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I found this review of Bully interesting and thought provoking. The mentioning of Jonah Mowry’s video, which has received quite a bit of attention in the past few months and is intense (I would not show it to elementary school-aged children), is appreciated. Lots to ponder regarding this complex and multi-faceted issue. I think the “Life Starts After High School” sentiment appeals to many youngsters and teens, but what do they do until then?
Dr. Chris Miller will once again collaborate with Chystal de Freitas, M.D. and Healthy Chats by meeting with 5th grade students at Notre Dame Academy in April 2012. While Healthy Chats for Girls has been a wonderful and well established program for many years, the growing response from the San Diego community toward the Healthy Chats for Boys program is encouraging. Be sure to visit the Healthy Chats website to see what it is all about and how to schedule a “chat” with Dr. Miller (for the boys) or Dr. de Freitas (for the girls).
The anti-bullying documentary Bully was released Friday amidst slight controversy about its rating (“Not Rated”) and the effect this rating might have on the movie’s exposure to the general public. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) originally gave the film an R rating because of six instances of profanity. In response, the filmmakers refused to have the movie released with the R rating and instead opted for the unrated release. However, very few theaters show unrated movies, and, as a result, very few people saw Bully over the weekend. The Weinstein Company is now considering a PG-13 rating in order to get the film into theaters and, most importantly, have teens watch it. Here is a trailer for the movie and reviews. Although intense, it may be worth taking your sons to if it is eventually released near you.
All kids lie. Yes, even your kids. Boys do not lie more than girls, although most people think they do. Older children lie more than younger ones, although most people think that younger kids lie more. Kids lie for various reasons, but the most common ones are: to cover up a transgression, to avoid punishment, to look good in the eyes of others (“I scored seventeen goals in my soccer game yesterday!”). Children also lie because they learn it from us. Given these (and other) reasons, what’s a parent to do about promoting truth-telling and honesty in their children? Click here for some practical suggestions. One important take home point: kids who think that they will be punished moderately or severely for lying do not lie less. They learn to become more effective liars. In Nurture Shock, Po Bronson writes about recent research on why kids lie and what parents can do about it. The entire book is quite interesting but for the purposes of this post, chapter 4 does a nice job of expanding on the above points.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has recently recommended that boys be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV). As many of you already know, the CDC has recommended vaccinations for girls for several years, and the new recommendations to include boys has stirred up “controversy” among some parent groups who think that vaccinating children against HPV will result in an increase in sexual activity at an earlier age for boys and girls. Make up your own mind by first clicking here, then here, and then here.
We know that there are more female students than males ones on college campuses and that they outperform their male counterparts. Over the past decade, there have been numerous explanations as to why this occurs, but this one is new. While there are more plausible explanations regarding the performance differences, the author makes some interesting points. One way to dig deeper would be to compare the college performances three groups of students: males who played no football, males who play/played football, and female students.
Another interesting finding from the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology as summarized by the Child Psychology and Parenting Blog. Basically, parents of ‘06 reported having higher expectations of their children on a variety of domains (academic, interpersonal, household), and they do a more thorough job of monitoring their child’s behavior than parents of ‘86. However, data indicate that children have more conduct problems compared those in 1986. Why? Click the above link to read on. The good news: the increase in parental expectations and monitoring may actually have prevented a larger decline in conduct. Put differently, if ‘06 parents had the same expectations and behaviors of ‘86 parents, their children’s conduct issues may have been far worse. The findings also challenge the notion that today’s parents are more permissive than their predecessors AND that such permissiveness is the main reason for the upswing in conduct problems in youth today.
You may have seen or heard about a soon-to-be-released study in Pediatrics that addresses the issue of high-paced television shows and their possible effects on children’s subsequent, short-term ability to demonstrate impulse control. Nestor Lopez-Duran, Ph.D. does a much better job of summarizing some preliminary results than I could, so click here to read the summary. While you’re at it, bookmark his informative web site and subscribe to receive his blogs about child and parent-related research.
I was recently reminded that if you look up at the sky on a clear night, you can actually see amazing things if you know where to look and what to look for. Click here, click the “enter country” button, and follow the prompts to see when you can look up and watch the International Space Station and other satellites fly across the night sky. Oh, and make sure you bring your sons outside to check it out too.
Interesting new research out of the University of Missouri that is soon to be published in the journal Child Development indicates that boys and girls report having different expectations and feelings about discussing problems. Girls reported more positive expectations about how discussing a problem would make them feel (e.g., cared for, understood). Boys did not report more negative expectations about talking about problems (e.g., feeling embarrassed or weak, or that they might be teased) than girls. However, boys reported that talking about problems would make them feel “weird” and like they were “wasting time.” It is unclear what boys meant by “weird”, but it seems that many boys think that talking out a problem is not a good use of time. Implications for the findings included helping parents see the benefits of using a “middle-of-the-road” approach for both genders, where boys are able to see the value or utility in talking about certain problems, and girls learn that talking about a problem is not the sole way to cope with it. The trick will be for parents (and helping professionals) to provide boys with an actual experience of discussing a problem where they feel as though it was useful. Click here for more information on the study.
