5,806 Reasons to Guide Boys
It’s here.
Today we are proudly releasing our labour of love, the Next Gen Manual, to the world—for free. Why now? Let’s start with some numbers.
80 — percent of youth believe boys will be made fun of if they cry.
3,000+ — boys and men die by suicide every year in Canada.
6 in 10 — boys hear their peers making sexual comments or jokes about girls at least once a week.
99 — percent of alleged perpetrators of sexual violence are male.
8 — years since we looked at these statistics and decided to do something about it.
2,500+ — youth who have already been impacted by Next Gen Men programming.
2 — program evaluations conducted by YouthRex and The Students Commission of Canada.
10 and counting — modules covering mental health, healthy relationships and gender equality.
100+ — pages of lesson plans, resources and tips to change the way the next generation sees, acts, and thinks about masculinity.
Oh, and…
1 — global pandemic that changed everything.
(Not to mansplain, but that all adds up to 5,806.)
The pandemic made two things clear: the vulnerability of the mental wellbeing of young people in Canada, and the heroism of educators going above and beyond to keep their students connected, engaged, and growing.
We’ve known for a long time that the most impactful work is done by champions within their own communities. Over the last two years, we have been inspired to do all that we can to be a support to those passionate educators.
Our society’s emergence from COVID-19 is looking a lot different than its onset. It’s not a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but it does feel uncharted. It feels uncomfortable. Uncertain. Unsteady.
We’re thinking of the Gen C kids (particularly boys and masc-identifying youth), who are coming of age in the era of COVID and the climate crisis. How do you build communities that prevent suicide and violence, increase engagement and performance, and transform troublemakers to change-makers—while saving time, energy and burnout?
We don’t have clear answers yet (part of why we’re working on the Status of Boys Report), but what we do know is that with caring and committed caretakers like you, the kids will be alright.