Supporting boys’ close friendships is essential to men’s well-being. This article offers practical tips for challenging male stereotypes and encouraging boys to show emotional vulnerability.

https://www.thestar.com/life/2018/02/20/boys-close-friendships-must-survive-masculine-expectations.html

 

A preliminary glance at the title of this piece may leave you scoffing at the disrespectful notion of talking to boys like animals, but take a closer look.  The author, a clinical psychologist, presents a compelling case for how often we talk to our animals in loving and tolerant tones, yet our children don’t regularly receive the same.  It’s an interesting lens through which to view how we talk–and how we listen– to young boys.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/well/family/whos-a-good-boy.html

 

As a MERGE Children’s Book Campaign consultant, Megan Dowd Lambert contributes her rich experience and passion to our work in Developing Healthy Boys.  See her latest response to the #KidLitWomen dialogue here, where she details her diversity audit practice to ensure diversity and equity ideals are represented in book selections.

#KidLitWomen: The Diversity Audit as a Tool for Accountability and Inclusion

Review a recent column written by MERGE Executive Director John Engel, appearing in the Daily Hampshire Gazette:

Changing the way we raise boys

Reported by New York Times writer Ellen Barry: “Science may still be divided over whether gender differences are rooted in biology or culture, but many of Sweden’s government-funded preschools are doing what they can to deconstruct them. State curriculum urges teachers and principals to embrace their role as social engineers, requiring them to counteract traditional gender roles and gender patterns.”

This piece summarizes the alarming trend of lonely men in the US, and the suicide rates that follow.  With insights from our 2017 Healthy Boys Summit keynote speaker Niobe Way and her pioneering research into boys’ friendships, this podcast reinforces the critical need for developing emotionally and socially connected boys today, before they become men.
https://www.npr.org/2018/03/19/594719471/guys-we-have-a-problem-how-american-masculinity-creates-lonely-men

A study appearing in the Journal of Adolescent Health found many norms around gender become entrenched in adolescence, with negative impacts extending into adulthood.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/21/gender-stereotypes-destroying-girls-and-theyre-killing-boys/688317001/

Study reinforces the need to change the way we raise boys – today – to prevent sexual harassment tomorrow.
https://promundoglobal.org/resources/unmasking-sexual-harassment/?lang=english

Guardian article spotlights ways gender bias in children’s literature reinforces harmful gender norms. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/21/childrens-books-sexism-monster-in-your-kids-book-is-male.

MERGE Children’s Book Campaign offers an alternative! Learn more at https://www.mergeforequality.org/childrens-books/

Katy Scott’s coverage of pre-schools in Sweden highlights educators who are using self evaluation and gender screening of their classroom materials to implement gender-neutral education for young children. Read the full CNN article:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/28/health/sweden-gender-neutral-preschool/index.html