21st Century Boys How Modern Life is Driving Them Off the Rails and How We Can Get Them Back on Track

by Palmer, Sue

• ISBN13: 9781409103387
• ISBN10: 1409103382
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-01
• Publisher: Orion

Summary

What's happening to boys? At home, they sprawl before a flickering screen, lost in a solitary, sedentary fantasy world; at school, the choice of role seems limited to nerd or thug, bullied or bullying. By the time they reach their teens, the chances of depression, self-harm, drug or alcohol abuse grow each year. Raising boys has never been more diffcult. For the sake of their sons, parents need to know the facts about how boys develop and how best to protect them from the damaging effects of modern life. Sue Palmer assesses the issues currently confronting boys from birth to when they leave school, and explains how we can all help to ensure they emerge as healthy, normal adults. Based on the latest research from around the world, 21st CENTURY BOYS provides parents, teachers and others with a clear pathway to bringing up boys.

Author Biography

Sue Palmer is a writer, broadcaster and consultant on the education of young children. She is well-known to UK teachers as a specialist in literacy, especially the teaching of writing, but concern about children's lifestyles led her to research and publish the bestselling book TOXIC CHILDHOOD: How the Modern World Is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About It, followed in 2007 by a practical handbook for parents, DETOXING CHILDHOOD: What Parents Need to Know to Raise Bright, Balanced Children, and her most recent book 21ST CENTURY BOYS. Sue is also a popular speaker, addressing thousands of teachers each year across the UK and around the world - and increasingly invited to address audiences of parents, health professionals and others concerned with children's well-being. She writes frequently in the national press, and has worked as a consultant to the National Literacy Trust, the Basic Skills Agency, many educational publishers, the Department for Education and the BBC.


Visit Sue Palmer's website at www.suepalmer.co.uk

Table of Contents

Introduction: Meet the boys	p. 1
Why a man-made world is making boys' lives toxic ... and how we can raise boys fit to meet the challenges of a new century
The fragile male	p. 26
Why baby boys need mothering more than ever ... and why modern mothers need support
Four fragile males	p. 48
A mind of his own	p. 52
How mother love helps boys grow up bright and balanced ... and how modern life can dumb them down
Good habits and bad influences	p. 80
How big business undermines parents' authority and confidence ... and the effects on boys' health and well-being
One of the boys	p. 107
Why little boys need to play, run about and fight ... and why adults must let them get on with it
Dylan's story: Biff! Bam! Kapow!	p. 134
Unwillingly to school	p. 138
Why literacy is vital to boys' all-round development ... but starting too early does more harm than good
Battery-reared boys	p. 162
How boys' freedom is increasingly constrained ... and why a 'cotton-wool culture' damages us all
Ozzy's story: little professor or little emperor	p. 190
School versus cool	p. 194
How education and marketers battle for control of boys' minds ... and why parents and teachers have to redraw the battlelines
Mother Nature's sons	p. 225
How 21st century forces can hijack human nature ... and why adults have to help boys rise above the quick-fix instinct
Leo's story: the decline and fall of mummy's boy	p. 256
Boys and men	p. 260
Why boys need quests to pursue, codes to live by and mentors to guide them ... and why adults must get over their fret about gender
Lost boys	p. 288
Why some boys are born to lose ... and how those born to win add to their troubles
Kevin's story: when did you last see your son?	p. 320
Epilogue	p. 324
Notes and References	p. 333
Bibliography	p. 367
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