Racism isn’t history. Research shows that systemic racism is affecting Black youth in a variety of ways. So what’s on my mind right now is the lens of hypervulnerability.
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Last night, I watched Taika Watiti’s Jojo Rabbit set in WWII. Today is the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. So I’ve been thinking about white supremacy and violence this week.
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The boys in our programs often estimate that physical sexual violence is experienced by around 75-95% of women in Canada. At first glance, this awareness of sexual violence might seem like a positive thing, but there’s more to it than that.
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One of my favourite educators recently wrote an article that gives concrete strategies for acknowledging this element of young people’s friendships but also helping them maintain boundaries and self-care.
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A study was just published last week on the correlation between boys views about gender and their participation in violence. Educators, this is on us. It’s a new decade, and a new half of the school year. Let’s make it count.
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I know firsthand that boys can be more than what is traditionally allowed and I know that strong relationships with adult mentors and educators and make the difference. With that in mind, these are my top five recommendations from the last year.
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I’ve never heard someone critique the term ‘breaking’ in the context of boys’ pubertal development. It makes me wonder what other notions about boyhood and masculinity continue to go unquestioned even today.
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If it’s significant for a staff writer at GQ, it’s significant for a young adolescent immersed in the peripheral rap industry—so I wonder how significant it would be for that teen to hear from a teacher or parent an expression of awareness or condolence, and perhaps an inquiry of what meaning an event like this carries.
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I have a number of relevant statistics memorized and use them in different ways when engaging the boys in reflection on how misogyny affects our society. Over the last few weeks, however, I’ve come across some new facts.
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It’s arguably a straw man argument that conflates decency with chivalry and fails to adequately address issues of benevolent sexism and violence perpetration. But knowing that it was a genuine question from a young adolescent this week, I felt that it was worth reflecting on.
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Last week, I was part of a workshop about sex ed, facilitated by adolescent sexuality expert Dr. Nadine Thornhill and hosted by Toronto-based consent organization Bad Subject.
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Two weeks ago, a 14-year-old boy was stabbed and killed outside his school in Hamilton, Ontario. Last week, CBC published a series of articles representing an in-depth investigation into school violence in Canada.
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