As data continue to indicate that boys are not catching up to girls with regard to literacy (like they used to), here’s an article aimed to get us to think about how we help boys connect and stay connected to literature.
Here is a sweet example of a boy doing the right thing. The set up: boy at baseball game, foul ball hit boy’s way, man in front of boy catches foul ball, man in front of boy who caught foul ball turns around and gives ball to boy. Click here to see what then happens a few innings later. As with previous videos posted on the BIG News Blog, show it to your sons.
Click here for the Q & A-style article.
Even though athletics is the backdrop, I think this is about life. Show your sons.
This time of year I like to re-read the commencement speech delivered by David Foster Wallace in 2005 at Kenyon College. You would be hard-pressed to find a better one. Please have your sons and daughters read it, especially if they have graduated from one thing and are moving on to another.
Although this question has been asked for years, little information exists about the outcome of such a practice. Also, does it affect the genders differently, if at all? Here is the latest article.
A newly released book by Niobe Way, Deep Secrets: Boys’ Friendships and the Crisis of Connection, she explores what it is like to grow up male in America today. See the product description below:
“Boys are emotionally illiterate and don’t want intimate friendships.” In this empirically grounded challenge to our stereotypes about boys and men, Niobe Way reveals the intense intimacy among teenage boys especially during early and middle adolescence. Boys not only share their deepest secrets and feelings with their closest male friends, they claim that without them they would go “wacko.” Yet as boys become men, they become distrustful, lose these friendships, and feel isolated and alone.
Drawing from hundreds of interviews conducted throughout adolescence with black, Latino, white, and Asian American boys, Deep Secrets reveals the ways in which we have been telling ourselves a false story about boys, friendships, and human nature. Boys’ descriptions of their male friendships sound more like “something out of Love Story thanLord of the Flies.” Yet in late adolescence, boys feel they have to “man up” by becoming stoic and independent. Vulnerable emotions and intimate friendships are for girls and gay men. “No homo” becomes their mantra.
These findings are alarming, given what we know about links between friendships and health, and even longevity. Rather than a “boy crisis,” Way argues that boys are experiencing a “crisis of connection” because they live in a culture where human needs and capacities are given a sex (female) and a sexuality (gay), and thus discouraged for those who are neither. Way argues that the solution lies with exposing the inaccuracies of our gender stereotypes and fostering these critical relationships and fundamental human skills.
Click here for a brief review of Way’s book. My review is coming soon.
Kathleen Palmer Cleveland has written the soon-to-be-released Teaching Boys Who Struggle in School: Strategies That Turn Underachievers into Successful Learners. It looks as though she has integrated William Pollock’s Boy Code into the content, which is a plus.
Here is a quick read on relatively new data published by the National Institute of Mental Health’s Child Psychiatry Branch that discusses male/female brain differences. Not surprisingly, Drs. Eliot and Sax speak for each side.
Here is an interesting take (and minority view) on the “benefits” of video games. Be sure to take a look at the video piece at the bottom.
It’s been said that if you remove all toy guns from the home, then give a boy a stick, he’ll inevitably turn it toward you (or something else), point, and shoot. Here’s a good article that talks about how parents can better understand “gun play” and what to do (if anything) about it.
Michael Thompson (Raising Cain, Speaking of Boys, Best Friends / Worst Enemies) wrote a concise, thought -provoking article for PBS.com about the different types of boys who disengage from school.
Here are links to two recent articles from the Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine about the “gap year” that more and more teens are taking before starting college. Although there is little data on how taking a gap year affects college performance (and overall functioning in young adults), college administrators are reporting that those students who take the gap year prior to starting college seem to be more motivated and well rounded when they show up on campus a year later.
Boys may actually benefit from aggressive play despite the commonly held notion that such play can only be harmful for kids. In a recent article, experts discussed the fears that so many teachers of young children (mostly women) and parents (mostly mothers) have in allowing boys to engage in energetic, “aggressive” play with one another. Of course, the fear is that such play may desensitize boys to violent behavior in general and may lead, in turn, to more serious and specific violent behavior. Fortunately for parents of boys, the connection between aggressive play (which usually does not involve the intent to hurt) and violence in boys is spurious. Click the link to read more.
As posted on 6/28/10, Race to Nowhere is an important documentary to see if you have children in middle and/or high school, and it is being shown at multiple locations on multiple dates across San Diego in the coming months. The film looks at today’s achievement-obsessed, academic culture, and what that fixation and pressure has done to our children’s attitudes about learning. The film also highlights the psychological and physical effects of such a culture on our children. For locations, dates, and times of screenings in San Diego, see below. For additional screenings around the country, click the link above.
Encinitas Community Center / September 10th / 6:30 pm
The Grauer School, Encinitas / October 1st / 7 pm
La Jolla High School / October 4th / 7 pm
By now, many have heard or read about the new study from the journal Pediatrics indicating that by the age of 7 years, 23% of African-American, 15% of Latina and 10% of white girls have already started to develop breasts, a hallmark of the onset of puberty. Although no definitive answers are offered to explain why, theories abound (obesity and its relationship to the production of higher levels of estrogen, which triggers breast development and menstruation; exposure to chemicals in plastics or pesticides that can mimic estrogen). Clearly there are concerns about how this affects young girls psychologically (doubt about body image, a premature confrontation with their sexuality, increased vulnerability to bullying and harassment), but what about the effect on boys? How will boys respond to (and make sense out of) their 2nd and 3rd grade counterparts when they start visibly maturing before their eyes? Boys already fall behind girls academically and socially during the elementary and middle-school years, and now they are lagging further behind physically. Click here to read about the possible effects on both genders.
