Not to long ago I did a post talking about issues the issues boys face in school and how our job as Dad’s is to fight for them.
And let me tell you I got a ton of feedback on it. The number Dads and even a couple of mom’s who reached out to share the stories of their son’s struggles was mind-blowing and in many cases heartbreaking.
As I mentioned in that post… A lot of boys don’t fall behind because they can’t learn. They fall behind because they get labeled early and never shake it.
Teachers label them as
“Disruptive.”
“Behind.”
“Needs support.”
Sounds harmless. But to a kid, that turns into identity real fast.
As I mentioned in my last post I’ve seen it happen personally because that’s exactly what they tried to do to my son some 25 years ago.
And once a boy gets tagged, expectations drop. Teachers stop pushing. Other kids start treating him like the problem. And pretty soon he starts believing it himself.
Then of course there’s the go to solution which is what I kept hearing over and over in the feedback I was getting these past few weeks which is to: Drug the boys.
Dad after Dad told me how they tried to put their son on Ritalin, Focalin, Adderall, Anti-psychotics, and Anti-depressants.
It’s like big pharma and education have decided to become partners in the drugging of adolescent and teen boys.
Scary, Sad, and WTF all in one no?
If that’s the solution what does that say about our educational system.
And here’s what worries me most. Most boys don’t act out because they’re dumb. They act out because they’re bored, frustrated, or already convinced school isn’t for them.
And when effort doesn’t get noticed, motivation disappears. Not because they don’t care. But because caring starts to feel pointless.
Which in turn leads them to asking themselves all to often.. what good am I? Which sadly leads to many taking their lives.
This is where dads matter more than we realize. Not by yelling at grades. But by reminding those boys they do matter and they aren’t the problem. That they’re capable even when school isn’t going great.
It’s why it’s imperative that fathers push back on teachers and schools when expectations get lowered. When they try to drug their sons (and daughters in some cases).
Most of all they should never allow a label to become a sentence because far to many boys are quietly carrying one they didn’t earn.
If you’ve got a son, a nephew, or a kid you care about…
Pay attention to how people talk about him. Pay attention to what he’s starting to believe about himself.
Because confidence lost at ten turns into hesitation at twenty. And hesitation at twenty turns into playing small at thirty.
These problems aren’t new they’ve existed for 50 years now and it’s time we fought back, time we held the educational system accountable for THEIR failures.
Time we demanded our boys get the education they deserve.. not be drugged into submission
#men #menneedtobeheard #mensissues #menmatter #menssupportingmen #mensrights #boys #fatherhood #education #menslife