Julia has devoted herself to opioid overdose education and prevention. Today, she teaches others about opioids & Narcan. Opioid Addic...

Boys don’t do as well in school as girls.  On the whole, they earn lower grades and more disciplinary referrals. You will typically find more boys in detention than at the top of the class. Are boys the problem?  Is there something about masculinity, something about male biology that contributes to these disparate outcomes?  Or, are schools the problem?  Does the curriculum and environment somehow...

Sextortion disproportionately affects boys. Between October 2021 & March 2023, the FBI & Homeland Security Investigation received more than 13,000 reports of online sextortion of minors. Most of the victims were boys.  At least 20 boys have already died by suicide after experiencing sextortion . The FBI is so concerned about these trends that they reached out to ON BOYS podcast. Agents are...