Recent article from the Washington Post. Too many boys, not enough rivers.
Richard Whitmire’s informative blog will keep you up-to-date on the latest research, education policy, and gender gap findings on boys and their academic functioning (especially reading). I visit his blog at least twice a week and find it an enlightening and solid resource.
A new article in Newsweek does a decent of summarizing the most recent positions from each camp. The key questions remain: does separating students by gender facilitate academic, social, and emotional growth in kids? If so, how? Why do some students respond well to single-sex classrooms while others do not? On the other hand, does the separation promote gender stereotypes? How would we know this? As is typically the case with these tough issues, we need more data for answers. Stay tuned.
Here’s a short yet solid list of book recommendations for your sons this summer. If you have any additional recommendations, feel free to email BIG, and we will add it to the BIG Library.
Race to Nowhere, a documentary to be released this fall, has begun its screenings across the country to positive reviews. The film looks at today’s achievement-obsessed, academic (and broader) culture, and what that fixation and pressure has done to our children’s attitudes about learning. The film also highlights the psychological and physical effects of this culture on our children. For an extended trailer from the Op-Ed section of the New York Times, click here.
A new study in the Journal of Adolescence finds that when dating is concerned, teen girls tend to disclose more information to their parents than teen boys. Both teen boys and girls are more disclosing to their mothers than fathers (in terms of frequency and detail of disclosure), but the investigation did not suggest why teens seek out their mothers more than their fathers. The study also did not examine why teen boys are less disclosing in general about dating topics. Another interesting aspect of the research finds that when it comes to certain, specific topics (i.e., sex and sexuality, what the teen does with their partner when unsupervised), both teen boys and girls are equally non-disclosing and show no difference in preference to discuss these topics with their mothers or fathers. The study goes on to report that the more “trust” teens report having in their parents, the more they disclose, especially girls. What the study and the teens defined as “trust” is unclear, but it may have something to do with the idea that teens report wanting parents who 1) actually listen; and 2) do not consistently react with strong judgements, emotions, or harsh discipline when a disclosure is made. If parents are not able to achieve this, teens put up walls of silence that can be deafening when what they need most is parental guidance, advice, and support.
This idea coming to fruition was inevitable. Can such a formal Academy of Game and Design Development engage the disengaged student? Time will tell. My hunch is that the student body will be comprised of many, many boys. Click here for more.
Chris Miller, Ph.D. (Director of BIG) and Chrystal de Freitas, M.D. (founder of Healthy Chats) will meet with 5th and 6th grade boys at Notre Dame Academy on April 23rd to educate them about the wonders of male puberty. Drs. de Freitas and Miller will provide information about the medical/biological, social/emotional, and relational changes that take place for boys during puberty. For more information about Healthy Chats and its mission to provide parents with accurate information to help them teach their children about puberty, click the link above.
Michael Chabon’s newest work is a collection of essays about his fond and not-so-fond memories about boyhood, as well as his current thoughts about what it means to be a husband, father, and man in the 21st Century. A sampling: “Men’s refusal to stop and ask for directions, a foundational cliche of women’s criticism, analysis, and stand-up mockery of male behavior, is a perfect example of this tendency to put up a front, in that it views as aberrant a condition (being lost) that is ineluctable, a given of human existence. We are born lost and spend vast stretches of our lives on wrong turns and backtracking. In this respect, male fronting resembles a number of other behaviors typically ascribed to men and masculinity, in that it proceeds by denying essential human conditions or response (say public displays of mutual affection, grief, or triumph) marking them as feminine, infantile, socially unacceptable.” Sounds like William Pollack’s “Boy Code” to me. Click here for a NY Times review and here to buy.
Click here for a brief column by Nicholas Kristof, who summarizes and opines about some of the recent findings discussed in the previous two posts from the BIG News Blog.
On the heals of the last BIG News Blog on boys and literacy comes news that expert William Brozo has updated his book To Be A Boy, To Be A Reader. Due in April, the International Reading Association provides a nice summary of the book: According to a new study from the Center on Education Policy that analyzed state test scores in reading and math, “the lagging performance by boys in reading is the most pressing gender-gap issue facing our schools.” In some states, some boys are a full ten percentage points below that of girls. These statistics reaffirm what noted expert William Brozo has been telling us for years. Weaker literacy skills lead to disengagement, which leads to poor school achievement, which ultimately leads to dropping out. These, however, are only school-related problems. This achievement deficit has far-reaching ripples. Consider these facts: Adolescent boys make up the largest group of dropouts and delinquents, which makes them vulnerable to underemployment and unemployment and, far worse, puts them at higher risk of becoming criminal offenders. Brozo emphasizes that “engaged readers have a much greater chance of staying in school, expanding career and life options, and maturing into self-actualized adults.” The premise is simple: meet boys where they are, then help them get to where they need to be. But the ideas offered in Brozo’s book are crucial, providing exactly the framework needed to motivate, inspire, and truly reach boys before it is too late. To Be A Boy, To Be A Reader centers on engaging boys with books that contain positive male archetypes. Readers will get full descriptions (with literature examples) of all 10 archetypes, a new chapter that focuses on using alternative texts such as graphic novels and comic books, fresh ideas for involving parents and community leaders in boys’ literacy growth, and an expansive, fully updated young adult literature list, organized by the 10 archetypes. Click the above link if you are interested in getting more information .
