ON BOYS Podcast

Mother’s Day is a day to honor the sacrifices mothers make for their children.  At least, that was the intent of Anna Jarvis, the  founder of Mother’s Day  in the United States This year, we’re also celebrating the many ways in which mothering has enhanced our lives. (“You can’t stay stagnant as a human being while you’re a parent,” Jen says.) Parenting is a lot more challenging than most of us ex...

Division 51 of the American Psychological Association launched a  Task Force on Boys in School  in 2020. Finally! Boys do worse in school, on average, than girls. Boys are more likely to be disciplined, suspended, or expelled than girls — even when their behavior is similar. They’re also less likely to graduate or go onto college and graduate from college. These facts aren’t new. Boys have been st...

The New Masculinity: A Roadmap for a 21st Century Definition of Manhood , by  Alex Manley , can help boys create their own unique definition of what it means to be a man. With a last name like Manley, it was impossible for Alex to ignore the societal pressures for boys and men to behave in certain ways. But Manley also noticed that “lots of men struggle with masculinity, with trying to live up to...

Fostering Connection: Building Social and Emotional Health in Children and Teens  is the latest book by Dr. Tish Taylor , a child psychologist with more than 25 years of experience. Fostering connection is also key to boys’ social, emotional, and overall well-being. But how do we teach our boys to connect? How can we best connect with them? Through her work, Dr. Tish noticed certain patterns of be...

Empowering boys and dyslexic learners could positively change so many lives. Jason Kantor, a New York-based homeschool tutor who frequently works with boys and dyslexic learners, believes it’s important to identify kids’ strengths and build them up, so they develop true confidence in themselves and their ability. Especially because so many boys and people with dyslexia attend schools that focus on...

Building Boys: Raising Great Guys in a World That Misunderstands Males  is Jen’s second book.  Janet says it contains “wise words from a mom who has successfully raised four boys,” “wise words from an author who knows how to weave personal stories with scientific research,” and “wise words from the many experts she’s interviewed” — including many here ON BOYS! The book has been years in the making...

You can build your village, says Florence Ann Romano. Most of us have heard that “it takes a village” to help children and adults thrive. We also want to know where $%@ the village went! Parenting today — often, far from extended family — can be an isolating experience. You don’t have to do it all alone, though. In her new book  Build Your Village: Guide to Finding Joy and Community in Every Stage...

Jonathon Reed has a lot of experience talking to tween & teen boys.  As a program manager with  NextGenMen , a Canadian organization dedicated to changing how the world sees, acts and thinks about masculinity, Reed frequently works with boys in grades 6-8. He says that while boys today are more comfortable wearing pink than they were a generation or so ago, they still face pressure to think an...

When Michael Gurian published The Wonder of Boys in 1996, there "wasn't any national consciousness about boys' issues," he says. A quarter century later, there are dozens of books about boys, and parents, educators, and politicians alike are realizing that we must address boys' issues if we are to address the current epidemic of violence. Yet despite this progress, "we are...

Keeping boys safe is a top-of-mind concern for parents.  For good reason.  Injury is the leading cause of death for people ages 1-44 – especially for children. For kids ages 1-14 in the U.S., injuries cause more deaths than the next 10 leading causes of death combined. And guess what?  At every age,  males are more likely than females to die of injury  – largely because they’re  more likely to exp...

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, you can call the  988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline  for help in the United States.  Call 988  or 800-273-TALK (8255). The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is open 24 hours a day, every day. Services are also available en espanol. Suicidal thoughts are common. In the U.S. alone, each year, more than 15 millions adults & teens struggle with s...

Kids “haven’t changed at all”  during the 20+ years Teacher Tom has been working with young children, he says. Parents have, though. And so has society. There’s an increased concern for safety and academic performance, and a lot of anxiety about kids’ futures. “I think there’s more fear, and more fear of their children falling behind,” Tom says. Adult stress and anxiety appears to be trickling dow...

Parental accommodation can limit the skill development of kids with (and without) ADHD.  Many boys with  ADHD  or other  executive function  challenges struggle despite diagnosis, treatment, and well-intended help — in part because they and their family have received less-than-stellar advice and support. And because loving families often unwittingly accommodate (and reinforce) undesirable behavior...

