RAISING BOYS
The Australian Women's Weekly|December 2020
Boys today get a bad rap, and this year’s muck-up day controversies suggest it’s not always undeserved. Michael Sheather investigates the challenges of raising boys, and finds that with the right kind of support, they can grow up to become good men with good hearts.
Michael Sheather
RAISING BOYS

Both my sons are a lot like me. On my best days, I am measured, thoughtful, independent, and confident enough to be comfortable in my own head. I value justice and fairness. I have a deep respect for women, particularly those who share my life. My sons, both of whom are grown men studying at university, share these traits, and I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful that they’re navigating their way through a complex world with dignity and goodness – both for their own sakes and because perhaps that means I did something right as a parent. As most parents know, doing the right thing when you’re raising boys is rarely easy.

The teenage years are a confusing labyrinth, both for parents and boys. Yet these critical years also mark the formative transition from boy to man. These are the years when values consolidate, ambitions formulate, respect becomes embodied and judgement, if properly nurtured, finds a secure foundation. But is that the type of transition to manhood our boys experience today? Are we raising boys to become the men we want them to be?

There’s a lot of negative noise around young men in the media at the moment. If we listened to it all, we’d think they were a band of anti-social misogynists with little hope for meaningful relationships beyond those they have with their computer screens and credit cards. As a father, I know that’s not the whole story, but I fear it has become part of it.

Secret men’s business

Late last year, a group of boys from one of Melbourne’s most exclusive private schools, St Kevin’s College in Toorak, was filmed chanting an offensive song on a public tram in front of women, children and elderly passengers. The words the boys chanted that day are as follows:

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2020-Ausgabe von The Australian Women's Weekly.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2020-Ausgabe von The Australian Women's Weekly.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYAlle anzeigen
Hitting a nerve
The Australian Women's Weekly

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
July 2024
Take me to the river
The Australian Women's Weekly

Take me to the river

With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
July 2024
The last act
The Australian Women's Weekly

The last act

When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?

time-read
8 Minuten  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 Minuten  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
The Australian Women's Weekly

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10 Minuten  |
July 2024
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
The Australian Women's Weekly

Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?

Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
July 2024
Growing happiness
The Australian Women's Weekly

Growing happiness

Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy

time-read
8 Minuten  |
July 2024
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
The Australian Women's Weekly

"Thank God we make each other laugh"

A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:

time-read
7 Minuten  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
The Australian Women's Weekly

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
July 2024
Budget dinner winners
The Australian Women's Weekly

Budget dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
July 2024