According to the Center on Education Policy, girls are outperforming boys in every state on standardized reading tests. The studyincludes a national snapshot of 2008 reading and math differences across genders for 4th, 8th, and high school-aged students, and inno state in the country are boys outperforming girls in reading at any of the three grade levels. This gender gap in literacy emerged approximately twenty years ago, when the educational system began to push for more sophisticated literacy skills at earlier grade levels. Girls responded well to this push.
Boys were not as cognitively ready for literacy and these early educational frustrations and their connection to later academic disengagement have been well documented. The core issue is how to effectively engage boys’ interests in reading and how to maintain a passion for reading.
A wonderful accomplishment for any school’s senior class. An even closer look is warranted when you add to the mix that 1) the school is only two years old and 2) when the current graduating senior class began its work there, only 4% were reading at grade level. What role, if any, did the single-gender aspect of the education play? What was the quality of instruction (probably quite high)? Can similar results be achieved in other urban, coed schools? As the debate rages on about the effectiveness of single-sex education (and education in general), those aspects of curriculum, instruction, classroom size, expectations of both students and their teachers, and gender differences with regard to learning styles continue to be studied. Until we know more about what and how education truly works for students, we look at shining examples like Urban Prep for some answers. Read the article about Urban Prep here.
A new study published in Psychological Science examined the effects of owning a video game console on the reading and writing development of boys ages 6 to 9 nine years. Families participating in the study were randomly split in half, with one group immediately receiving a video game console and the other receiving one after the four-month investigation was complete. Researchers found, not surprisingly, that the boys of the families who immediately received the console spent less time engaging in after-school academic activities than the boys in the other families. After the four-month time frame, investigators found that the boys who were exposed to video gaming performed significantly lower on reading and writing measures compared to the other boys. Teachers also reported more “learning problems” in the gaming group over the four-month period. What does not appear to be addressed in the study is “displacement theory” of learning in children, which suggests that any after-school activity (e.g., sports, playing outside) can get in the way of a child’s “learning” and that gaming is just another activity that “displaces” kids’ exposure to academic work. The question remains: is it something specific about the gaming that slows learning, or is it that the child is merely doing something other than reading and writing that is getting in the way? More studies on the way.
A recent study in the Journal of Adolescent Research provides continued support of the notion that young teen boys and girls differ in how some of them unhealthily establish and maintain social standing and power. For girls who participate in “mean” behaviors, subtle, non-verbal ones such as ignoring and unwelcoming or rejecting facial expressions, as well as going behind others’ backs and gossiping fell at the top of the list. For boys, less subtle behaviors (probably due to less social sophistication) like direct teasing and exclusion from games or sports were utilized more often. Despite the differences in how boys and girls engage in relational aggression, the reasons behind the behaviors were the same: to establish greater social status in the eyes of their peer group. Those characteristics that placed targets on kids’ backs? Interestingly, they ranged from negative (lack of social appeal, emotional reactivity, being provocative or “annoying” to peers) to positive (being too popular or too talented at something).
Researchers are finding that middle school-aged boys are becoming more focused and self-conscious about appearance and identity at younger ages. Some believe it is due to pre-pubescent boys trying to keep pace with their pubescent girl counterparts. That’s nothing new or groundbreaking. What is fairly recent is the way in which marketing to the 10-14 year-old boy demographic has revved up. Case in point: “Masculinity in a Spray Can” from the New York Times. Important question: how does this marketing affect the way boys understand masculinity and what it means to be a man at an age when there can be so much confusion and anxiety about masculine identity formation?
Two recently published research papers by researcher Judith Kleinfeld shed more light on the needs of boys and young men along the educational continuum, as well as the reasons many young men forgo higher education. The research indicates that, when compared to girls, boys lag behind in overall academic performance, college enrollment, and standardized test scores. AlthoughKleinfeld does not see these discrepancies as evidence of a “boy crisis”, she suggests that boys and girls suffer from “unique and characteristic differences” that should be addressed by the educational system. Kleinfeld also assessed specific reasons why male graduating seniors chose to skip college. The top reasons: 1) mistakenly thinking that they could earn higher wages right away without a college education; 2) deciding that they would rather get paid for working than pay for college; 3) having little knowledge of the job market; and 4) having little concept of how much it costs to live a middle-class lifestyle. Moreover, high school boys and girls are stereotyping boys and their abilities. The three themes that emerged from the students’ responses: young men are lazy, they don’t plan ahead, and they are prone to peer pressure. The possible danger of the development of a self-fulfilling prophecy for boys and young men as it relates to these stereotypes has yet to be examined. To review the two studies in more detail, click either link:The State of American Boyhood / No Map To Manhood
BIG is pleased to announce that it is joining forces with Chrystal de Freitas, M.D. and Healthy Chats LLC to provide parents with accurate, age-appropriate information to help them educate their 10-12-year-old sons about puberty. Dr. de Freitas established Healthy Chats in 1993 and has conducted hundreds of family educational programs including Healthy Chats for Girls seminars for mothers and their pre-teen daughters, The Birds and the Bees with Ease! seminars for parents, and Healthy Chats for Boys seminars for sons to attend with one or both parents. BIG’s role in its collaboration with Healthy Chats is to assist parents and their sons by providing relevant and practical information and resources with the goal of improving parent/son communication about male puberty. Click here to learn more about Healthy Chats or if you are interested in attending one of the seminars with your child.