Whole child sports emphasizes wholesome, safe, and developmentally appropriate athletic experiences for kids . It is the antithesis of the toxic, highly competitive youth sports culture that’s unfortunately become the norm here in the United States. Scott Lancaster,  a sports performance coach who worked with the NFL;  Luis Fernando Llosa , an investigative reporter who’s worked with  Sports Illus...

Lads need dads, says Sonia Shaljean , director of the UK-based organization  Lads Need Dads , one of the only projects in the country working to proactively address the impact of the absent father on boys aged 11-15. Many boys with absent or uninvolved  fathers , of course, turn out perfectly okay. But many don’t. Sonia pivoted to this work after noticing, through a long career in criminal justice...

Teen boys mystify (and frustrate) their parents. Especially their moms. But there’s a lot going on behind and beneath that sometimes stony exterior.  Teen boys are not devoid of emotions ; in fact, they devote a lot of time and attention to managing and controlling their emotions. They may not show their emotions as freely as they did when they were younger, but, sadly, that’s often because they’v...

Damon Brown is a journalist, author, entrepreneur, and primary caregiver for his two young sons, ages 6 and 9 . But from his earliest days of parenting, people assumed he was simply “helping” his wife.  “I’d put on the Baby Bjorn and walk to the grocery story and hear ‘Oh, is it Daddy day?’ or ‘Are you taking over for Mom while she’s resting?'” Damon says. “And there’s a whole ‘nother layer to...

How do you support sibling relationships and build brother-sister bonds? Or connect with a tween son? Photo by Beatnik Photos via Flickr Those are just a few of the questions Jen & Janet tackle in 2023’s first listener Q & A. Matthew says: We have 3 boys (15, 17, & 19) and 3 girls (2, 9, & 13)…our boys are incredibly close, practically best friends, and our girls are similar. What...

Simplicity parenting, in many ways, is the antithesis of modern parenting.  Simplicity parenting prioritizes a balanced schedule, predictable rhythm, and decluttered, information-filtered family environment, while most modern families rush from one activity to the next and live with crammed-full schedules in an information-soaked environment. Kim John Payne, author of  Simplicity Parenting: Using...

“Spicy” boys are those who express themselves in big and loud ways, feel things intensely, and have energy to spare , says  Mary Van Geffen , a popular Instagrammer and parent coach for Spicy Ones. Spicy kids “have so much loyalty toward their own soul — and less to the adults’ agenda,” Mary says. They often are  very  persistent and quite emotionally intelligent. (Though often more attuned to the...

Our February 10 conversation with Dr. Mona Delahooke about her new book,  Brain-Body Parenting:How to Stop Managing Behavior and Start Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids , is ON BOYS’ Most Popular Episode of 2022. And no wonder:  The Center for Childhood Development  calls the book a “ game-change r,” and Berkely’s  Greater Good Magazine  lists it #2 on its  Favorite Parenting Books of 2022  list. Jen...

Which ON BOYS episodes were the Best of 2022?  Some of our favorites! 5.  Raising LGBTQ Allies Chris Tompkins, author of  Raising LGBTQ Allies: A Parent’s Guide to Changing the Messages from the Playground , recognized the power of unspoken messages when his then 6-year-old nephew asked him — an openly gay man — if the female friend with him was his girlfriend. In that moment, Chris realized that...

Linda Flanagan says youth sports are out of control. And she should know. Flanagan is a former youth athlete, cross country coach, mother of a young athletes, and the author of Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania are Ruining Kids' Sports - and Why It Matters . “If your goal is to cultivate a well-adjusted, responsible child who contributes to the family, then limiting T-ball, youth soccer...

Want to know how to motivate boys? Toss out your outdated beliefs about boys and men, says Maggie Dent, Australia's "boy champion" and author of From Boys to Men: Guiding Our Teen Boys to Grow Into Healthy, Happy Men .  "Our boys aren't these tough, unfeeling humans," she says. "They've got incredibly tender hearts, and with appropriate guidance they can grow to shi...

Andrew Reiner says it’s essential to spend time nurturing boys’ mental health & resiliency. As a college professor, Reiner sees what happens when boys aren’t taught resiliency and don’t develop the skills they need to support mental wellness. “I started noticing a chasm between the effort that my male students was putting forward and the effort my female students were putting forward,” says Re...