It's tough being a parent and it's tough being a child too.
In our society of political correctness we are forced to believe that from a young age boys and girls are really similar.
When we do this, who suffers? The result is that we silence our strong, boisterous boys and pressure them to be more submissive and cooperative.
Are we indirectly forcing boys into being what they never meant to be? If we are, then the scary thought is that our boys are at great risk.
Have you ever wondered why so many men seem like they are just older boys? It is highly possible that they never made that difficult step of transitioning from being boys to men.
This is a stage they must be helped through and having a role model of a good man (the father) to emulate along with providing a loving expectation that they must make the transition is critical to supporting them taking that difficult step.
Our boys need this encouragement.
Young guys need to explore, test their limits, and this can often lead to scrapes, bruises, dirty clothes, and even broken bones.
However, in our fixation to keep boys from their natural tendencies, we wrap them up in cotton wool.
Let's face it too many boys are over booked with sports matches and many spend way too much time playing violent video games.
As the father of a 9 year old son I can see similar patterns appearing for him too, so I'm taking a leaf out of my own book.
Keeping our boys of the streets is one thing and another is to spend quality time with them.
We have to go back to basics and raise them from the inside out! Now, this is not about blaming all the great parents out there.
This is a parent to parent alert about the dangers, about what we need and to help us realise the extra effort that must be applied to raising their sons.
This is about us being the influence in our sons' lives regardless what the awful societal influences are.
Here are three tips that could prove invaluable if you take time out and discuss with your sons on a regular basis: 1.
Discover who they are listening to Peer pressure is stated to be one of the biggest challenges against our sons' successful futures.
We've got to talk about this and help them through the difficulties of peer pressure.
While this is true in every generation, since our time is quite toxic towards boys we need to be very careful about the influences and values being taught to them.
2.
Be the best example for them to follow There seems to be a societal animosity towards teenage boys.
So many young men become the kind of moody, depressed, and angry boy that media often creates and then society wants to fix.
If we can raise healthy boys that experience healthy activities and friends, they will be much less likely to develop these problems.
What we need to do is lead the way with more empowering ways to build self-confidence, emotional health and mental health.
We must actively seek to encourage them at all times - in fact, praise really needs to tower over criticism by ten statements to one! 3.
Let them know when they show their unique talents All of our boys are born with a skill and if they master it they can be a huge success.
Your role is to see it in them, then help them, train them and introduce them to opportunities that will expand their thinking and their horizons.
The feeling of accomplishment when the master their talent will be a powerful boost to their self-esteem.
It seems that 21st century culture is harming many of our boys with media and violent video games; pushing aside the importance of human relations and even problem solving learning experiences.
Our boys need and want us to embrace and encourage who they are and celebrate that! A loving parent must ease their pressures and give them back their boyhood.
Despite the old adage that his peers are his greatest influence; you will find that parents are still their son's greatest influence.
Ultimately, a boy's life will be grounded on his relationship with his parents, his siblings and his friends.
If parents' keep communication as a priority and discuss the importance of taking responsibility, love, discipline and the need for their fathers it will make a huge difference in the development of the child.
Let's teach our boys from a position of honesty, humility, kindness and self-respect.
This way we'll help them to grow from the inside out!
In our society of political correctness we are forced to believe that from a young age boys and girls are really similar.
When we do this, who suffers? The result is that we silence our strong, boisterous boys and pressure them to be more submissive and cooperative.
Are we indirectly forcing boys into being what they never meant to be? If we are, then the scary thought is that our boys are at great risk.
Have you ever wondered why so many men seem like they are just older boys? It is highly possible that they never made that difficult step of transitioning from being boys to men.
This is a stage they must be helped through and having a role model of a good man (the father) to emulate along with providing a loving expectation that they must make the transition is critical to supporting them taking that difficult step.
Our boys need this encouragement.
Young guys need to explore, test their limits, and this can often lead to scrapes, bruises, dirty clothes, and even broken bones.
However, in our fixation to keep boys from their natural tendencies, we wrap them up in cotton wool.
Let's face it too many boys are over booked with sports matches and many spend way too much time playing violent video games.
As the father of a 9 year old son I can see similar patterns appearing for him too, so I'm taking a leaf out of my own book.
Keeping our boys of the streets is one thing and another is to spend quality time with them.
We have to go back to basics and raise them from the inside out! Now, this is not about blaming all the great parents out there.
This is a parent to parent alert about the dangers, about what we need and to help us realise the extra effort that must be applied to raising their sons.
This is about us being the influence in our sons' lives regardless what the awful societal influences are.
Here are three tips that could prove invaluable if you take time out and discuss with your sons on a regular basis: 1.
Discover who they are listening to Peer pressure is stated to be one of the biggest challenges against our sons' successful futures.
We've got to talk about this and help them through the difficulties of peer pressure.
While this is true in every generation, since our time is quite toxic towards boys we need to be very careful about the influences and values being taught to them.
2.
Be the best example for them to follow There seems to be a societal animosity towards teenage boys.
So many young men become the kind of moody, depressed, and angry boy that media often creates and then society wants to fix.
If we can raise healthy boys that experience healthy activities and friends, they will be much less likely to develop these problems.
What we need to do is lead the way with more empowering ways to build self-confidence, emotional health and mental health.
We must actively seek to encourage them at all times - in fact, praise really needs to tower over criticism by ten statements to one! 3.
Let them know when they show their unique talents All of our boys are born with a skill and if they master it they can be a huge success.
Your role is to see it in them, then help them, train them and introduce them to opportunities that will expand their thinking and their horizons.
The feeling of accomplishment when the master their talent will be a powerful boost to their self-esteem.
It seems that 21st century culture is harming many of our boys with media and violent video games; pushing aside the importance of human relations and even problem solving learning experiences.
Our boys need and want us to embrace and encourage who they are and celebrate that! A loving parent must ease their pressures and give them back their boyhood.
Despite the old adage that his peers are his greatest influence; you will find that parents are still their son's greatest influence.
Ultimately, a boy's life will be grounded on his relationship with his parents, his siblings and his friends.
If parents' keep communication as a priority and discuss the importance of taking responsibility, love, discipline and the need for their fathers it will make a huge difference in the development of the child.
Let's teach our boys from a position of honesty, humility, kindness and self-respect.
This way we'll help them to grow from the inside out!