“Jimmy V” week occurs during the first week of December each year as a major fundraiser for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, which has raised over $90 million since its inception in 1993. The Foundation was started by ESPN and Jim Valvano, the passionate former coach of North Carolina State University and award-winning broadcaster, as he battled cancer. In a televised awards ceremony on ESPN in 1993, Jim received the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award and gave a memorable speech about living a fulfilling life and the importance of cancer research. Only months later, Jim passed away. I recall watching the speech live when I was a young adult, being inspired by it, and never forgetting it. In fact, I watch it each year when “Jimmy V” week rolls around. I urge you to watch (or re-watch) the speech by clicking here and to think about showing it to your middle-school and high-school aged sons. The messages contained in his speech (the three things we should do every day to live a more fulfilling life, the three areas of focus for kids to be healthy and productive members of the community) are solid ones for boys to ponder. I then encourage you to watch this video about 12-year-old Jake Olson, an evocative piece that will help you re-evaluate priorities. If you think the video is appropriate for your sons to watch, show it to them. They may even be moved to action by donating to cancer research or coming up with creative ideas to help others.
ZEITOUN by Dave Eggers: With Winter Break approaching, think about reading and having your older teen/young adult son readZeitoun. The nonfiction work by Eggers chronicles the experience of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a successful, middle-aged, Syrian-American painting contractor who stays in New Orleans to oversee his various properties while his family flees Hurricane Katrina. In the days following the storm and after the levees breach, Zeitoun uses his canoe to navigate the city, helping those in need. His initial mission of protecting his properties quickly shifts to a humanitarian one once Zeitoun realizes the tragedies unfolding before him. What Zeitoun must confront soon thereafter, however, is nothing short of shocking. His story is one of compassion, social justice, outrage, decency/indecency, and resiliency. Ultimately, the overarching message of Zeitoun’s experience is one of hope, rebirth, and repair in the face of extreme adversity. For a review of the book, click here. You can also go here to order it.
Those interested in the BIG News Blog can now subscribe for free at the BIG web site. Subscriptions will enable caretakers of boys and professionals who work with boys to receive frequent email notifications whenever there is a new posting on the BIG News Blog. If you are interested in subscribing, click any of the options on the right side of the BIG News Blog page and follow the instructions. The BIG News Blog is dedicated to providing caretakers and professionals with the latest research, helpful information, and supportive guidance about boys. We hope you subscribe.
In her child psychology research blog, Nester Lopez-Duran, Ph.D., reports findings from a study on the long-term effects of bullying during the middle childhood years. One finding from the study indicated that those children who experienced bullying during these years were approximately twice as likely to have psychotic symptoms later in adolescence. Dr. Lopez-Duran, however, reports that the relationship between bullying and later psychiatric symptoms is not causative. Other studies have found that it is possible that children who are exhibiting psychiatric problems during these years are targeted by others because of their symptoms. Dr. Lopez-Duran concludes that “it is possible that among boys, it is not being a victim of bullying that predicts later psychopathology, but it is the reason behind why these kids become victims in the first place (for example, underlying anxiety, depression, pre-psychotic symptoms) that signal the eventual emergence of more severe psychiatric difficulties”. The implication of this finding is that parents and professionals should screen for possible underlying symptoms in children who are bullied that may be putting the child at greater risk for becoming a target. Click the above link to read more of the summary by Dr. Lopez-Duran.
In their highly engaging and informative new book, NurtureShock, authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman look at the unfortunate mistaking of good intentions for good ideas by well-meaning parents. In their quest to nurture children into well-adjusted, capable individuals, parents (and the professionals who have advised them) have often overlooked key aspects of what science tells us about the ways in which children and adolescents learn, socialize, respond to praise, and are affected by sleep. With a range of topics (e.g., why kids lie even though most report that it is morally wrong, the inverse power of praise, teaching self-control, the sibling effect, the negative effects of decreased sleep on children and teens), the authors do an effective job of providing scientific data that is easy to digest, which makes reading NurtureShock not only educational but entertaining. A good addition to your library.
BIG Director, Dr. Chris Miller, will meet with middle school boys at Francis Parker School and Warren-Walker School throughout the ‘09-’10 academic year to discuss those issues that matter most to 21st Century boys: friendships/relationships with girls, getting along with male peers, making sense out of pop culture and the power/messages of popular media, 21st Century masculinity, sex and sexuality, and staying connected to parents. The Warren-Walker program will include 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys, and the Parker program will include 7th and 8th grade boys. Dr. Miller will spend approximately 4-6 hours with boys from each grade over the course of several months to educate, empower, and hear about the ups and downs of pre- and early male adolescence. This information will then be used to further educate and empower parents of students from each school in separate parent programs. These parent programs are to take place in late winter/early spring 2010. Parallel girls’ programs will take place on each campus as well.
If you have a son (or daughter) who plays guitar, you may want to take them to see It Might Get Loud, a newly released film that tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos, The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds), and Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs). It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing. Concentrating on the artist’s musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, and provoking rare discussions as to how and why he writes and plays, the film lets you witness intimate moments and lets you hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met to share their stories, teach each other, and play together. Click here for a preview. If nothing else, the movie should provoke some discussion about the role music plays in our own and our sons’ lives and how it can be a powerfully connective force for parents and children.
BIG strongly recommends visiting the Child Psychology Research Blog if you are interested in reviewing what the latest research says about a range of pediatric topics. The site is geared toward parents, educators, and clinicians and does a solid job of presenting current research on key areas of childhood emotional and cognitive development. These include academic achievement, developmental disorders, behavior problems, depression, eating disorders, medication, and parenting/discipline, among others. Bookmark the site and visit it regularly.
A new round of social resiliency groups is set to begin for boys in two age ranges: 6 to 7.5 years and 10 to 12.5 years. In addition to the standard social thinking curriculum, both 8-week cycles will incorporate a newly developed component to BIG’s curriculum: the planned get together. Aimed at promoting generalizability of the social skills learned at BIG into the true social world, these get togethers will be planned and organized by parents of boys in the program. It is hoped that the get togethers will also help the boys develop deeper social connections with one another through shared social experiences. In recently completed cycles, parents are offering positive feedback related to the get togethers and report that they are a valuable new addition to the program. If you are interested in signing up your boy for any of the social connection/resiliency groups, contact Dr. Miller directly.
In the July issue of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, researchers from Canada have published findings indicating that impulsive boys with inadequate supervision, poor families, and “deviant” friends are significantly more likely to engage in activities that will eventually land them in juvenile court. That’s not particularly surprising. What is unexpected is that the help provided to these boys within the juvenile justice system substantially increased the risk of the boys engaging in criminal activities during early adulthood. The researchers compared two groups of 779 boys (ages 10-17) with similar behavioral (i.e., delinquency) histories: 1) those who entered the juvenile justice system; and 2) those who did not. The results indicate that for those boys who had been through the juvenile justice system, there was a seven-fold increase in the likelihood of adult judicial involvement. Why? Researchers believe that putting “deviant” teens together creates a culture of deviance, which then makes delinquent behavior more likely in young adulthood. Interestingly, the Quebec juvenile justice system has the reputation of being one of the best in North America. What do we do with these findings to help these boys? According to one of the lead researchers, two things: 1) prevention programs before adolescence when children are more responsive; and 2) decrease the concentration of delinquent youth in juvenile justice programs, thus reducing the risk of “peer contagion”. Tall yet important tasks. For more from this study, click here.
Talk about a year-long adventure! Zac Sunderland, 17, landed his boat today in Marina del Rey, California and became the youngest person to sail solo around the world. His desire to accomplish the feat began when several years ago his parents pushed him to develop a passion that might steer him away from “the negative and harmful influences so prevalent in today’s society”. Wonder if they thought Zac would have taken his passion for sailing this far! Click here for a brief story on Zac’s amazing accomplishment and here for the ESPN The Magazine cover story and video clip. Have your son check out the video clip. Perhaps he’ll be the one to break Zac’s record.
The new book Why Don’t Students Like School? by University of Virginia cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham attempts to address the complicated questions surrounding individual and gender learning differences in children, the role of parents and teachers in maintaining a child’s thirst for knowledge and intellectual curiosity, and the role of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in strengthening learning experiences. To read a recent interview of Daniel Willingham, click here. Click here for a review of Why Don’t Students Like School? from the Wall Street Journal.
David Wexler, Ph.D., director of the Relationship Training Institute, and Ken Druck, Ph.D., founder of the Jenna Druck Foundation, are collaborating on June 18th, 2009 to provide valuable information about men and grief. Their interactive presentation is to be held at 2820 Roosevelt Street, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92106 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm. It is sure to be an informative evening that is aimed at providing strategies to help men process and cope with their grief. For more information, please contact the Jenna Druck Foundation at 619-294-8000.
Dr. Chris Miller will meet with parents of San Diego Jewish Academy students to continue with a series of boy-related trainings. Dr. Miller will help parents understand the relationship between boys and aggression, as well as teach them ways to help their sons channel aggression in healthy, constructive ways.
A new study by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has discovered an “autism-risk gene” that is more prevalent in boys than girls, perhaps uncovering important clues as to why the disorder is four times more likely to be found in males versus females. In the study, researchers reviewed a genetic database that included 2000 families with at least one autistic child. What they found was that a particular variant of a specific gene (on chromosome 17) was far more prevalent in autistic boys. The study also highlights the fact that there remains a complicated interplay between certain genes or genetic variants and environment that makes straightforward identification of causes for autism difficult. What is encouraging is that the science continues to gradually provide us with a clearer picture of what may be at the root of the disorder and, eventually, what we can do to provide solid screening tools and early intervention. To get more detailed information about the study, click the link above.
A newly released study from the University of California at Berkeley found that there was a significantly positive relationship between ADHD medication management and academic achievement during elementary school. The study is the first of its kind to collect objective data pertaining to the long-term effects of medication on academic functioning. Researchers followed 600 students for roughly five years and measured their performances on standardized math and reading tests. All of the students participating in the research had been diagnosed with ADHD, and comparisons were made between test scores of those taking ADHD medications and those who were not. Results indicated that those students taking ADHD medication showed significant gains in math and reading scores compared to those students who were not taking ADHD medication. For more information about this study, click here.
Fifty-two years ago, members of a review committee at the National Institutes of Health dug into their wallets and purses to give a “grant” to a 9-year-old boy named Terence Boylan of Snyder, N.Y. His energetic request for $10 to build a rocket ship with his 14-year-old friend Bruce Cook moved distinguished members of this NIH committee to invest in the future. Today, any child or adult can send a request to the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CRS) to receive a new children’s book that tells the trials and triumphs of NIH’s youngest researchers: “The NIH Rocket Boys: How NIH Gives Health and Hope to Kids and the World.” The book is written at a reading level suitable for fourth or fifth graders and can be enjoyed by older readers. Go here for more information.
After much delay, Where the Wild Things Are finally has its release date (October 16, 2009). Based on the beloved children’s book by Maurice Sendak and directed by Spike Jones, its adaptation to the big screen has been controversial, mainly because Jones and Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, What is the What) co-created a screenplay that many felt was too scary for young children. Before you take your sons, make sure you check its rating, and you can always go to this site to review its content to see if it’s appropriate for your child. I will have my own review of the film soon after it is released. Check out the trailer and see what you think. Seems to appeal to the adventure and “wild thing” in all of us (especially boys). Stay tuned.
Dr. Miller will meet with parents of San Diego Jewish Academy students to discuss boy-specific issues. Specifically, Dr. Miller will address common myths about boys and their behavior, how to connect (and stay connected) with boys of different ages, and how to maximize parents’ care giving potential.
An article in the new Time Magazine describes a recent study that suggests that the restlessness and body movement that so many parents and teachers observe in children with ADHD may actually help kids focus better. In short, the study proposes that the fidgeting may facilitate rather than impede learning. Implications for the classroom (e.g., allowing kids to move around versus demanding they stay still, that is, provided their movement is not distracting to other students)) are also discussed.
If you are looking for some good books for boys, go to guysread.com. It categorizes books by age and has a fairly comprehensive list for parents to browse. It even has a section for adult guys. GUYS READ is a web-based nonprofit literacy initiative for boys founded by John Scieszka. It is a sponsored program of the New York Foundation for the Arts.
At the end of March, BIG will release its inaugural quarterly newsletters for parents and professionals. The BIG Quarterly Newsletter for Parents will provide caretakers of boys with educational, boy-focused articles, links to new and exciting boy-related information, and book reviews. The BIG Quarterly Newsletter for Professionals will offer articles and other valuable, practical information for clinicians, teachers, school administrators, and anyone else devoted to empowering boys, young men, and their caretakers. If you would like to be included on the email list, lease feel free to contact Dr. Miller at boysinstitute@sbcglobal.net.
In keeping with recent posts about resiliency, learning from mistakes, and pushing forward, please watch this video on DJ Gregory. Show it to your sons as well.
If you have a son (or daughter) who is afraid to take risks or make mistakes because of a fear of failure, show and talk with them about this old Michael Jordan commercial. It’s a solid message for youth about how to think about and obtain “success” (however they define it).
A research team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has found that gender differences related to math performance have virtually disappeared. The study examined scores of seven million students from state math exams mandated by No Child Left Behind, as well as math performances on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The findings represent a shift from old data pointing to higher math aptitude among boys compared to girls. Read more by accessing the link above.
The Archives of General Psychiatry has published a new study indicating that teen boys who watch too much television may be more susceptible to depression than those boys who do not watch as much. The study found that both adolescent boys and girls who are exposed to unhealthy models of masculinity and femininity (vis-à-vis television) are more likely to develop depressive symptoms. For more information about the study, click either of the links below:
As part of its ongoing mission to educate and empower parents across southern California, BIG Director, Chris Miller, Ph.D. is conducting a parent empowerment presentation in San Diego. Dr. Miller will be meeting with parents of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys at Warren-Walker School during the evening of March 25th, 2009. This presentation will focus on the specific social and emotional needs of middle school boys and will provide valuable information related to boys and video gaming, social networking, and communication with peers and parents.
Dr. Chris Miller will meet separately with the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys at Warren-Walker School to discuss relevant issues pertaining to 21st Century, middle school boys. Topics will include: friendships with girls, getting along with peers, 21st Century masculinity, the power and messages of popular media, and staying connected to parents. Dr. Miller will meet for a total of four hours with each grade over a three-week span.
Beginning in March 2009, BIG will release quarterly newsletters for both parents and professionals. The BIG Quarterly Newsletter for Parents will provide caretakers of boys with educational, boy-focused articles, links to new and exciting boy-related information, and book reviews. The BIG Quarterly Newsletter for Professionals will offer articles and other valuable and practical information to clinicians, teachers, school administrators, and anyone else devoted to empowering boys and young men. Please look for these new publications in March!
As part of its ongoing mission to educate and empower parents across southern California, BIG Director, Chris Miller, Ph.D. is conducting parent empowerment presentations in Los Angeles and San Diego. Dr. Miller will be meeting with parents of students at St. Philip the Apostle in Pasadena in November and with parents of students at Warren Walker Middle School here in San Diego in October. The presentations will focus on the social world of boys and how parents can stay connected to their sons in healthy and practical ways. Dr. Miller will be collaborating with The Institute for Girls’ Development (www.instituteforgirlsdevelopment.com) at St. Philip to provide parents with exciting, new information on both boys’ and girls’ social worlds.
A variety of social connection groups are starting up at BIG for fall 2008. All ages are welcome and waiting lists are being developed due to high demand. Please feel free to contact Dr. Miller if you are interested in enrolling your son into any of offered groups.
On March 28th, Chris Miller, Ph.D., will meet with mothers of The Bishop’s School’s 9th grade boys to co-facilitate a discussion of Michael Gurian’s “A Fine Young Man”. Gurian’s book addresses the emotional lives of adolescent males, the three stages of male adolescence, and the education (mis-education?) of teen males through formal academia and powerful media influences.
On April 4, Chris Miller, Ph.D., will meet with students at Cardiff Elementary School to teach them concrete and effective tools for coping with being verbally or physically bullied and with being teased. As a result of attending this assembly, students will learn how to: 1) assertively respond to bullying and teasing with words and behaviors that do not provoke or escalate but rather diffuse the situation; 2) go to a trusted adult when the bullying or teasing does not stop; and 3) not let the bullying or teasing get them down. Dr. Miller will spend 75 minutes with the entire student body.
On March 11, Chris Miller, Ph.D., will travel to Los Angeles and team up with Melissa Johnson, Ph.D., to provide training aimed at enhancing social skills for students at Saint Philip the Apostle School. Dr. Johnson is the Director of the Institute for Girls’ Development (www.instituteforgirlsdevelopment.com) in Pasadena and will meet with 4th grade through 8th grade girls, while Dr. Miller will meet with the 4th grade through 8th grade boys. During the evening portion of the program, Drs. Johnson and Miller will meet with parents to provide them with the latest research on boys’ and girls’ social worlds and proven tools for helping maximize their children’s social and emotional growth.
On January 22, 2008 BIG Director Chris Miller, Ph.D., will meet with parents of TVIA members to present: “Boys and Their Toys: Why Boys Play Video Games, How It Affects Them, and What Parents Can Do About It”. General themes of the talk will include reasons boys are drawn to video games, the good, bad, and ugly effects of video games on boys, and basic guidelines for parents regarding gaming.
BIG Director Chris Miller, Ph.D., is meeting with all Bishop’s School 8th grade boys over a two week stretch in December 2007 to discuss important, boy-related topics, including relationships with girls, what it means to be “real guy” in the 21st Century, and the pressure to fit in. Dr. Miller will meet with six different groups of boys on four separate occasions, thus spending a total of 24 hours discussing these and other important topics.
New round of groups to begin the week of September 10th: After a productive summer group program, BIG is offering a new, 8-week cycle of social connection groups beginning the second week of September. In addition, a new Bully Proofing Boys group will begin during the same week. This 8-week group will focus on helping boys cope with being teased and bullied and is comprised of a five-week cycle for the boys and a three-week cycle for caretakers. For more detailed information about the curriculum, please visit the “Programs & Services” section.
The BIG Library is being developed to empower boys, their parents, and those professionals working with boys. The Library is divided into sections specifically targeting boys of varying ages, parents, and professionals. Brief summaries of each recommended reading are provided, and links for articles are listed. If you have any interest in an article that does not have a link, please email Dr. Miller at boysinstitute@sbcglobal.net, and he will send a hard copy of the requested article directly to you. As the weeks and months pass, relevant and practical information will be added to the Library, so look for new entries.
An exciting, 8-week social connection curriculum is underway at BIG. The group teaches boys concrete skills that help them connect with each other and with same-age peers. If your son falls within this age range, and you would like to have him placed on the waiting list for the next cycle (tentatively scheduled for early September 2007), please contact Dr. Miller at 858-761-2256 or boysinstitute@sbcglobal.net.
Dr. Chris Miller, Director of BIG, met with various mental health professionals to present recent research on boys and their adjustment to divorce. Sponsored by the San Diego Psychological Association, Dr. Miller trained attendees on how to address boys’ needs throughout the divorce process, and how professionals and parents can facilitate healthy adjustment to boys’ post-separation or post-divorce worlds.
The social connection group for boys 6-8 years has begun. This eight-week cycle will run until August 15, 2007. The BIG waiting list for this age group continues to grow, and a tentative start date for the next cycle is September 5, 2007. Reserve a spot for the September group by contacting Dr. Miller at 858-761-2256 or boysinstitute@sbcglobal.net.
